The last of the Kombucha Diaries...

Tuesday July 31, 2012

I only lost one bottle, the rest of them sat there minding their own business on the counter.  Tuesday I decided I had waited long enough and I put the in the fridge.  Tuesday night at dinner I popped one open and poured everyone a little juice glass full.  I think it was Me, my DH and a couple of my sons were there for dinner.... Amazingly enough everyone liked it, wanted more and thought it tasted like the stuff they sell on tap at Whole Foods!  My son described it as apple juice that is a little sour with a fizz.

It is surprisingly refreshing though, and way better for you than soda.  It still gives you that bubblyness of soda though, and that is nice.  You don't even notice the good for you part, it just tastes like a fizzy drink that is a little different!

Wednesday August 1, 2012
     I had brewed my second batch with the breakfast blend black tea and I did the third with the same tea.  Can't wait to taste the difference in that one.  The next batch  I will do with some green tea just to compare.
I bottled the second batch in the same way, didn't use any socks but did put it in a pan, good think because I lost one bottle again!  I shared my extra starter with a friend who came over to watch me bottle and start my next batch, so she could try it too.

Sunday August 6, 2012
     Waiting, waiting, waiting for the second batch to be ready for the refrigerator, as the first batch is completely gone!  I will really have to make 3 gallons if everyone wants to drink this stuff!

you can see the fizz in the bottle!

If you are interested in trying Kombucha making for yourself, I suggest this web site: Anahata.  That is where I confirmed the written instructions from my friend, and it has nice and detailed instructions, as well as good information on Kombucha!

Thanks for reading the Kombucha Diaries... I would love to hear your comments

Kombucha Diaries Continued...

Wednesday July 25, 2012

I am discovering that a gallon of boiling hot tea takes a long time to cool.  I started my new batch of tea on Tuesday morning.  By Tuesday night it was still hotter than room temp.  So I left it overnight first thing in the morning I had my bottles ready, and my tea was cool.  I scrubbed everything with hot soapy water, and decided to rinse my bottles with vinegar just to make sure.  I opened up my jar that had been sitting on the counter for a week.  It was like Christmas!  I gently poured out some of the Kombucha through a cheese cloth into a pitcher.  Bottled that and repeated until the jar was a little less than half empty.  When bottling my friend told me, fill it all the way to the top, no air space.  She also said put the bottles in a pan and put a sock over them because sometimes they explode... wow!  
Here is the exciting part.  At about half way, I decided to get the mother out and start my next batch, as you have to add some of the liquid from the first batch.  I washed my hands one more time just to make sure, and grabbed it out.  I was told that while the Kombucha is fermenting it will grow a new mother, OK, I thought this sounds super weird, but ok...Well, it did!  There were two nice little gelatinous circles floating on the tea.  I gently separated them, and put the new one in a dish with some liquid to share.

I bottled the rest of my tea, and viola!  First batch will be ready in one week.  It has to sit on the counter in the bottles for a week, then you pop it in the refrigerator.  It smells and looks like it is supposed to so that is good.

Wednesday evening July 25, 2012

I went to check out my bottles, and noticed liquid in the bottom of the pan.  I scanned them all and found one that was low!  I picked it up and EXPLOSION!  Now I see why my friend said to put a sock on each bottle. (which I didn't do)  It was really just a little break, but I did loose one bottle, oh well....

To be continued...

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....