Do you drink kombucha? It's a fizzy, sour, fermented tea that has a huge and active cult following. Drinking the probiotic-laden brew purportedly brings all sorts of health benefits: increased energy, improved immune system, better digestion, and it's even been reported to help people recover from cancer.
I am dubious about the health claims, but I do drink it — I just really like the taste! I am brewing my first batch, and I am curious: have you ever tried to brew kombucha?
Kombucha has traditionally belonged in the hippie and health-conscious underground, but lately it's been popular in wider circles. People get hooked by its sour, fizzy taste, which is really very refreshing. It's a great change from too-sweet juices and sodas, and its sugar content is minimal.
I personally was quite skeptical of the "mushroom tea" when I first read about it. It's brewed, after all, with a mushroom-like cloud of bacteria and yeast, hanging down into the tea like a cloudy jellyfish. Scary! But my husband bought me a bottle when I was sick last winter, and I immediately loved the taste. Sour, fizzy, refreshing. I promptly developed a habit of GT's ginger and citrus flavors, but the bottles are $4 apiece at the co-op. Surely there is a cheaper way!
The kombucha brewing underground is also a huge and well-networked place. If you look on Craigslist or Google on kombucha you'll find all sorts of helpful people willing to give away a starter. The starter looks like a flat, white mushroom, and it's called a mother. When you brew the tea with a mother it usually produces even more of the starter, a baby.
I decided to go an even easier way, however, and start a batch from a bottle of raw kombucha. I had read that this was just fine; it just might take a little longer to get started.
So I boiled about a gallon of water with what seemed like a ton of sugar, steeped some black tea bags, let it all cool to room temperature, and dumped in a bottle of GT's ginger flavor kombucha, also at room temperature. I put it all in a big clean glass jar, covered with a paper towel, and let it sit.
A week later there is a serious layer of spent yeast on top of the liquid, and there is the characteristic fizziness of kombucha. It is still working, though, and the bacteria and yeast are still forming and eating up all that sugar. I am hoping that it turns out well; I will give another update next week!
Until then - have you made kombucha, and do you like to drink it?
Related: What's the Deal With: Kombucha?
(Images: Faith Durand)
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I started making it a few months ago. I got a starter from a friend who has been making his own for years. So far so good. Some batches seem to turn out better than others and it doesn't always get the same fizziness that the store bought stuff gets. Also I wonder if I might be putting too much tea in mine because there is a bitter acid like flavor that you do not get in the store bought stuff.
view amandaR's profile
My step dad has been making this for a few years now, and orignally started his using a bottle of raw kombucha from our co-op. It's been really fun -- trying out different flavors and such. One way we've found to make sure you get a nice fizzy non-vinegary kombucha is to bottle it (raw of course) and just put a splash of sweet liquid (sweet tea, fruit juice etc) in before you screw the cap on tight. The little bits of kombucha mother eats the sugar and sort of "charges" the bottle so you get a very satisfying champagne like fizz when you open the bottles a few days later.
view mlleErica's profile
I too have recently started brewing kombucha.
For my next batch I'm going to exactly what mlleErica is talking about and "prime" the kombucha before I refrigerate it. My only complaint with the first batch was that it wasn't fizzy. Since I've brewed a great batch of beer I'm going to think of bottling kombucha in the same way.
I also made a batch right before I left for vacation. I set the brew to ferment the day before I left and when I got back I had the most beautiful gelatinous mushroom on top of the brew. Can't wait to make another.
Oh, I got my original "mother" online but like the idea of being able to start a batch from a gifted mother or from another bottle of kombucha.
view art's profile
Just started drinking Kombucha after reading wonderful things about it - I love the taste and the fizz... However, just wondering if drinking those little floaty things is okay? I have been picking out the bigger ones and discarding, but drinking the smaller ones. Does it really matter?
view MichelleCK's profile
I tried starting my own mother from a bottle of GT's back in February, but it just took too long. I broke down and bought a starter. Mine seems to be getting better with every batch. Some of the early batches weren't all that fizzy. Now, I'm getting lots of bubbles. I use chunks of ginger when I put it in bottles. I just tried a batch with chunks of fresh peach.
I've heard all the fantastic health claims, but I just think it taste good. I like the bubbles without all the sweet.
view csaustin's profile
Been a member of the cult going on three years. I've yet to work up the nerve to actually brew my own, but it's definitely on my task list. Maybe this summer when peaches are in season? For now I'll stick with GT's.
view EasilyAmused's profile
I wish I liked this, but I don't. I really really don't like kombucha (I excitedly bought a bottle, opened it up, and filled my mouth with the drink...only to react in utter shock, and spat it out of my mouth). I never spit things back out!
however, I do like getting insight into this drink (and for the record, it's nice to know that apparently making kombucha is NOT comprised of stuffing old fruit into a pitcher of water, sticking it under the warm sun, letting some insects die in it, spitting into it a few times, then encouraging birds to bathe in it before drinking, 5 weeks later...) :) :) :)
:) :) :)
all in good fun. :)
view czilka's profile
I always have a jar going.
(Sweet tea colony)let sit for about 1 week (ginger root splash simple syrup)bottle and seal for about 2 weeks = tasty kombucha goodness!
And it is SO CHEAP to make at home!
view Taratootie42's profile
My sweetie always has a batch brewing and a batch in the fridge. He LOVES it and it very fastidious about keeping the mother, which he calls Gomez, healthy.
I'm not a fan, but do brew something from a different SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, aka the mother): kefir.
view violet222's profile
I started brewing kombucha a while ago and am totally hooked on the process, possibly because I'm a closet miser. I've always got a giant batch brewing and at least 5 big soda bottles full (this helps to increase carbonation). I now drink it in lieu of coffee for my morning buzz.
I've given away 2 mothers recently - it feels oddly exhilarating to know that you're helping to keep the beast alive. :)
view KPE's profile
I did a few batches last year, from a highly chunky GT bottle and fresh organic tea with sugar - in a very similar looking square jar! I enjoyed the homemade more than GTs, with a much gentler taste and fizz.. the GT is darn near impossible for me to finish. Been thinking about getting started again, but not sure I really have the space for it.
view cheflaura's profile
i haven't tried making this, mostly because i think i'm allergic to it! i'm allergic to alcohol (sad, i know) and i have the same reaction to kombucha as i do to booze (shortness of breath, hot-feeling head, crappiness in general).
that fermented stuff is no joke!
view thedonna's profile
thedonna,
The amount of alcohol in a glass of Kombucha is about equal to the natural alcohol that develops in a glass of orange juice if you left it on the counter overnight. We're talking fractions of a percent ABV. I suppose it is possible for you to be that sensitive, but alcohol can easily get created in those amounts in just about anything with sugar in it.
view Schwartz's profile
I am a ballet dancer (and food blogger) and I drink Kombucha almost every day. I do not make my own however.....I really do feel more energetic, and that my body is more "aligned". Maybe I am just fooling myself:) What I think is the best part is that it is very low in sugar, and leaves you feeling full and satisfied because of the bubbles.
I am obviously a fan.....
view Anticiplate's profile
i tried it and didn't like it. i normally like the idea of going homemade to save some money but y'all lost me at "gelatinous mushroom" ewwwww.
view Joan in SB's profile
I plan on making some of this soon! We used to carry it at one of my jobs, but don't anymore, so I must go on a mother-finding mission.
Best part is that this is raw, so for those of us who are going raw for some time, its perfectly ok to drink.
Also... I swear that some of the bottles sold at stores ferment past the low alcohol level. I don't get drunk easily, and after having a large bottle, I could feel it. This has only happened once, with a particularly wine-like tasting bottle. I'm figuring it was older than the rest...
view Nolann's profile