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I have been experimenting with fermentation for a while now, so while I was grocery shopping one day I saw some Kombucha on the shelf. I had heard that it is really good for rebuilding your gut flora. The gut flora is good bacteria that helps assimilate food so you can absorb beneficial nutrients and will assist your body in rebuilding your gut.
I was fascinated, so I bought some so I could try it out! After buying different brands and flavors. I really liked it and I decided that I was going to try making my own. I didn't know very much about making Kombucha (and I'm still not an expert on it) but I did some research about it and found some recipes. First I needed a Scoby.
A 'Scoby' is a jelly like culture of beneficial yeasts and good
bacteria. Growing a Scoby seemed so much like a big task but it really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.
This is what you need to make your own Scoby:
- 1 gallon jar (you can buy a gallon of pickles at the store if you want but you can buy one herealso, I rinsed the jar with as hot water as I could stand, a clean cloth and white vinegar to make sure there wasn't any competing bacteria in my jar and to assure that my culture had a good start)
- Cheese cloth or cotton wash cloth to cover the top of the jar (this allows the culture breath and keeps flies from getting in!)
- A clean cotton cloth like this or cheese cloth like this
- A large rubber band or twine to secure the cloth
- A clean wood mixing spoon like this
- A bottle 16 oz of plain raw Kombucha like this
- Granulated sugar like this
- Black tea bags like this
- 7 cups of water
What you need to do:
1. Heat about 7 cups of water and to make black tea with 4 tea bags
( you can use green tea but I haven't noticed that it tastes different by using a different tea)
2. Add 1/2 c of granulated sugar
(its always a good idea to use unrefined and organic ingredients whenever you can. You can use the kind of sugar you wish to but always use sugar and not sweetener because the culture needs the sugar to thrive)
Add the sugar to the freshly brewed tea and let it cool to room temperature and pour it into your jar
I then add in the full 16 oz bottle of plain Kombucha.
Mixed it with your mixing spoon and cover the jar with a clean cotton cloth and secure it using a rubber band or twine. Then set your jar in a safe place for about 1-4 weeks.
The first signs that I knew my Scoby growing was some small bubbles collecting at the top. After a few more days I saw a film growing at the top of my tea.
A week later I checked my start and saw that my Scoby was forming nicely and it had the nice smell of Komucha so I knew it was growing as intended. You will want to grow your scoby to be at least 1/4 inch thick before you use it to make your Komucha.
