Kombucha.....anybody make their own?

[Linda in Oregon]

Man, I love this stuff.....and I really need to start making my own. Anybody here make their own? Is it all that hard to do?

 

I love, love, love the grape kind -

 

http://www.gtskombucha.com/

[Chris in VA]

Make it? I don't even know what the h it is.

 

 

 

:lol:

 

Is it cabbage based?

[newbie]

Is it a tea or drink? And if so what is difference between that and matcha green tea.

 

Jet

[Linda in Oregon]

Make it? I don't even know what the h it is.

 

 

 

:lol:

 

Is it cabbage based?

 

 

Well, you do know what the h google is, don't you?:tongue_smilie:

[Linda in Oregon]

Is it a tea or drink? And if so what is difference between that and matcha green tea.

 

Jet

 

 

Well, I guess you all didn't follow the link, huh? It's made with tea but non green matcha tea.

 

Sincerely interested? Try this one:

 

http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/kombucha

[teamturner]

I'm somewhat off and on with it. I do love how I feel when I am drinking it regularly. I really have noticed that I don't get sick when I'm drinking it and have more energy. It's really wonderful! It is very easy to do also.

 

You just have to boil spring water (I boil 2 quarts and then add 1 quart to it when it's done) and when it comes to a boil you add 1 cup of sugar and let it dissolve. Once it dissolves, you remove it from the heat and then put in your tea bags. Then when it is completely cooled you remove the tea bags and put it into a large mouthed glass container (this is when I add the final quart of water). Then you put the Kombucha in plus 1/2 cup reserve of the previous batch and it will eventually float on the top. I always make sure it is flat when I put it in. Then you put some tape over the top of the container and lay a dish cloth on the top (the tape is to keep the cloth from falling in) and you put a rubber band around the edge of the container and the towel (you want to keep any bugs out). Let it sit for 7-10 days and make a new batch of tea and bottle the old batch. What you bottle is what you drink each day. I like to strain it out a little when I bottle it but I still strain it again when I pour my drink each day. Most directions say to use organic black tea 4-6 bags but I've tried it with white tea and my friend mixes in flavored teas as well (i.e. peach). If you let the batch go too long before making a new one, the result will be too sour and you won't be able to drink it. I've got a batch like that sitting in my kitchen right now.;)

 

http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/kvass.html

Scroll down the page for the info on Kombucha

 

http://www.kombuchaamerica.com/katest.htm

 

Blessings!

[Carpe Diem]

I have a batch sitting on my counter for hmmm....several months. :001_huh: The mother mushroom has gotten to be about 4 inches thick. I need to start over.

 

Michele in TX, what do you mean by straining? I thought all the gross floaty stuff was what you are suppose to drink for the health benefit. Please fill me in. How do you bottle it?

 

So, how do we make it flavored like GT Dave's?

[*anj*]

I hesitate to say that I make it because I don't think I've made it in about a year. Even so, I have three huge jars each containing enough SCOBYs to ferment enough tea for a small country.

 

It is not difficult to make, but it takes a little time to get used to it.

I saw Michelle's post, and I will tell you that I don't ever use spring water, just filtered tap water. It always worked marvelously.

 

I love the way I feel when I'm drinking kombucha, and it tastes so good. I GT Dave's well enough, but my homemade KT is much better.

 

I joined the Original Kombucha (OK) Yahoo group when I first started. There are people there who have been brewing KT for 20 years and are very knowledgeable. I strongly recommend that you join and go on digest if you don't want all the emails. If you sign up you will gain access to their files, which are full of photos, instructions, and recipes.

 

When I first started out I just used regular black tea with sugar and the SCOBY. Once I got used to it I started using many other varieties of tea, black, green and even white. I bottled my KT for a secondary fermentation and stuck things like dried fruit and candied ginger in the bottles.

Yummmm!!!

I really do need to start making it again.

 

It's one of those things that once you start making your own for pennies per huge batch, you can never pay $2.99 for another bottle of GT Dave's.

[Linda in Oregon]

 

So, how do we make it flavored like GT Dave's?

 

 

Well, when I look on the bottle of the grape kombucha - the ingredients say kombucha and concord grape juice. I figure that when I make some I'll just have to play around with different amounts of juice added. I don't know about the other flavors.

[*anj*]

I used to let some turn to vinegar on purpose because I used it in salad dressings and marinades. It was great!!

[*anj*]

You wouldn't want to add anything like grape juice or other fruit until the second fermentation. Enzymes from some fruit/juice can damage/inhibit growth of the SCOBY.

You need to add some KT from an older brew when you start a new one. If you have a SCOBY but no KT you should use some regular white vinegar. You should not use raw apple cider vinegar because it has antibiotic properties and can damage the SCOBY. If you want to use a bit of bottled KT, make sure it's raw and not pasteurized.

[Linda in Oregon]

Hey -

 

thanks anj and Michelle in TX. I think I'm gonna give it a try.....after we move.:001_smile:

[teamturner]

Thanks for the info on that Anj! And I will have to try the vinegar batches I have for salad dressing.

 

I really am quite new to it (1 yr) and whenever I have a question I've always just asked my friend who got me started. You don't have to drink the floating stuff (at least that's what I was told) to get the health benefit but I could see that it would be extra good for you to swallow some of it (which I have). It's just the really big ones gross me out. :tongue_smilie: I just strain it with a tea strainer type thing when I pour some into a glass. You could mix the KT with whatever you want when you go to drink it (grape, apple juice, etc.) to make it taste better. I use spring water because I don't have filtered tap water and our city water is yuck! I also sometimes use distilled but I'm not sure what that does to it. I'm going to have to check out this Yahoo website to get more educated on it. I like the idea of different recipes. I bottle it with glass jars I've recycled. I was keeping the official Kombucha bottles that Wholefoods sells for that purpose but they are too small so I gave that up. HTHs. Have a great move Linda!