Kombucha

The kombucha 1 week and 5 days later. A new scobi (the white stuff on top) grew and fermented the tea. The old scobi floats in the middle of the jar.  Now I have 2 scobis so I can ferment two jars at the same time or share my 2nd scobi with someone else!

A week and 5 days ago it looked like this.

I poured the kombucha into air tight bottles.  I threw fresh ginger in all of them and some grapes in one to experiment with a new flavor.  The kombucha will continue to ferment in the jars but without any air it will start to carbonate.  I'll have delicious, flavorful, carbonated kombucha in about 3-5 days. Yum!

Kombucha!

I made a batch of Kombucha! Here is a great link that tells ya how to make it.

Scobi baby magic!

Kombucha 2 Weeks Later

So after 17 days of fermenting my kombuca tea, this is what it looks like.  The picture below is what it looked like when I started it 17 days ago.  As you can see a new scoby grew on the top.  You can drink it like this with no flavor added.  I will save the scobies for two new batches of kombucha along with 2 cups of fermented kombucha to start two new batches.  It is not carbonated like the one you'd get at the grocery store.  In order for it to be carbonated you flavor it (without the scoby).  I made two bottles of flavored kombucha.  A citrus one where I added about a 1/4 cup of orange juice and 3 cups of kombucha.  For the other bottle, I chopped up some ginger and threw it in with the kombucha.  After 2-3 days it will be carbonated and flavored.  It tastes best when cold.  

I followed this video to learn how to flavor my kombucha.

Kombucha!

I finally made my very first batch of Kombucha!  Kombucha is a fermented tea beverage.  It tastes a bit like apple cider vinegar.  The longer you let it ferment, the stronger the vinegar flavor gets.  After it ferments you can add fruit juice to flavor it.  It contains probiotics and antioxidants.  It costs about $4 for a small bottle at the grocery store.  But when it is made at home it only costs about $1 a gallon.  The scoby (the big goober floating in the liquid) eats the sugar I have added to the tea and grows another scoby.  Then when the batch is through, both scobies can be used again.  That's why people end up with more scobies than they know what to do with!  

I am very excited to have something fermenting in my home!

Check out this video here to learn how to make Kombucha.