dakinimind
06-10-2008, 05:57 PM
There's been so much talk about kombucha here. I thought I would share the recipe/technique I use when making my tea. It seems complicated and scary at first, but it is honestly very easy to brew!!
1 gallon bottled water
1.5 cups white cane sugar
8-10 black tea bags (flavored works as well just as long as it's black)
4 oz distilled apple cider vinegar or kombucha
1 kombucha scoby (size doesn't matter: can be tiny or large)
Very important to start with clean items including hands!
What exactly is the scoby (mushroom)?
The kombucha mushroom is not really a mushroom but a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast that replicates during the fermentation process. People commonly refer to the living colony as a "scoby" and the additional "scobies" derived from each new batch are called "babies." Gunther Frank says the culture is a "jelly-like mass, looking somewhat like a pancake or sponge, slimy and grayish in color. " It reminded me of the umbilical cord in texture and appearance :eek: The origin of the scoby is unknown. The scoby is not produced anywhere in nature. It's an accepted belief that it's been handed down from person to person for thousands of years.
All that being said, it's important to keep as sterile an environment as possible when making the tea. You don't want to produce unwanted bacteria or molds!
Boil the water. Pour water in a heavy, gallon glass jar (thin glass can break from the heat of the water). I boil my water in an electric tea pot and pour directly into the jars...less mess :) I use gallon jars I bought online from a company called "Uline." Add the tea bags and steep for 20 minutes in boiling water. I wrap my tea bag strings around a large chop stick and place it on the of the jar opening. That way, you don't have to fish out the tea bags later. Add the sugar (plain old white cane sugar works the best for the fermentation processs). I've read where you can use raw sugar, but one way or another, it has to be cane sugar. The scoby will die without proper food which is cane sugar and tea. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature, then add the vinegar or kombucha liquid and the scoby. The scoby dies in hot temperatures. Cover the mouth of the jar with a coffee filter secured with a rubber band around the neck. The kombucha needs oxygen for the fermentation process, so the coffee filter is perfect, but YOU DON'T WANT INSECTS LAYING EGGS IN YOUR KOMBUCHA which necessitates the need for the rubber band!! Insects are drawn to sugary substances. Sit the jar on a counter in the kitchen where it won't be exposed to extreme fluctuations in temperatures.
It takes approximately 7-14 days to ferment. For the first few days, it will look like nothing is happening! Then a film will develop on the top of the tea. That is the beginning of your new baby or new bacteria colony. There will be moldy, slimy looking strands floating in the tea. This is normal! If a dangerous mold appears, you will know it. After 7 days, stick a straw past the new scoby and taste. When it's ready to bottle, it should taste exactly between sweet and sour. Transfer liquid to smaller glass jars and cap tightly. Old GT Kombucha bottles are perfect! Allow to sit in cool dry place (counter in kitchen) for another 5 days to get fizzy. Then transfer bottles to the fridge. Kombucha keeps indefinitely in the fridge.
To store the scobies between tea batches, make some very sugary tea, cool to room temperature, transfer to jar, add scobies and store on kitchen counter or in the fridge. I store mine on the counter.
That's it! Here are some helpful websites if you run into problems during the brewing process and explain further about mold situations:
http://www.kombu.de/anleit-e.htm
http://www.geocities.com/kombucha_balance/
1 gallon bottled water
1.5 cups white cane sugar
8-10 black tea bags (flavored works as well just as long as it's black)
4 oz distilled apple cider vinegar or kombucha
1 kombucha scoby (size doesn't matter: can be tiny or large)
Very important to start with clean items including hands!
What exactly is the scoby (mushroom)?
The kombucha mushroom is not really a mushroom but a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast that replicates during the fermentation process. People commonly refer to the living colony as a "scoby" and the additional "scobies" derived from each new batch are called "babies." Gunther Frank says the culture is a "jelly-like mass, looking somewhat like a pancake or sponge, slimy and grayish in color. " It reminded me of the umbilical cord in texture and appearance :eek: The origin of the scoby is unknown. The scoby is not produced anywhere in nature. It's an accepted belief that it's been handed down from person to person for thousands of years.
All that being said, it's important to keep as sterile an environment as possible when making the tea. You don't want to produce unwanted bacteria or molds!
Boil the water. Pour water in a heavy, gallon glass jar (thin glass can break from the heat of the water). I boil my water in an electric tea pot and pour directly into the jars...less mess :) I use gallon jars I bought online from a company called "Uline." Add the tea bags and steep for 20 minutes in boiling water. I wrap my tea bag strings around a large chop stick and place it on the of the jar opening. That way, you don't have to fish out the tea bags later. Add the sugar (plain old white cane sugar works the best for the fermentation processs). I've read where you can use raw sugar, but one way or another, it has to be cane sugar. The scoby will die without proper food which is cane sugar and tea. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature, then add the vinegar or kombucha liquid and the scoby. The scoby dies in hot temperatures. Cover the mouth of the jar with a coffee filter secured with a rubber band around the neck. The kombucha needs oxygen for the fermentation process, so the coffee filter is perfect, but YOU DON'T WANT INSECTS LAYING EGGS IN YOUR KOMBUCHA which necessitates the need for the rubber band!! Insects are drawn to sugary substances. Sit the jar on a counter in the kitchen where it won't be exposed to extreme fluctuations in temperatures.
It takes approximately 7-14 days to ferment. For the first few days, it will look like nothing is happening! Then a film will develop on the top of the tea. That is the beginning of your new baby or new bacteria colony. There will be moldy, slimy looking strands floating in the tea. This is normal! If a dangerous mold appears, you will know it. After 7 days, stick a straw past the new scoby and taste. When it's ready to bottle, it should taste exactly between sweet and sour. Transfer liquid to smaller glass jars and cap tightly. Old GT Kombucha bottles are perfect! Allow to sit in cool dry place (counter in kitchen) for another 5 days to get fizzy. Then transfer bottles to the fridge. Kombucha keeps indefinitely in the fridge.
To store the scobies between tea batches, make some very sugary tea, cool to room temperature, transfer to jar, add scobies and store on kitchen counter or in the fridge. I store mine on the counter.
That's it! Here are some helpful websites if you run into problems during the brewing process and explain further about mold situations:
http://www.kombu.de/anleit-e.htm
http://www.geocities.com/kombucha_balance/