Today we are making Kombucha, a beverage the ancient Chinese called the "Immortal Health Elixir". It's been around for more than 2000 years.
First some background info. Kombucha is a sweetened tea that is fermented with a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast, called a SCOBY for short. The fermentation process takes 7-12 days depending on temperature and the strength of the SCOBY. The SCOBY consumes over 90% of the sugar during fermentation, resulting in a low-sugar finished product.
The ingredients include: 1 gallon of water, 7 regular or 4 double size tea bags, 1 cup of sugar.
Bring half of the water to almost boiling, and add the tea. Cover and let it steep for a half hour or so.
Remove the tea bags and stir in the sugar, then add the remaining water. Boiling only half the water will help it cool faster.
When the tea cools to room temperature you are ready to proceed.
But you must also have a scoby and 1 cup of finished Kombucha to get the new batch started.
This is the finished Kombucha. After removing the scoby, the finished Kombucha is poured into a container for storage, and drinking. Some people prefer to do a second fermentation with fruit or juice to make a more effervescent beverage, however we skip this step.
The cooled, sweetened tea is then poured into the fermentation jar. The cup of finished Kombucha is added, then the scoby is placed on the top. The jar is covered with a coffee filter and secured with a rubber band. It must be able to breath, but covered to keep out fruit flies.
The storage container with the spigot will go in the fridge, the new batch will be placed in a safe place to ferment until next week when it will be ready to drink, and the process repeated.
Although there are no confirmed studies about kombucha’s health benefits, we do know that it is a good source of B vitamins and antioxidents. It contains probiotics, enzymes, and beneficial acids, which help to keep the gut in balance, like other fermented foods such as sauerkraut and raw apple cider vinegar.
