I recently have been very into drinking Kombucha tea. Kombucha (Kom-Booch-ah) or "buch" as it's affectionately called is a cultured tea by a Scoby (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast which grows into what the call a 'mushroom') which sounds disgusting but is actually more of a delicious life elixir. But I'll admit it does have a kind of tangy and somewhat startling vinegary taste in the beginning but it grows on you quickly.
Kombucha is a natural probiotic and aids digestion. I drink it about everyday but it is especially good for your body if you have been on antibiotics recently (or ever as the good bacteria in your belly are killed off by antibiotics and take a LONG time to grow back).
It can be bought commercially at most health food stores but costs usually between $3.50 and $4.50 a bottle and because of a dispute over alcohol contents in the tea (because it is fermented kombucha has about 0.5%) many stores like whole foods won't sell it.
So if you can't swing the price or even find it MAKE YOUR OWN! This here below is my Scoby all grown up and ready for action, I've grown quite fond of him actually.
Making the Kombucha is actually really simple. You will need:
a half gallon glass jar
4 black tea bags
about 3/4 cup o' sugar
1/2 cup of Kombucha from the last batch
1 scoby!
Fill the glass jar half full of boiling water and then add your tea bags. Let the tea steep for about 20 minutes. Fish the tea bags out and add in the sugar. Let the tea cool for about 20 minutes more. Then fill the jar almost to the top with cool water but make sure there is enough room left for the 1/2 cup of Kombooch and for the Scoby of course.
Make sure before you DON'T add the kombooch from last batch or the Scoby untill the tea mixture is room temperature. The heat could kill the little Scoby!!!!
When the tea is cool add in the 1/2 cup from the last batch and put the Scoby on top of that (like below). cover the jar with a thin cloth or paper towel and store in a warm dark place for 5-10 days, I keep it for 7 days. It will start to smell very vinegary and when you taste it, it'll taste tangy.
YOU'RE DONE!
Take the Scoby out and put it on a plate to the side, it'll have another, thinner, baby scoby stuck onto it. This baby can go into this next batch or given to a friend. Pour your tea in different jars and start again.
What? Whats that you say? you don't have a Scoby? Well, why don't you grow your own?
It's really easy. You can buy a starter culture on line for like 35 bucks OR you can go to your local health food store and buy a bottle of Kombucha, make sure it is both RAW and unflavored. Pour the whole bottle in a large glass jar. Fill the rest of the jar up with sweet, room temperature, black tea. Cover the mixture up with a thin cloth or paper towel and let it set in a warm dark place.
Somewhere between 5-7 days a baby scoby will start to grow, like this baby here.
Warning: IT WILL LOOK FUNKY
After another week or so it will start to thicken up and turn a yellow/white or pink/white color
You'll know its ready to start kombooching when the Scoby is about 1/4 an inch thick!
Happy Kombooching!
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