Kombucha.... What the heck is that?

I have been hearing about Kombucha, some kind of weird fermented tea they say, but I really know nothing about it.  Then I went with a friend to visit an acquaintance that has a store with some beautiful yarn in it among other things and as we were talking about all things healthy etc, she mentioned that she makes Kombucha.  The same week I had noticed that they sell it on tap at Whole Foods which kind of got me wondering what was the deal with this stuff?  So I asked her a bit about it, and she said she had a 'mother' which is what they call the starter bacteria fungus sort of thingy; and said I could have one to try making it if I was interested.  I thought about it for a week, and tried some on tap at whole foods and then started reading about kombucha.  It is actually very healthy for you, full of vitamins, antioxidants and probiotics.  It is one of those living foods.  It also is a detoxifier.  If you read the story on the GT Kombucha web site, it is pretty inspiring.  So I decided to try making some myself.  I am chronicling my adventure in Kombucha making, and posting it here.  So below are the first few days entries....

My first batch sitting in the corner minding its own business, and yes that is one of my un paper towels covering the top

The Kombucha diaries

Monday July 16, 2012

I received a mother fungus for making kombucha from Linda.  She wrote down her directions and sort of described how she makes her kombucha.  I had some to taste, it was very good.

I came home with my culture and looked up a web site online that Linda showed me.  It had some how to instructions and pictures.  So I went to work.  I followed the directions and boiled my water, then added a cup of sugar, let that simmer and dissolve.  Started writing my Kombucha diaries, and then added my tea.  I decided to use some Numi organic black tea, earl gray to be exact.  I used 3 bags of that, and 3 bags of white rose organic.  I think green tea is good to use, but I didn't have any that was organic, so I opted for the other.  After a few hours my tea was still pretty hot, so I put the lid on the pot and went to bed.

Tuesday July 17, 2012

First thing in the morning, I cleaned the kitchen, made a space for my kombucha to reside, and got ready to inoculate the tea.  I scrubbed the jar good, rinsed with hot water and then rinsed with white vinegar. poured in my tea and slid in my SCOBY mother and all the liquid that came with it.  I covered it with one of my organic muslin un paper towels, and rubber banded the lid.  Set it in a dark corner of my counter to ferment undisturbed for a week.

Thursday July 19, 2012

Our air conditioning went on the fritz.  It's only 105 degrees out, so no worries haha!  I am hoping this won't make my kitchen too hot for the kombucha.  I will know in a few days.  When I peek under the cloth I still see some bubbles at the top.  Not sure what it is supposed to look like as I have never done this before!

Monday July 23, 2012

Air conditioning fixed! I didn't get to brewing a new batch of tea to cool, so I will end up letting the kombcha ferment for 8 days instead of 7.  Hope it's not dead from the heat…..

Tuesday July 24, 2012

Brewed a new batch of tea.  Used English Breakfast Tea, and after reading the package I discovered that the Earl Gray has bergamot in it which may have oils on it that might adversely affect the Mother… hopefully not, this is all an experiment, so we will see what we see.  

I washed all my Grolsh bottles and have the ready to bottle the first batch of tea, I just need my new batch to cool enough so that I can start a second batch at the same time.  

To be continued....