Friday, April 16, 2010

How to make Kombucha


People are always asking me how to make kombucha... I have written out the directions on random scraps of paper just one-too-many-times! Finally, I realized I should post it on my blog. Easy as that!

What you will need:
-12 cups water
-1 cup white sugar
-4 black tea bags (preferably organic; non-organic is high in flouride)
-1/2 cup kombucha liquid (from previous batch or store-bought)
-1 kombucha "mama"
- big glass bowl with wide opening (do not wash bowl with soap, just hot water and white vinegar if needed).
-masking tape
-a cloth towel

Note: BLACK tea and WHITE sugar give the highest amount of glucuronic acid (potent detoxifying substance). Remember that the fermentation "eats up" all of the tea and sugar, so it's nothing like drinking a sweetened iced tea!

Directions:
-Boil water. Dissolve sugar.

-Add tea bags. Let cool (until pretty cool), then remove tea bags.

-Add 1/2 cup kombucha liquid and mama. When you place the mama in the bowl of liquid, it will float to the middle/bottom; that's fine.

-Place tape in a criss-cross over top of bowl, then place cloth over that.

-Let set (out of fridge and sun) for 7-10 days. You will know the kombcuha is ready when it doesn't taste sweet anymore. It will be sour (sometimes even fizzy) with no taste of tea.

-Pour it into bottles. I use old Grolsch or Fischer beer bottles (they have the wire-held-cork-tops which help with the carbonation, unlike jars).

-This is when you can flavor your kombucha, which is really fun to experiment with. Add chopped up fruit or juice (you don't need much of either).

-Leave out of fridge for 3-5 days, to let it get fizzy/ carbonated.

-Store it in the fridge until you drink it, otherwise it will become too carbonated.

-Enjoy this easy and fun adventure of kombucha making!