21 posts tagged “kombucha”
It's been COLD lately and my new scoby has barely started to produce at all. Kombcha likes to hang out around 70-80 degrees. I decided it was time to wrap my scoby up and keep it warm for the rest of winter. I wrapped my brewing jar in a towel, then a heating pad on medium and put the whole thing in a stone bowl. The stone will keep some of the warmth when the heating pad is off. Hopefully this will speed up brewing production and keep my new scoby happy.
Kombucha, maybe it's a winter thing for me... maybe I was too gung-ho before and got burned out... Regardless, my mother scoby is alive and well and I have another batch brewing.
I've had my scoby covered in a batch of kombucha for about six months now which sounds SCARY but after the kombucha eats all the sugar out of the tea it's vinegar... Bugs don't dig vinegar and it's WAY too acidic for mold so it's happy. It has about six layers to it and is probably five inches thick!
I'm just brewing a small single batch of 3 qts and I think I'm going to keep it that way for a while... Last time I was brewing I was passing out bottles to everyone and being a kombucha evangelist... This time is because I miss the drink and I think my health has suffered since I stopped drinking it all the time.
If you haven't heard me talk about kombucha before, click the 'kombucha' tag below this post to read my other posts or read about it here on wikipedia. If you want a scoby to start your own brewing, want to stop by for a sample or need any advice, let me know, I have plenty to share!
I just started my first batch in two months and just drank my first bottle of GT's brand since January... I forgot how much I loved this stuff! I just got burned out on it... I was brewing a LOT and passing a bunch off to friends and family... I'm only brewing 3qts this week and will keep the batches small for a long time.
Trego is coming over tomorrow to pick up a scoby, that was one of the main prompts to get the production going again.
I pulled my jars down and eva came running over, "Daddy! Can I have some bucha too!" It had been months since she's even heard that word let alone drank any... I gladly shared my bottle of GT's with her.
OBSERVATIONS FROM PREVIOUS BATCH:
- Trego came down from Frederick and grabbed a couple bottles
- I played barkeep for about twenty minutes of Easter going through a week's worth of brew letting everyone try it. I forget who brought kombucha up, but it wasn't me! :o) Someone is reading this blog!
- My Grandmother went home with four bottles. I need to email her soon. She wanted to see if it would help joint pain and such.
- Tahitian Noni juice = $42.00/liter each purchase comes with a free multi-level marketing company VS kombucha = $0.50/liter with no hype, no "initial investments", no get rich quick schemes... SAME CLAIMS TO RESULTS
- I could go on about the indigenous people of Tahiti and WHY they have no cancer and live longer... but umm... maybe later.
BOTTLED:
- Circle jar:
- Yield: 6 pints
- cranberry & ginger
- Square jar:
- Yield: 6 pints
- cranberry & ginger
BREWED:
- 9 quarts water
- 6 cups sugar
- 15 black tea bags
OBSERVATIONS FROM PREVIOUS BATCH:
- Not much... I got clear EZ-Caps this time, i like them a lot better than the brown bottles. Eventually I'll phase out the brown. I'll just keep lending the brown bottles to friends... that's a good way to get rid of them ;o)
BOTTLED:
- Circle jar:
- Yield: 6 pints (clear bottles)
- cranberry & ginger
- Square jar:
- Yield: 6 pints (brown bottles)
- cranberry & ginger
BREWED:
- 6 quarts water
- 4 cups sugar
- 10 black tea bags
OBSERVATIONS FROM PREVIOUS BATCH:
- Orange zest, orange peel... it's too bitter. good in theory, terrible in practice
- Green & black tea mix was pretty good after i bottled it properly, but i'll just stick with black only for a while.
- cranberry & ginger has won... i think i'm done experimenting for now
- Shared scoby with Susy, she really liked cranberry & ginger
BOTTLED:
- Circle jar:
- Yield: 6 pints (marked #1)
- #1 = cranberry & ginger
- Square jar:
- Yield: 6 pints (marked #2)
- #2 = cranberry & ginger
BREWED:
- 6 quarts water
- 4 cups sugar
- 10 black tea bags
OBSERVATIONS FROM PREVIOUS BATCH:
- Green Tea isn't really my thing but it was worth a try... twice.
- Ginger is ESSENTIAL to carbonation... other people claim fizz maybe i like mine much more like soda/beer... not sure... but without ginger it is completely flat
- some people claim reduced allergies... i haven't really noticed any allergies for a while, we'll see how the spring goes.
BOTTLED:
- Circle jar:
- Yield: 7 pints (marked #1)
- #1 = cranberry & ginger
- Square jar:
- Yield: 6 pints (marked #2 & #3)
- #2 = cranberry & ginger
- #3 = orange zest & ginger
BREWED:
- 6 quarts water
- 4 cups sugar
- 6 black tea bags / 5 green tea bags / 1oz loose Yerba Mate
OBSERVATIONS FROM PREVIOUS BATCH:
- Green Tea REALLY grows the scoby faster and tasted great during bottling... we'll see how it carbonates w/o ginger this week
- Orange.. too bitter but i used the whole peel, not just the zest... will try it again this batch
- Use a fork in front of the ez-cap bottle as a strainer to keep ginger and berries behind... easier than pouring mega slowly
- Vinegar Eels????!!!!!
- giving away another scoby this week
- everyone in the house is sick for the second time... i'm feeling fine
- saw this crazy video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=fU0EqIZX-mI
- i hate these shows, the lady is nuts and the camera/editing work is SO bad... but in the end i believe the people's stories even if they are not sure why it even works. Some of the people were calling it a mystery or it 'it just knows where to work'. Your body knows where it needs healing and it utilizes the enzymes and detoxifiers properly alongside your own natural defenses... You'd think if you were on TV, you'd know a little bit more about what 'cured' you.. but i guess that's just me. These dumb sci-fi shows attract those type of people anyway.
- oh! and spirulina? there MUST be a better way! this stuff is disgusting!! i'll just skip it with the kombucha and take capsules
- did i mention vinegar eels?
BOTTLED:
- Circle jar:
- Yield: 7 pints (marked #0& #1)
- #2 = blueberry 5 pints
- #3 = plain 2 pints
- Square jar:
- Yield: 6 pints (marked #2 & #3)
- #0 = plain 3 pints
- #1 = cranberry 3 pints
BREWED:
- 7 quarts water
- 4 cups sugar
- 6 black tea bags / 5 green tea bags / 1oz loose Yerba Mate
OBSERVATIONS FROM PREVIOUS BATCH:
- Apple & Strawberry was WAY too sweet.. my dad seemed to like it
- I need to be careful with the EZCap seals, i had three bottles COMPLETELY flat due to CO2 leakage
- Although cranberry isn't my favorite flavour i think it brews best
- so far unsuccessful in making anthrax, maybe next time...
BOTTLED:
- Circle jar:
- Yield: 7 pints (marked #0)
- #0 = ginger & cranberry
- Square jar:
- Yield: 5 pints (marked #2 & #2*)
- #2 = orange peel & ginger (NEW flavor)
- #2* = ginger
BREWED:
- 7 quarts water
- 4 cups sugar
- 6 black tea bags / 6 green tea bags (we'll see!)
OBSERVATIONS FROM PREVIOUS BATCH:
- Cranberries - REALLY good... if i liked cranberries :o)
- Kevin is now brewing on his own.
- Pastor Steve said it reminded him of Chicha, a fermented corn drink from Peru
- "the maize is ground, moistened in the chicha maker's mouth and formed into small balls"
- umm. eww. although i would still try it!
- Double the sugar seems to be good. Brewing time was one day longer, doesn't taste as weak as the last two batches.
- Retired the sun tea jar... that batch always seems to taste a bit more vinegary... maybe it was the plastic spout? Replaced with a perfect round jar from target.
- Next time i'm going to brew two different types of tea... it's time to experiment with yerba mate!
BOTTLED:
- Sun Tea jar:
- Yield: 5 pints (marked #2)
- #2 = ginger & cranberry (3 pints)
- #2* = ginger (2 pints)
- Square jar:
- Yield: 6 pints (marked #1)
- #1 = blueberry & ginger (3 pints)
- #3 = apple, strawberry & ginger (3 pints) I'm excited to try this one!!
BREWED:
- 6 quarts water
- 4 cups sugar
- 10 black tea bags
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Kombucha Lovers (host) Updated: Feb 14, 2008
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