Kombucha is sort of a miracle beverage, although I think it's actually technically a food. A lot of people think that it's a mushroom but it's actually a fermented symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast. Delicious, right? Don't let that fact scare you though, it's good for you! There are various health benefits attributed to Kombucha such as preventing cancer and helping out your digestive system. Interested? Here's some more information as well as where to order a culture. A friend came over a few weekends ago and showed me how to brew my own, which I'm excited to share with you guys!
To brew your own kombucha at home, you will need about a gallon of filtered water, 6-8 tea bags steeped in 6 cups of water overnight, (black tea works really well) a heaping cup of sugar, (essential to the fermentation process) a large glass pot, (one with a spigot works amazingly, if not, you'll have to use a ladle to get the tea into a cup) a piece of cloth to place over the top, a strong rubber band, a ribbon (if you wanna make it look pretty) and some kombucha culture. (See the link above!)
Twenty-four hours before you prepare your kombucha, place your filtered water into a glass vase and let it sit. This will evaporate the chlorine out of it. The night before, steep 6 or so bags of tea overnight in a separate vase. In the morning (or whenever you want to start making your tea) mix both the water and the tea in a larger glass pot.
Add your sugar and stir! It's pretty self-explainaory. So much easier than you ever thought, right?
After mixing the sugar in the best you can, add your culture. We used a culture from my friend's own brew at home.
Cover your kombucha with the cloth and place out of direct sunlight. I keep mine in an empty space under my counter to keep it out of the sunlight. Because the culture that I used wasn't as far along in the growing process, I let mine ferment for two weeks. Depending on your culture, it could take as little as one week. Check on it often. You'll see this weird mushroom-looking thing growing on the top of it. That's good! It means that your tea is ready. Start but drinking about 2oz a day to get your body used to it and work your way up to 8oz. All that you need to do to replenish your kombucha supply is add more sweet tea. If you do this, one culture can last you a lifetime! Cheers!
xo, e.m.
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