Kombucha

I have always had a hard time with trends... even food trends! I sometimes, often, want to not follow them just to purposefully go against the grain, break the mold, know my own individual mind. Kombucha is one trend that I just couldn't resist or avoid with logical thinking. It's just so distinctively enjoyable. And it does offer genuine, quickly noticeable health benefits.  Of course, as with all foods I love, I had to learn how to make it for myself! I think there is something about Kombucha that stirs any curious mind. Starting with... it's a mushroom? Yeah. Me too. I love that part.

Kombucha - homemade and freshly bottled. Hazel's right... it does look cool.

Step Two: Add 1 cup sugar and organic black tea 

Step one: boil 3 quarts of filtered water

Step three: bottle your previous batch of Kombucha

    

 

Step four: Inspect your scoby. This is a very, very important step. Any black spots,buggies or other weirdness... throw it out and do not drink that batch of tea. This should be obvious... just underlining the food safety bits.

This is a very healthy scoby. The tin black tid bits are flecks of tea leaves. I use loose leaf and try my best to strain the tea well... but some tiny specks get through. Notice the whitish to translucent part... that's really, really good. That is the new growth of the scoby. This new growth shows that my scoby is in a wonderful state of health.

Step five: Pour the well cooled tea (pictured in step two) into the container with your scoby. note: It might swim in the middle at first. In my humble experience this has always turned out fine and I find her right where she should be when I go to make a new batch.

Step Six: Cover your container with a clean cloth and secure with a rubber band. This is super important. I had a failed batch because of improper securing. Learn from my mistake!

Step seven: set your container in a cool, dry place to ferment. I use the top of my trusty kitchen hutch.