Kombucha anyone?

[ninnymary]

Thistle, I occasionally buy the mango flavor for my son. He feels it tastes pretty good. He had the "mother" for making it for a while now and just got around to making some tonight. He also is doing hoshigaki, the japanese tradition of drying persimmons. Some of the top chefs over here are doing them and they sell for $50lb at the farmers market. Since I helped him he said I probably could quit my job and do this for a living. haha

I personally don't like the taste of kombucha.

Mary

 

[thistlebloom]

Well I suppose I shouldn't make my mind up after one bottle. But it was sure not something I'd settle down in the porch rocker with and sip while enjoying the view. @journey11 , you make yours sound tasty.

I've only ever had store bought kefir, but I love it and could drink it all day.
I don't believe I've ever had a fizzy one though.

 

[canesisters]

@thistlebloom, sorry your first taste was so nasty. I like the store bought - but that first sip was a bit of a shock. The batch I'm brewing at home varies between still having a bit of the sweet tea taste and having a sharp 'zing' of the vinegar - depending on how long it's been since I've added to it.

Here's some picts now that the 'baby' scoby is getting established.
Tucked into her corner with a heating pad behind to keep her warm.

The baby scoby takes up the whole top now.

Looking down into the jar.

Another view of the 2 scobys. The thicker 'mother' is underneath. The new 'baby' is covering the top.
I have replaced my early morning coffee with a small glass of iced 'booch'.
I DO like it better with fruit in it than just plain from the brewer. I think that I'll let this batch go another couple of days, then pour it off into several bottles with blue berries.
The nice thing about continuous brewing is that I just keep adding tea to the top and drawing kombucha off the bottom. Of course, every time I add, it takes a few days to get back it's tartness.

 

[canesisters]

So how is everyone's brews going? Yall still enjoying it?
Now that I have grown an established scoby... how do I get another one to share??
Do I have to start another jar??

 

[so lucky]

Naw, just cut that one in half with a pair of scissors.
Thistle, I think kombucha grows on you. Did you buy Synergy brand? It is really good.

 

[journey11]

So how is everyone's brews going? Yall still enjoying it?
Now that I have grown an established scoby... how do I get another one to share??
Do I have to start another jar??

I need to go check mine...it's been almost a week.
.
.
.
.
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Still a little too sweet. Maybe tomorrow or the next day. This new SCOBY I bought sunk to the bottom right away, but already it has formed a new SCOBY floating on top, about a 1/4" thick. Yay!

The kefir has been a pain in the butt. It either brews too quickly (in less than one day) or is easily upset and pouty if you annoy it. I put it in the cool window sill to try to slow it down and it went to brewing a yeasty, alcohol-smelling milk. Yuck. I've dumped so much milk out. You're supposed to be able to make it with several kinds of milk, but it didn't do well on 2% so I went back to whole. Today's batch was better...just when I was about to give up and toss it out! I like making kombucha better, as it requires less babysitting. If the kefir doesn't straighten up, I'm going to dump it and just do yogurt instead.

I will either peel off a new layer that has formed on top of the original SCOBY to make a second batch of kombucha. Or you can pour about a cup and a half of kombucha into a wide-mouth pint jar, cover with a coffee filter and put in a dark place and leave it for a couple weeks. It will eventually form a nice, round little SCOBY on top of the liquid. Once it uses up all of the sugar in the pint jar and gets all vinegary, I've only had to refresh the sweet tea once to get a really thick SCOBY, about a 1/2 inch or so, to give away to a friend. (These people selling SCOBY's online are making a killing!) Letting it get really vinegary is a good idea for a little starter batch like that (give them the whole pint jar). When they make their first batch of tea, put the SCOBY into the tea first, then pour the vinegary kombucha on top and that will protect it from getting any mold on top of the SCOBY since mold hates acidity. Alternately, if you peel a layer and don't have much starter liquid, you can add about a 1/4 cup of pasturized apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar (the cheap kind) on top of a first batch of kombucha, also to prevent mold. Only have to do that with the initial batch. It will still taste fine.

 

[thistlebloom]

Naw, just cut that one in half with a pair of scissors.
Thistle, I think kombucha grows on you. Did you buy Synergy brand? It is really good.

I'm pretty sure it wasn't Synergy. It seemed to be very proud of the fact that it was a raw food, that was all over the label, but I don't remember the brand.

 

[canesisters]

(don't get the green one... THAT one is NASTY!)

 

[Nyboy]

Cane do you leave heating pad on 24/7 ? If so any worry of fire

 

[canesisters]

I stick my hand back there a couple of times a day to be sure it's not getting too hot. There's space all around it since it's just sitting up between the jar and the wall.