What is Kombucha?
I have never found a drink so entertaining as kombucha. "Why" you ask?
1. Many drinks have easy to pronounce names, kombucha does not. I have had a few conversations that revolved around how to pronounce this ones name.
2. It’s not every drink you make that will spontaneously explode on your counter top.
3. People have funny reactions when I tell them how I once came home to a very..fermented smell in my bedroom with glass shattered all around and purple liquid on the ceiling…floor and…the walls.
4. People make amusing faces when I serve them this authentic, ancient, long forgotten drink, and their taste buds are not prepared for the pure awesomeness. In other words if your taste buds aren't cluttered enough (pun intended) you might not like this drink.
You may be thinking that I think kombucha is so entertaining because it is alcoholic and has a reality altering affect on the mind. I’m here to tell you that, that is absolutely not true!
Kombucha is a cultured drink consisting of black tea and sugar. Sweet tea is made, a kombucha culture is added and the mix is left to sit on the countertop from anywhere between a few days to a few weeks. Most people confuse all fermentation products to end in alcoholic results. Kombucha is not an alcoholic product and is appropriate for consumption by all ages. I’m not a scientist but I have dug up many articles on the chemical make up of kombucha which have taught me that the sugar in the tea is first converted to alcohol which is then converted into organic acids.
This brings us to the health benefits of kombucha.
Since kombucha is a cultured drink it is a natural source of probiotics. Bacteria is in everything, our food, our water, our air. When brewing kombucha you cover your jar with a thin cheesecloth to prevent intruders from getting in but still allowing air flow. The kombucha culture known as a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) grows off of what is in the air, as well as the components of water (minerals and nutrients) and sugar. The air supplies the brew with yeast that is naturally found in air.
The SCOBY is commonly referred to as a mushroom, this is only because it looks like a mushroom. A SCOBY is not something that you could find growing on a tree in a misty forest. Rather, it is a gathering of beneficial bacteria and yeast that forms this mushroom look alike colony.
If you were to steep a gallon of sweetened black tea and leave it out for a few days mold would grow on the top. If you simply add a mass of good bacteria and yeast, bad bacteria (mold) will not be able to grow. A SCOBY grows to the size of the opening of whatever jar you have it in which helps seal the tea keeping unwanted visitors away.
Because of the kombucha’s enzymes, acids, and probiotics it can be drunk with a meal to improve stomach acid which may aid in heart burn. It can also help replenish the body with beneficial bacteria which competes against bad bacteria in the body. Kombucha can help protect against oxidization through its content of vitamin C and an antioxidant that it gains through the fermentation process. Kombucha can aid in weight lose because it is high in acetic acid and polyphenols which are thought to help increase weight loss.
To me, one of the greatest health benefits of kombucha is not what it contains but what it replaces. Drinking a tasty fizzy kombucha with a meal or through the day can be a superb replacement for soda or other harmful sugar filled carbonated beverages. Kombucha can help digestion while anything containing added carbonation directly halts digestion because it alkalinizes your body when it needs to be acidic to preform digestion. Because of the fermentation process most of the sugar and caffeine, depending on how long you let your batch brew, are used up as food for the SCOBY and converted; which means the sugar and caffeine levels drop dramatically after the fermentation process.
Kombucha
Equipment:
Gallon size glass jar (make sure it’s clean)
5-7 TBS black tea
1 cup of organic cane sugar (do not use honey)
A SCOBY and at least 1 cup of liquid from a previous batch of kombucha
A cloth or coffee filter and a rubber band
Instructions:
1. Heat up a gallon of water to 200 degrees. Turn heat off and put loose leaf tea, or tea bag, in. Let steep for 8 minutes. Strain, if using loose leaf tea. Add the sugar, stir till dissolved.
2. Let tea cool to room temperature. Don’t skip this step, if your tea is too hot it will kill your starter culture.
3. Once tea is completely cool, pour into glass jar, leaving a couple of inches of room at the top.
4. Pour your starter liquid into the jar
5. Wash your hands then rinse them with vinegar. Pick up your SCOBY and place it in your jar of sweetened tea.
6. Cover the jar with an old cotton t-shirt, or kitchen towel. Secure with a rubber band or string. Don’t let fruit flies in!!!
7. Put the jar in a warm corner of the kitchen that is not exposed to lots of light. Kombucha likes it to be about 75-85 degrees.
8. Let sit to ferment for around 7-10 days. The length of time will vary depending on the temperature, and how big your batch is. Taste the kombucha everyday till it is to your liking. When the brew is ready it should be slightly sour but still a little sweet.
When your kombucha is ready you can pour off everything but the SCOBY and some starter liquid which you’ll save for making another batch. Drink the kombucha or 2nd ferment it!
