Kombucha - make your own!

KOMBUCHA...WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?

That's generally the first reaction to the word Kombucha, given it's a weird word and if you aren't running with the do it yourself crowd, then you probably haven't heard it before.

So what is Kombucha?

Kombucha is a fermented sweet tea made using organic black/green tea & cane sugar/honey. It's quite a simple process and quite quick too! An organism called a SCOBY is added to the steeped tea/sugar mix and left to ferment for 7-10 days (that's Qld summer for you! fast fermentation), I'll explain more about the SCOBY and what it is shortly...

The SCOBY eats the sugar/honey to feed itself, decreasing the sugar content and growing a new SCOBY in the process, it's kind of cool to watch, and for every batch of Kombucha you make, you get a new SCOBY baby. You can give these away to other kombucha enthusiasts, sell them or they can be used for a variety of other things. The easiest way to keep spare SCOBY's is in a SCOBY hotel...we'll get to that later!

So once your tea has fermented for the set amount of time, it is strained into glass bottles and can be popped straight into the fridge or fruit/juice can be added and left for a second ferment, this creates the fizz.

And that's pretty much it. Rinse and repeat!

Okay so for the science stuff...

WHAT IS A SCOBY?

"Scoby" is actually an acronym: Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast. And that's exactly what it is! A scoby is the living home for the bacteria and yeast that transform sweet tea into tangy, fizzy kombucha — think of the scoby as the coral reef of the bacteria and yeast world. It a rubbery raft that floats on the surface of the kombucha. Aside from being a home for yeast and good bacteria, the scoby seals off the fermenting kombucha from the air and protects it from outside, undesirable bacterias while it's fermenting.

WHAT DOES KOMBUCHA DO?

Have you heard of Kombucha, the beverage the ancient Chinese called the “Immortal Health Elixir?” It’s been around for more than 2,000 years and has a rich anecdotal history of health benefits like preventing and fighting cancer, arthritis, and other degenerative diseases.

Made from sweetened tea that’s been fermented by a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast (a SCOBY, a.k.a. “mother” because of its ability to reproduce, or “mushroom” because of its appearance)

WHAT ARE THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF KOMBUCHA TEA?

KOMBUCHA HEALTH BENEFIT #1 — DETOXIFICATION

Detoxification produces healthy livers and aides cancer prevention. One of kombucha’s greatest health benefits is its ability to detox the body. It is rich in many of the enzymes and bacterial acids your body produces and/or uses to detox your system, thus reducing your pancreatic load and easing the burden on your liver. Kombucha is very high in Glucaric acid, and recent studies have shown that glucaric acid helps prevent cancer.

KOMBUCHA HEALTH BENEFIT #2 — JOINT CARE

Kombucha contains glucosamines, a strong preventive and treatment all forms of arthritis. Glucosamines increase synovial hyaluronic acid production. Hyaluronic acid functions physiologically to aid preservation of cartilage structure and prevent arthritic pain, with relief comparable to NSAIDs and advantage over glucocorticoids. Hyaluronic acid enables connective tissue to bind moisture thousands of times its weight and maintains tissue structure, moisture, lubrication and flexibility and lessens free radical damage, while associated collagen retards and reduces wrinkles.

KOMBUCHA HEALTH BENEFIT #3 — AIDS DIGESTION AND GUT HEALTH

Because it’s naturally fermented with a living colony of bacteria and yeast, Kombucha is a probiotic beverage. This has a myriad of benefits such as improved digestion, fighting candida (harmful yeast) overgrowth, mental clarity, and mood stability. As such, it’s noted for reducing or eliminating the symptoms of fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety, etc.

KOMBUCHA HEALTH BENEFIT #4 — IMMUNE BOOSTING

Kombucha is extraordinarily anti-oxidant rich, and you all know the benefits of anti-oxidants for boosting your immune system and energy levels.

So if after all that reading you up for making your own Kombucha, here's how I do it.

A good buddy of mine, (thanks Cassie!) gave me my first SCOBY and a super easy and quick recipe to follow, here it is.

1. First things first, sterilisation! This is the most important step! Use vinegar to sterilise everything you will use, eg. pot/stirring spoon, glass jars the kombucha will go into, your hands!!! that's a big one because you are probably going to have to touch your SCOBY when you transfer it and we don't want any germs!

2. You will need -

A SCOBY + 1/4 - 1/2 cup of starter tea (it doesn't matter if you buy your SCOBY online or get it from a friend, it will always come with starter tea, you need this, DO NOT THROW IT AWAY!

1/2 - 1 cup of organic raw cane sugar or honey

4-6 bags of organic black tea

2 litres of water

3. The making -

Boil your 2 litres of water, turn off the heat and add in your sugar, stirring until dissolved. Add your tea bags and steep for 20 mins or until preferred taste.

Remove tea bags, (don't forget to compost those little leaves), and leave the tea to cool to room tempreature. This is very important to remember as the SCOBY does not like hot water!

4. Fermentation -

So you tea has cooled to room tempreature, now it's time to add the SCOBY. Transfer your cooled tea into the glass jar you are going to ferment in (large cookie jars are perfect for this) Carefully add your SCOBY and starter tea, it may float around or sink, makes no difference. That's it!

Cover with a paper towel to keep insects out and set aside nice dark spot on your bench or pantry for t 7-10 days.

After a few days you will be able to see a new baby SCOBY growing on the surface, this is a good thing!

5. Bottling -

7-10 days has gone past, (I currently do mine for 7 days as the heat has been high 30's for months) and it's time to bottle up.

First remove your SCOBY & baby, reserving 1/2 cup of liquid for you next batch. You can start your SCOBY hotel at this point if you like, just make a second batch of Kombucha and pop them both in together.

Back to bottling -

I strain my Kombucha and bottle it up in glass jars with good quality stopper lids, and straight into the fridge, I don't care for the fizz.

But if you like fizz, then add a small amount of fruit juice or grated apple & ginger, or leave it plain.

Make sure to leave a least a 1" gap at the top, the kombucha will continue to ferment and you don't want your bottles to explode from the pressure.

Stopper your bottles and leave to ferment for a further 2 days, after 2 days pop them in the fridge and your good to go!

Please be careful not to shake your bottles as they may pop their lids off from the pressure!

6- Even in the fridge Kombucha will continue to ferment and you can have baby scoby's growing, either strain them off before drinking or guzzle them down if you like!

That's it! Kombucha making is quick, fun, interesting to watch to the process and tastes awesome!

As always I would love to see your pics, so hashtag it #houseofvegan and tag me @house_of_vegan

xx

Kaylene

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