Tonight we bottled our first batch of kombucha! We've made it before, but had since lost our SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) which ferments the black tea and sugar into the ancient Chinese elixir known as kombucha.
This time, since we had no starter SCOBY, we bought a bottle of plain, organic live kombucha, and poured it into a half gallon of cooled black tea (using and removing 4 organic black tea bags) and 1 cup organic sugar. (This was last Monday, April 27, 2009.)
We covered the 1/2 gallon jar with a paper towel and rubber band. We watched day by day, waiting to see if our SCOBY would form. It did! A thin-looking film appeared on top of the tea. When we poured it off today, it looked like this:
Here it is, poured into bottles, which will sit out at room temperature for a few more days, to ferment further and build up fizz (though it is pretty fizzy now):
Meanwhile, we are cooling a gallon of black tea (8 tea bags, steeped, removed) and 1 1/2 cups sugar, When it is room temperature or just above, we'll add the SCOBY and a couple cups of the kombucha from this batch to start the next one.
According to the bottle of Synergy (TM) organic, raw kombucha, kombucha supports digestion, metabolism, immune system, appetite control, weight control, liver function, body alkalinity, anti-aging, cell integrity, and healthy skin and hair.
Here's our little kombucha lover enjoying today's batch!
*Kombucha is a lightly fermented, non-alcoholic beverage that is regularly sold in health food stores, and can also be made safely at home.
Cheers! To your health,
Melissa and Dave Sokulski, L.Ac
Birch Center for Health
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