Kombucha

It has been two years since my last blog post. I plan on starting to post recipes again, and will begin another Whole30 on February 15th. My blog is generally a “paleo” food blog, but I’ve decided to make my first post back about Kombucha, considering the time I started drinking it coincides with my last blog post.

A question I’ve heard dozens of times over the last 2 years since I started drinking it…

What IS Kombucha?

My response is usually “Kombucha is a fermented tea beverage.”

This answer doesn’t usually suffice. People have more questions… and that’s where this post comes in.

I started drinking Kombucha (AKA “mushroom tea”) two years ago when I was getting recurrent throat infections, on a different antibiotic every month and was having stomach problems because of it. I couldn’t eat much, my stomach was upset all the time, I was losing weight and lost my appetite. And if you know me at all you know how much I love to eat and how terrible this was for me. Kombucha detoxifies, provides vitamins and amino acids, and helps with digestion through its probiotics.

Kombucha is pretty expensive, but with its popularity growing, more people are starting to brew themselves to save money. I have to say, I was pretty scared to brew it myself. I was afraid of mold, cultures and bacteria… but the more I read about it, and the more people I met that had done it themselves, the more excited I got at the thought of making it myself. A friend from work told me she had been doing it for a few months, so I decided to buy the book “Kombucha Revolution” by Stephen Lee after having borrowed it from her for a couple of days. I ordered a SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) online (Amazon) from Karma Cultures and started gathering supplies.

This is my first time trying to make Kombucha for myself, so I decided to take some pictures and take you along the journey with me.

The Karma Cultures Company sends you an Easy Brew recipe for a 1 Gallon jar along with your SCOBY, and in only 5 steps it was pretty easy to follow.

What will you need? A SCOBY and “starter tea” (included with the SCOBY at Karma Cultures), purified water, 6 tea bags (organic high quality is best, green, black, oolong or a combination), organic evaporated cane sugar, a tea kettle, a wide mouthed gallon glass jar, a thermometer and patience.

Step 1: Make the Tea – Boil 4 cups of water and let 6 bags of tea steep for 10 minutes.

Step 2: Sweeten Tea – Stir until the sugar has dissolved. This is the food for the culture to “eat” over the next 7-28 days

Step 3: Cool Tea- putting a SCOBY in too warm water can kill it or cause mold

Step 4: Add healthy bacteria (SCOBY)

Step 5: Wait, ferment. Cover with a cloth and elastic band, and keep in a warm dark place (in the cupboard above my fridge.)

Day 3: You can start tasting at this point. Take a straw and go to the side of the jar and take a sip. If it’s still too sweet, let it sit for a few more days. 7-28 days is the suggested