Kombucha Tea

My kitchen is has been temporarily converted into a science lab.

Over the last year or so, I've been hearing/reading a lot about fermented foods and how beneficial they are to our health, but I've always been so intimidated by the whole fermenting process. (I don't follow directions well and have little patients for long drawn out detailed processes.) I had this idea in my head that fermenting something would be just that. So, since I've been in the mad scientist mood, I thought I'd take the plunge and make a fermented tea, called Kombucha tea, that I've been wanting to make for over a year now.

Kombuch tea is a fermented Russian tea. They sell it at Central Market, Whole Foods, and Sprouts in 16 oz bottles for almost $4 a bottle!!!! I love it, but have major guilt every time I buy it...especially in today's economy. The health benefits are fantastic. Like any other fermented food, it introduces good bacteria into your digestive system, which is great for your immune and digestive system. It also has different cancer-fighting acids in it, as well as lot of vitamins and minerals. The GT brand of Kombucha that I normally buy is made by a man who says the tea helped his mom recover from cancer. Pretty cool, huh?

In order to make the tea, you have to start out with a scoby, which is basically a culture of bacteria and yeast that work together to ferment the tea. You can get a scoby from someone who already makes Kombucha tea...they multiply with every batch. A lady in one of my eGroups offered to give me one of hers...thank you Kathy!

Now, once you have the scoby, the rest is actually very easy. After making it for the first time a few weeks ago, I was HOOKED! All you need is a gallon jar, green or black tea bags, sugar, and a scoby. So far, my Kombucha batches have been a combo of fruity herbal tea and green tea. The hardest part is waiting 7-12 days for it to ferment...again, patience is not my strong point. The final product is a slightly carbonated tangy tea that is very refreshing to drink. Right now, I've got two batches going...one plain green tea and one strawberry/green tea. The whole family loves it! The kids even ask for it...Vance asks for "bucha". To learn more, Google "kombucha tea", and you'll find all kinds of info. Here are a couple of sites you can visit as well:

http://www.seedsofhealth.co.uk/fermenting/kombucha.shtml

http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/kombucha

Here is a picture of the two batches I just started today.



...and in case you're wondering, yes, this is ONE of my ideas of fun! :-p Don't knock it 'til you try it!