Kombucha
Kombucha is a fermented tea drink that tastes complex and interesting. It’s full of gut friendly bacteria as a bonus. Brewing kombucha at home requires little effort but plenty of patience as it takes weeks before it’s ready to poured up. This post
Before you start brewing you’ll need to get your hands on a SCOBY, ("symbiotic 'colony' of bacteria and yeast"), ask around if you can get one from a friend, otherwise buy it one online. The SCOBY resembles a jellyfish, and you might feel intimated by its slimy appearance at first, but with each batch of heavenly kombucha you’ll learn to love it, nurture and keep it alive for years, it will be shed a new SCOBY with every new fermentation that you can keep or give away to a friend.
Ok, let’s brew some:
THE BASICS
You need:
time: It takes about 2 - 4 weeks to make a batch. It's real slow food. The fermentation does most of the work.
Equipment
big jar (4 litre), sterilized
cloth & rubber band or string
a funnel
a sieve
bottles and lids
Insrtuctions
The tea: Boil the water. Add sugar and let it dissolve. Leave the tea bags in the water until it's cooled. Remove the teabags and add starter tea. Pour the tea mixture into a large jar and carefully add the SCOBY. Cover the opening of the jar with a cloth. Use a rubber band or string to keep a tight fit.
Let the brew ferment for 2 to 3 weeks ( it goes quicker when the temperature is warmer). Leave the jar in a dark corner in room temperature. Check it now and then, (if it smells very bad, something has gone wrong and you should throw away the batch). After a week you can start tasting the kombucha which will be very sweet at first and then gradually become more sour and vinegary, as well as being more fizzy. When you reach a level of sourness and sweetness that you like, then it's time for the second fermentation. This usually occurs after 2 weeks.
Bottle and carbonate for 2-3 days: Remove the SCOBYS from the batch and gently place them in a smaller jar with 2 cups of the kombucha juice. This will be your starter juice for the next batch. Pour kombucha into bottles using a funnel and a sieve or a straining cloth. Leave 1-2 cm of space at the top for additional flavourings. Add pieces of fruit, herbs, juices or other flavoring that you can think of. Make sure the lids are firmly closed and set the bottles aside for 2-3 days for a second fermentation. The kombucha carbonates during this period. Stop the fermentation process on the second or third day by refridgerating. Leave in the fridge until serving, wait at least 10 hours before drinking. Drink within a month.
Ingredients
1 SCOBY
First fermentation
3.3 litre water
230 ml white sugar
8 tea bags (4 black tea bag and 4 green tea bags)
2 cups starter kombucha, unpasteurized, store-bought or home brewed from an earlier batch.
Second fermentation
additional flavoring, fruit, teas and spices etc. See suggestions below
Flavourings
Sunshine brew
Peach flavoured kombucha
Golden, sweet, and a real flirty summer kombucha.
Ingredients
1 peach
1 bottle of kombucha ( all measures work)
How to:
Add pieces of peach to a bottle of kombucha when you start the second fermentation.
Green Kaboom!
Mint and lime flavored kombucha
Fresh as toothpaste! But way tastier, a grown up taste according to my mini survey at home.
my favorite out of these flavors. I like special flavors often. Not everyone does.
Ingredients
1 lime
5-6 leaves of mint
1 bottle of kombucha ( all measures work)
How to:
Add mint leaves and lime pieces to a bottle of kombucha when you start the second fermentation.
Indigo dreams
Blueberry flavored kombucha
Ingredients
a handful of blueberries, washed and halved
1 bottle of kombucha ( all measures work)
How to:
Add the pieces of blueberries to a bottle of kombucha when you start the second fermentation.
Apple & ginger remedy
Apple and ginger flavored kombucha
Ingredients
1 apple, cut into pieces, seeds removed
1 tsp of fresh ginger root, finely sliced
1 bottle of kombucha (all measures work)
How to:
Add pieces of apple and ginger to a bottle of kombucha when you start the second fermentation.
