It is so easy, but I do recognize it is one of those things people have a hard time keeping up on. If you don't have it in you to take care of a really simple living organism, like a goldfish, it might not be your thing. But when you consider that you pay 4 to 5 dollars for a single serving bottle from a store that is now pasteurized (losing the health benefits of fermentation), it is really appealing to have a gallon of home-made kombucha for the price of 7 tea bags and a cup of organic sugar, even if you have to care for the mother.
We have this beautiful SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) from our friend, Erik, in Hawaii. I've gotten a few of them over the years and this one is by far the strongest and creates the nicest babies.
I think they are so beautiful. They remind me of a sea creature, or a full moon...
It takes just a few minutes to prepare:
- Boil one gallon of water (or enough to fill whatever glass container you will let it ferment in)
- Add 7 teabags or the equivalent of loose tea and let it brew for about 20 minutes (tea should be any combination of black, green, white, or oolong)
- Remove the bags and stir in 1 cup of organic sugar
- Let the tea fall to room temperature, pour it into a glass container and add the mother (stringy side down) and 1 cup of kombucha from the last batch. I've also heard you can use apple cider vinegar (natural, with the culture still intact like Bragg's) if you don't have enough reserved kombucha.
- cover the container with a clean cloth and rubber band and let it sit in the kitchen for about10 days. You could let it sit much longer - it will get more sour the longer it ferments as the scoby breaks down the sugar and makes the tannins, antioxidants, and the poly-phenols in the tea more bioavailable. Kombucha contains multiple species of yeast and bacteria along with the organic acids, active enzymes, amino acids, and polyphenols produced by these microbes. After the process, there is only about 5mg of caffeine per serving.
- Remove the mother and prepare a new batch, or you can put her in a jar; cover her with kombucha, and put it in the fridge (with a lid) until you are ready to start a new batch. The cool temperature in the refrigerator will stop the fermentation process. She will now have a new scoby baby attached to the top of her, which you can gently separate, with your fingers and either pass it on to a friend or put it in the compost.
If you want to flavor kombucha, most recipes will suggest that you do it after the fermentation is over and you've removed the mother, because some ingredients may affect her potency. I have made a few batches with chai tea bags, and had no problem. They were my favorite so far, although Lita wants to work on a rootbeer flavor, which I'm sure is going to win.
If anyone wants a mother, I can send it!
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