Let me share with you the history of my Kombucha!
Kombucha is a fermented tea drink made by combining sweetened tea with a Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast in short SCOBY. The SCOBY consumes the sugar and ferments the tea, creating a tangy, effervescent beverage. Kombucha benefits gut health, digestion, immune function, and potentially weight management. It's rich in probiotics, antioxidants, glucosamine content for joint health, and vitamins such as B vitamins (B1, B2, B6, B12), vitamin C, and vitamin K, and possibly many more I have not mentioned.
Five years ago, I learned about Kombucha and felt challenged over claims that the SCOBY (tea mushroom) responsible for producing Kombucha can't be made, as it is from the Kombucha God, and I either have to receive it as a gift or buy it online. So, I experimented with making my own SCOBY.
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I started with a teaspoon of my wild elderberry syrup in a small jar and added water. Elderberry is rich in strong yeast, hence I chose this.
Then I added a drop of my lactobacillus ferment from my sourdough starter.
I covered it with filter paper and placed it in the cupboard, hoping that the good bacteria and the yeast would work together to form a SCOBY.
I forgot about it for five months. When I checked, there was already a small gelatinous disc floating on the top, and the liquid smelled vinegary sweet!
So, I made black tea with sugar to feed what I hoped was a SCOBY, which was about the size of a pound coin. SCOBY loves tannin, and black tea is rich in it.
After a few days, it was growing bigger. I kept feeding it until it was big enough to make at least a glassful of kombucha.
The first time I added fruits to the kombucha water, I was impressed by how fizzy it turned out, and a couple of my bottles exploded in the kitchen.
I kept making it until I gained the confidence to actually taste my own kombucha.
And it was amazingly refreshing and tasted so good, making me feel generally well!
Until now, I have been using my own SCOBY, and it keeps producing a beautiful drink that my family and friends enjoy. I gave SCOBYs to my siblings as well so they can make their own healthy drink.
I am probably just lucky with my experiment, so I am recreating it to see if that particular process using wild cultivated yeast and bacteria worth promoting to people for making their own.
The basic process of making kombucha involves brewing tea, typically black or green tea, and adding sugar to it.
I recently have been using unrefined natural cane sugar due to its health benefits, and my SCOBY seems to do well with this.
Once the tea has cooled, the SCOBY and a small amount of previously fermented kombucha are added to the mixture.
The container is then covered with a breathable cloth or paper towel and left to ferment for around 7 to 14 days at room temperature.
Once fermented, the color turns lighter but vibrant. Then it is ready to consume.
Once ready and fermented, there's an option to flavour it after with fruits or herbs.
I do this not just for flavor, but to infuse the kombucha with beneficial nutrients, and I leave it for at least 3 days. I don't cover tightly at this stage as I had a bad explosion due to carbonation and lost half of my kombucha.
You can cover tightly for extra carbonation, but it needs extra monitoring or use a thick quality bottle or plastic container for safety.
I bottle up after infusing for about 3 days and kept in the fridge. Adding more sugar or fruits a day before drinking adds fizziness.
It sounds complicated, but it is an enjoyable process. Ensuring that it is processed cleanly gives me confidence to drink it. Plus, it's naturally done and beneficial to health. A bad odor or smell in your Kombucha means it is contaminated with bad bacteria or yeast. The smell should be vinegary sweet, sometimes having an alcohol scent as it can naturally produce up to 0.5% alcohol
I'm delighted to have crafted this incredible, all-natural, nutrient-rich beverage that we've been savoring daily! It's a wonderful way for me to feel more connected to nature.
Have a wonderful day, everyone.
Mariah 💗