Kombucha Production

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram you have probably seen my attempts at making Kombucha.  My initial scobie (mother) has grown enough that I know can have at least 5 jars going at once.

So what is Kombucha? well it is a fermented tea which started in China (I think).  Basically you start off with a scobie and some culture (previous brew) which is kind of an ugly blob of stuff that grows on the top of jar when you make a batch that takes care of the fermentation process.  Add it to a jar of surgary organic tea and leave it to do its thing in a dark cupboard for 8 to 12 days.  You then remove the scobie and pour the brew into bottles reserving some of the liquid for each of your scobies.

I then flavour it, my favourite is blueberry and vanilla and I have just tried a batch of pomegranate which is quite nice too. You can probably add what ever fruit you like and there would be countless recipes on the internet for you to try.  I have learnt though that you need to release the stopper every day to get rid of some of the gas... we did have an exploding bottle in the middle of the night a couple of weeks ago.

Kombucha is supposed to detox your liver and give you a good dose of all those good bacteria that live in your gut.  I have to say that since I have been drinking it most of the side effects from the medication I have been on disappeared so I'm thinking that maybe it is helping.

This time I'm doing a white tea, green tea and black tea batch just to see what the different brews taste like.  You can buy Kombucha in some shops (IGA) but it is quite sweet and I noticed that one brand was sweetened with stevia and I really don't enjoy the taste of stevia.  For the cost of a small bottle I can make 4 jars of it at home and it really is super easy.  The taste is like cider and it is a great sugar free alternative to soft drink just wish I could convince the kids.