No, it's not Stuart. Or Georgia. Or chocolate. Or freshly whipped cream.
But close...
Guessed yet? It's KOMBUCHA, BABY. What? I couldn't help myself. We talked about fermenting kvass yesterday - what was I supposed to do!
We've been brewing our own here on the homestead for going on two years now and not only have I saved myself from the 1000% mark-up of the store-bought kombucha, but I've also been able to relish in the good, err...benefit, that kombucha brings to my.....err...gut.
Fine, I'll say it. Kombucha is super wonderful for keeping the gut *regular*, if you catch my drift.
Somehow, saying the word poop just seems inappropriate for this blog, so I won't say it.
...
Whoops.
Anyway....
While we've previously talked about brewing kombucha HERE, I've changed our recipe ever-so slightly, and taken far better pictures this go-round. So why the heck not. Let's do this again.
Homemade Kombucha
You will need:
- 8 organic black tea bags or 8 teaspoons of your favorite loose leaf tea. I've found that a nice black tea yields the best results. White tea has a very delicate flavor and I prefer mine with a bit more punch. The only tea *off limits* are herbal teas and earl grey varieties.
- 2 cups of white, kill-ya-tomorrow sugar (don't worry, the sugar is consumed in the process)
- 8(ish) liters of water. I fill up my stock pot all the way to the top.
- Mother SCOBY (available on eBay...unless you have a home-brewing friend you can get a baby SCOBY off of!)
- 6(ish) cups of the best quality juice you can find! Make sure that it's real juice. I use homemade grape juice.
Step One: Heat up the water to just below a boil. Add in the sugar and stir to dissolve. Add in the tea bags, cover the pot, and allow the liquid to cool to room temperature (this can take overnight).
Step Two: After the tea has completely cooled, remove the tea bags, and pour the tea into a food-grade bucket. (Hint: I got our buckets for free from the local bakery - they have tons of them from all the frostings they use!)
Step Three: Add the SCOBY, cover the bucket, and tuck it away in a dark closet where it can sit undisturbed for one week.
Step Four: After the week has passed, remove your SCOBY, which will now be two! One "Mother" - the large one you started with and one "Baby" - the new snot-like (sorry, but it's true) film that has grown over the tea. Put the SCOBY into a jar and fill it with some of the kombucha tea. This will feed it until you're ready to use it again. I store mine on top of the fridge covered with a cloth.
Ah yes, here's said "Baby" now. Hello, baby SCOBY.
Oh, and hello Mother SCOBY. Yikes.
Now, here's another change in my original recipe - now, I always had 6 cups of juice to the batch before bottling. The natural sugar occuring in the fruit allows for a small second fermentation once the kombucha is bottled. This secondary fermentation ensures that the batch of kombucha is nice and carbonated. And trust me, you're going to want your kombucha carbonated. Flat kombucha is not nearly as fun.
See? See all those beautiful bubbles?
That's what I'm talking about!
And instead of bottling in recycled beer bottles, thanks to my dear friend Carlee, I now have enough store-bought glass kombucha bottles to use! They are much easier, as I can just twist the cap right now! And even though these are reused, I've never had a problem getting the kombucha to carbonate with the twist caps. So start stashing away - any glass bottle will do!
Step Five: Fill all your clean bottles 85-90% full with the kombucha tea. Then, top 'em off with the juice. Twist on the caps.
Bam!
That's how you make kombucha, baby!
Step Six: Let the bottles hang out at room temperature for 2-3 days. Then, move 'em to the refrigerator and enjoy at your pleasure.
I've found that kombucha can usually cure my sweet tooth in the late afternoons before dinner. It can also help to fill my belly with goodness so I don't overindulge come supper.
Ahem. Not that I would ever do something as glutenous as overindulge.
...Right?
Okay, fine. Sometimes I've been known to overindulge.
But lucky for me, if I overindulge on kombucha, well that's not such a bad thing.
Enjoy!
This is so cool. I recently banned soft drinks and, although they aren't as mad as I thought, my twins would like to have something fizzy to drink every once in awhile. Do you have to use white sugar? I gave that the boot too and now use sucanat. Thanks for all the directions!!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, use white sugar! It will be eaten by the yeast in the SCOBY and there will no sugar left once the kombucha has finished brewing. I've tried using alternative sugars and it is no-bueno.
DeleteThanks for linking your great post to FAT TUESDAY. This was very interesting! Hope to see you next week!
ReplyDeleteBe sure to visit RealFoodForager.com on Sunday for Sunday Snippets – your post from Fat Tuesday may be featured there!
http://realfoodforager.com/fat-tuesday-january-17-2012/
Share your great fermented food recipes at my Probiotic Food Linky – open through Februray 6, 2012.
http://realfoodforager.com/probiotic-food-challenge-linky/
Thank you for posting this! I have been wanting to try kombucha for a while but honestly have been a little scared ... now to find a scoby somewhere! Thank you so much for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteWe've got to get going with kombucha again! I never liked it from the store because of all the floaty bits, but homemade I can make sure it's really filtered before I drink it. We always just have it in a big jar and pour glasses from it. I like the bottle idea. Since I have to watch out for caffeine we make ours from rooibos tea.
ReplyDeleteThis great post is featured at Sunday Snippets this week! Thanks for sharing! Come and check it out!
ReplyDeletehttp://realfoodforager.com/sunday-snippets-january-22-2012/
Ok, probably a dumb question, but do you put the "baby SCOBY" into the tea for next time too? Or do you throw it out and save only the "mother"?
ReplyDeleteThis looks fun and EASY to make!!
I save both. That way, if a friends want one, I always have extras! I put them all in, every time I make a batch. I suppose you could throw it away...but I just can't get myself to do it! :)
DeleteYay! I am starting on the Kombucha band wagon! I had no way to get a mama SCOBY so I googled my way to The Food Renegade. She posted how to make a mama SCOBY. I just got it started a few minutes ago! I think I used too much tea though, so we shall see if it still works!
ReplyDeleteOh awesome! I love the Food Renegade! :) Good luck!
DeleteHi, I have a couple of questions about how you make your kombucha. What do you cover your bucket with? If you use the original lid, how tightly do you put it on the bucket? Also, I noticed you didn't use any starter tea from an old batch. Is it not necessary? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteEmilie, I cover my bucket with the plastic lid it came with. I just set it on there (enough to keep the bugs and dog hair out!). My Mom covers hers with a cloth and it seems to do just fine as well. After I finish a batch, I keep my Kombucha in a mason jar that I fill halfway with the finished brew. This feeds the scoby until I'm ready to use it again. Some people keep more liquid in the jar, but I've found that about half full feeds it till I'm ready again. Hope this helps!
DeleteThanks for the recipe! I just found your blog and will now stalk you to the ends of the earth~~~ Your site popped up in a search for homemade chai and now I'm off to the kitchen to see if I have all the ingredients. Tomorrow it's off to the store in search of organic plain chai tea to make my own SCOBY (thanks for the heads-up Jessica!)
ReplyDeleteBonjour, Je veux savoir en français comment préparer Kombucha avec les JUS des Fruits. Merci
ReplyDeleteGirl, your blog is fabulous. I feel like I know you! I just wanted to share with you that I bought a large glass iced tea jar with a spout at the bottom. This way, at the end of the week, I can pour the kombucha right into the glass containers, instead of fussing with pouring it into a funnel and then into the jar. Also, I was able to find a scoby from a local beer brewing supply store. That would be a good place to look for anyone searching for a scoby, instead of using a starter kit. Please never stop blogging. I fear I will run out of inspiration and recipes and good laughs. You rock!
ReplyDeleteI have learned that you can start a Kombucha scoby with a bottle of komucha, Im assuming like the gt daves brand that contains the floating mother. Have you heard of this? I am excited to try making it myself, as even my child will drink it up!
ReplyDeleteDo you know if you can use powdered glucose instead of the sugar? I use glucose in beer brewing and it does the same thing you would want in kombucha. Also, a beer brewing kit would be perfect for brewing Kombucha.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the inspiration to start making Kombucha. I'm making my 7th batch today and so excited with how it's been turning out. I've been using a blend of black and orange pekoe teas and blueberry pomegranate juice. My husband and 2 year old daughter love it as well. My hubby had a horible habit of drinking 1 to 2 low carb energy drinks per day. Thanks to the kombucha, he's weaned himself down to 3 or less per week! I make 4 gallons each week and use 2 two gallon glass canisters covered with a cloth napkin and one of those elastic hair head bands. My next goal is making kombucha from coffee. Has anyone else tried this yet?
ReplyDelete