Brew Your Own Kombucha

Kombucha
If you say it just right it sounds like something you might say when you do a karate chop!

What is it?
Kombucha is basically a sweetened tea that has been fermented by microorganisms, consisting basically of bacteria and yeast cultures. This wonderfully tasty drink dates back to China around 250 BC, but recently has gained popularity amongst celebrities, and especially raw food circles. It contains beneficial probiotics, live active enzymes, L-Theanine, organic acids, and polyphenols.

How is it made?
Traditionally Kombucha is made by brewing a caffeinated tea, stirring in sugar, and storing that in a large jar, along with the scoby, or “mushroom” zoogleal mat to ferment. This turns into a wonderful beverage that can be quite satisfying and even balancing. One of the more popular brands purchased by raw foodists is GTS Kombucha.

For years raw foodists wouldn’t brew this drink because of our adversity to processed sugar. But great news, it can be done with raw honey! Here is how I did it.

Instructions:
1. Lightly warm water and add 5 caffeinated tea bags (I used Green Tea)
2. Stir in a half a cup of raw honey until thoroughly mixed.
3. Stir in a quarter cup of raw apple cider vinegar.
4. Add scoby (be sure water is cool before you do this step)
5. Place cheese cloth over jar and wrap with rubber band
6. Wait 7-30 days to ferment. (Do not take off cloth before 7 days)

Note:
You can purchase a scoby online or sometimes through a local co-op. You can experiment with the ferment time as you go along to see what tastes best for you.

**When you tea is done you will have two scoby’s, the one you originally put in that floated to the bottom, and a new one that grew on top. You can now do the same process over and make two batches at once (one with each scoby), or you can give one to a friend so they can start their own tea! You can also add grated ginger or whatever is to your liking to your drink, just be sure to add this the tea only, do not mix it with the scoby.

Enjoy,

Philip : )

Checkout Lovingraw.com for the pics!

Comment

You need to be a member of Give it to me Raw to add comments!

Join Give it to me Raw

Comment by Philip on February 28, 2008 at 2:39pm: Not important at all, just fun to make. I havent drank it in months.

Comment by Sarah on February 24, 2008 at 9:40pm: awesome! i just ordered a scoby online!

Comment by Philip on February 24, 2008 at 9:34pm: I used a 1.5 or 2 gallon jar, I forget which.

Comment by Sarah on February 24, 2008 at 9:28pm: how much water do you use?

Comment by Blair on February 18, 2008 at 9:35pm: Hey Philip,
Is there a way to grow the kombucha mother yourself, without having to order the SCOBY?
And again thanx for sharing your recipe I'm going to have to make it one of these days!

Comment by Joy on February 7, 2008 at 10:02pm: Yeah, I think it was carbonated. Thanks.

Comment by Philip on February 7, 2008 at 9:12pm: The kombuch in the stores is usually pretty carbonated. When I made mine it wasn't, and didn't give you the buzz. You do need to use caffeine as far as I know. That is how the culture grows. Wine... well, its up to the individual. There is no doubt that it changes the energy in the body.

Comment by Joy on February 7, 2008 at 9:00pm: Do you think it would work with herbal tea or fresh soaked herbs? I know green & black tea come from a kind of Camillia Plant, maybe if I soak some of my Camillia leaves? I am not afraid to experiment. Do you think wine is healthy, Dr Walker said no. I do not know what chemical changes occur with Kombucha or how it would effect herbs. I had a friend that made it regularly, and it kind of grossed me out, with that fungus on top. I had some health store kind & got a slight headache. I also read a topic with people saying they got headaches?One of my sons works testing at a winery, and we had lots of fresh grape juice that he pressed in the early fall, but he was given some wine for Christmas, one I tried a little of gave me an instant headache. I see maxine above says something about alcohol?

Comment by maxine on February 6, 2008 at 11:25pm: I love Kombucha, I drink a GT at least five times a week. Filling, satisfying, purifying (great if you had too much wine the night before) : ). There is a great non-alcoholic mojito recipe on glivingtv using a gingerade GT that looks fantastic.