Kombucha

Kombucha is a pro-biotic drink which is full of enzymes and vitamins and is very good for health.  If you buy it from the shops, it's about 6 dollars for 300ml, so I decided to make my own.  It's quite easy to buy SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) online, I bought mine from eternal delight and started my first batch on the 21st July.

The SCOBY is the living bacteria that produces kombucha by converting the sweetened tea into healthy acids that are so good for your body.  Each batch of kombucha tea will produce a new SCOBY.

Recipe for kombucha tea

1. Bring to a boil 3 litres of water and add 5-7 tea bags (I like to use English breakfast tea).  Steep for 15mins.  Add 1 cup of white sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves.  Allow the liquid to cool to room temperature.  Keep covered and careful of contamination at this stage.
2. Pour cooled, room temperature liquid into fermenting container.  
3. Add SCOBY and 1 cup of previously fermented kombucha brew as a starter.
4. Cover with a clean cloth, paper towel or coffee filter.  Set aside in a quiet undisturbed spot (no direct sunlight).  Every time the liquid is disturbed the culture will begin to start forming over again and not form properly.
5. Ferment 6-14 days to your taste.  Mine normally takes about 12 days.  Taste with a straw (after the 5th day) until the flavor is the right combination of sweet and sour.
6. Save half a cup to begin the next batch once this batch has brewed.  A new SCOBY will form which you can use for the next batch too.

Tea

Black tea is most nutritious for the scoby and will provide the most ideal brewing conditions. 

Flavouring

You can add flavours to your kombuha after you have harvested it.


Add desired herbs and fruits to a large glass jar, fill the bottle up with kombucha and seal the jar up with a lid
Allow the kombucha to remain bottled for another 2-5 days at room temperature (away from direct sunlight), this will carbonate the kombucha
Place the bottle in the fridge to halt the fermentation process
Remove the scoby from the finished kombucha.

A few of my favourites:  lemon, lemon and ginger, blueberries, goji berries

Fresh, frozen or dried fruit:  20% fruit and 80% kombucha
Juice:  10% juice and 90% kombucha





You can experiment to come up with the best combinations for your taste preferences.