Kombucha is a fermented tea beverage that is purported to have health benefits due to its probiotic content. While I am not sure about the health benefits, I can tell you that it's tasty, and a healthful alternative to soda. In fact, I've even seen it marketed as "natural soda."
I tried kombucha for the first time several months ago, and I was immediately hooked. Once you get past the odor, which is somewhat earthy and vinegar-like, the taste is amazing. It is more tart than sweet, and has a pleasing effervescence. This is due to the fermentation of the sugars in the sweet tea starter by the "mother," which is a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. This SCOBY, as it is also sometimes called, it the means by which sweetened tea is turned into kombucha. This tea is sometimes flavored with fruit juices or spices as well. My favorite thus far has been ginger kombucha, which adds a bit of heat from the ginger to the tartness.
So, after sampling kombucha, Rachelle and I decided to make it at home. After our successful attempts at home fermented foods earlier this year, such as sauerkraut and pickles, we felt pretty confident in our ability to do so. Also, I have made quite a bit of beer in the past (and plan to do so again in the future), so fermenting beverages is an old past-time of mine.
We started with a bottle of commercially available kombucha, which was delicious, and left about one-third of the bottle, which included the bacteria and yeast. This was to form the basis of the mother. We started with approximately 1cup of tea, with 2 tablespoons of sugar added, that was boiled, and then cooled to room temperature. To this cooled tea, we added the remnants of the bottle of kombucha. This sat in a jar, covered with a paper towel, in a dark cupboard for approximately 1 week.
After a week, we transferred this mixture to a larger container, and added it to a quart of tea, with 1/3 cup of sugar. This we also covered tightly, and placed back in the cupboard, where it sat for another 2-3 weeks. We checked it periodically, and when the mother had formed a mat approximately 1/4 inch thick, we were ready to make the kombucha proper!
We took this mother and added it to 3 quarts of tea (made with 4 teabags and 1 cup of sugar) that had cooled to room temperature.
We added a cup or so of the liquid the mother had been growing in as well, and put all of this in a 2 gallon food-grade bucket, which we covered with a clean cloth.
This is now sitting in the cupboard, fermenting, and waiting to be bottled and consumed. We will be able to do that this week, and I will post an update when we do. I can't wait!
Next make: red wine vinegar.
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