As you probably have figured out, I love cooking, baking and pretty much anything to do with food! For the next few posts, I will be sharing recipes and how to's that you, my loyal readers, have asked for.
That said, I am not the queen of cooking! I do not have all the answers. But I do love the process and am always honored when you want my recipes.
If you had told me a few years back that I'd be brewing up weekly batches of Kombucha, I would have laughed in your face. Me! I hate sour fermented things like vinegar, dressing and even ketchup. My hubby makes fun of me because I am a fairly simple girl that way. My parents always said we had to taste something once and if we didn't like it we wouldn't have to do it again. I always figured it wasn't all that bad to eliminate the extra calories and sugars that dressings and toppings add but that's not today's topic.
Back to my newest project, kombucha. I have read many different opinions on the brew. You can see everything from it is indeed the miracle cure all to the claim it does nothing at all. Because of my year plus of antibiotics I figured I would at least give it a try. I have discovered I kind of really like it and it does seem to aid in the digestion gut issues I have had.
So, here is my how to!
Start out with clean sanitized containers, preferably new. It is extremely important to make kombucha in a clean environment to avoid bad bacteria.
This pic is from my first set up. I bough clear gallon glass jars that I use now. If you prefer a carbonated beverage, I highly recommend the swing top bottles shown below. I will explain more about those in a minute.
This pic is from my first set up. I bough clear gallon glass jars that I use now. If you prefer a carbonated beverage, I highly recommend the swing top bottles shown below. I will explain more about those in a minute.
Next, a good healthy brew needs a healthy scoby.
Often you can snag one from a friend who has been brewing for a while who will most likely have a small scoby hotel going. Personally, I did some research and loved what I learned about fermentaholics.com and bought several of my last endeavor's start up from them including my scoby.
You will also need to get some good jar covers to keep the gnats and fruit flies out of your juice.
These are my favorite and come with rubber bands to secure them on the top of your container.
Now, for the actual brew. I have tried various teas, plain ole black was my main stay until I found this! I got it off Amazon and one small bag makes a whole bunch of brew, like 5 gallons!
I boil up about 6 cups of RO water. When it's boiling I get one of those handy dandy tea strainers and fill it with 2 T of this tea, and let it soak for about 20 minutes. While the liquid is still hot I strain it over 3/4 c of raw organic cane sugar and stir till it's all dissolved, then let it set until it's cool.
After it's cooled properly, I add it to the jar in which I have the scoby and the starter tea it came in. Cover with the cloth and let set in a warm dry place for 7 to 14 days.
At this point, I strain out all but about 2 cups of the tea and the scoby into another glass container. You can consume at this point or add flavor. My very favorite thing to do is add about 1/2 a cup of fresh or frozen raspberries and let that set for 3 to 5 days. Then I get my bottles ready by putting 1 t of sugar in the bottom of each. After I strain the berries out of the juice, I use a funnel to pour the brew into the bottles. This will then set on the counter and carbonate for a few days (I usually plan 3 or 4)
Warning: If you don't get good quality swing top bottles they can fizz and bubble right out in the carbonation process....They have also been know to explode up to the ceiling and create a royal mess. Ha! The best, safest method is refrigerating before opening carbonated bottles. I honestly open mine out on my back porch as I have had 1 to many bad experiences.
That's my kiefer experiment peeking out of the corner....
The next step is to break out the pretty glass and the ice and enjoy! I always strain mine when I get a bottle out as the scobies are alive and growing at all times and I often find remnants in my bottles which I do not enjoy tasting.
I usually try and have mine earlier in the day and sometimes have as my beverage with breakfast.
I love it when you comment! Ask questions! Let me know how it went for you and it there are more recipes or tips you'd specifically be interested in. I'm grateful when you share my blog with your friends!
It's the little things....
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