Kombucha

[capozzoli]

I got a kombucha scoby coming from the farm where I get raw milk. Strange I know, they must be farming this stuff. I found it strange cause they are Mennonite. Not sure if they are into that stuff, or they are just filling a demand.

Im gonna start some up right away. Just wondering if anyone else has fermented tea in this way. What do people think of all the health claims? I am happy with kefir, it definitely makes me feel good. In the morning with some fruit it gives me instant feel good energy. I think this is because it is extremely high in vitamins. Ill tell ya, its my “energy” drink and it works. no BS.

Im wondering if homemade kombucha will offer the same good stuff. Some of the claims are pretty grand like it may be the cure  for cancer.

Im just hoping it is refreshing,fun to make and at least a little healthy.

Im also interested in the ginger beer plant and its similarities to the Manchurian mushroom.

[pyrite]

Yep, I’m right there with you.  Lately the prices for one 16oz bottle of kombucha is about $2.50 or more.  Have you ever been to a restaurant where they serve kombucha on tap?  That’s the trendy thing in parts of L.A. and S.F., especially for those who are into the Whole Foods, yoga, vegan, organic healthy living thing.  I keg mine as well, and depending on the type of fruit that’s in season, that’s what get’s dropped into the crony keg.  This last batch I added 5lbs of pomegranate seeds from my tree, before that it was guayava fruit kombucha, and before that it was persimmon fruits all from the back yard.  Killer stuff.  I take a 27oz canteen full of this stuff to school, and drinking it just makes me feel sharp and alert (of course it has caffeine).  Numerous claims say it has detoxifying properties and some how it’s supposed to be a free radical fighting agent. But, I haven’t read enough scientific journals to find out if these claims have any been merit.

The kombucha is a different animal. As they say it’s natures sunshine… I usually drink that at night.  Right after drinking it, I can hear the microorganism eating away at all the food particles that are deposited or stuck in my intestinal track.  When I wake up in the morning I go use the restroom, I then flush and leave the restroom a happy man; it really makes my day to have something so simple like that go so smooth. There’s been numerous studies that advocate the use of probiotics.  Not to mention how expensive it is to buy this stuff at the grocery store.

kombucha, I like to store the mushrooms in these 1 gallon glass jars.

kefir

[capozzoli]

Thats cool. Im wondering what this thing will look like when I get it. Do they send them small and they have to grow. Or will it come big?

Its interesting about what you say with “whole foods” or “organic” and all the health buff stuff. Its funny what some people think. They think you are a “hippy” if you are into whole foods. and whole foods has nothing to do with any trendy expensive grocery store. At least in my mind anyway. For me whole foods is the goal. Hard work to achieve. I want to be able to make everything I consume, to an extent. A goal that brought me to home brewing.  We by flour, beans, fresh veg and meat. We buy organic where it really makes a difference like with some veg that may be loaded with pesticide. Diary and eggs come raw from the farm now that I have a connection.

We almost never buy canned or frozen veg, store bought bread, and absolutely never pre-prepared foods or anything with food colors or artificial flavors.

Im pretty sure this is a good way to go, cooking and preparing things makes for good family time, you save money, It will be much healthier, and it will taste MUCH better than anything you can buy in a store.

Ill take it one step farther, we ruin food in this country and I think it is starting to show. The over processed, artificial flavor pasteurized, homogenized, hydrolyzed. stuff they sell in grocery stores is leading to a lot of our health problems from obesity and heart disease to cancer. Even decreased brain function, just take a look around.

Also we are so bent on killing all of the bacteria we never get any good bacteria. Even the cheese they sell is dead. Cheese is supposed to be alive. I think that is why everyone in America has a food allergy. Kids cant eat peanuts, WTF is that all about? Warnings on the label. This is new. Its because we raise our kids on pasteurized milk and over processed foods and spend to much time sterilizing everything.

I dont know, maybe I am wrong.

Cant wait to get my kambucha scoby.

I have never had kombucha, does it taste like vinegar?

[pyrite]

What you mention is exactly what I’m striving for; healthier life style choices with healthy food as the main course.  Although, it’s unfortunate with todays economy that organic, unprocessed, fresh food products are out of reach for many cash strapped families.    The irony in all this, is that you and I have turned to the so called “anecdote” of  Kombucha, and Kefir, to replenish our bodies with the good bacteria that is missing from our every day foods.

The mushroom grows fast, but for some reason initially they seem to have a slow growth rate. But soon after the first batch, your mushroom will grow in an exponential sort of way.  I’ve experienced the vinegar tainted batches, but only a couple times at the beginning.  I think the vinegar tainted kombucha may have been due to leaving the kombucha out at room temperature for extended periods of time after fermentation was complete.

[beerocd]

The “shroom” will grow to the diameter of the container. I think it tastes like 7up and vinegar mixed together. First sip is weird and then as I drink more, the more I like it. After the ferment, about an inch of ginger root and a pint of blueberries whized in with the vitamix makes a really good drink. I run it through a strainer and remove the fibrous matter. (i know i know - i get enough fiber elsewhere)

So, once your scoby gets big enough, you just taste it everyday to get it to the point of sourness you like.
It’s not like beer where it “should” ferment to a certain point. I think I read mostly three to five days for a gallon batch.

[ehall11_cox.net (EHall)]

The Kombucha mushroom people,
sitting around all day.
Who can believe you?
Who can believe you?
Let your mother pray!

[euge]

The Kombucha mushroom people,
sitting around all day.
Who can believe you?
Who can believe you?
Let your mother pray!

I heard that as I read the title! LOL

Bought a 16oz bottle of plain Kombucha tea at Whole foods for $2.50. It had a nice big scoby in there which I was assured could start a batch. Alas I read that it can be toxic so was spooked. Sat in my fridge for years until I threw it out.

Looked unchanged from the day I bought it.

@pyrite

The kombucha is a different animal. As they say it’s natures sunshine… I usually drink that at night.  Right after drinking it, I can hear the microorganism eating away at all the food particles that are deposited or stuck in my intestinal track.  When I wake up in the morning I go use the restroom, I then flush and leave the restroom a happy man; it really makes my day to have something so simple like that go so smooth.

Regularity is indeed a fine thing! I may have to revisit this idea.

[capozzoli]

Im gonna get some water kefir grains too, Tibicos - Wikipedia

I have some soft drink ideas. Plus the wife isnt in to the kefir, she can deal with it as a sauce but not in a glass. I usually only drink water, beer, tea, coffee. The wife likes some sodas though. She loves ginger ale.

How bout some fermented carrot juice? Or veg mix juice? Might be good.

I think cooking whole foods with a little practice and planning gets less expensive than the grocery store stuff. I know we save a lot cause we buy in bulk usually from ethnic grocery stores. Way cheap.

I have been getting grass fed beef and pork, free range chicken and eggs. More money yes. But for us we barely feel it cause we only eat meat or fish once or twice per week.  Its worth it there.

My two year old will not eat meat. We cant even get her if we mix it in with something else. She may be a born vegetarian. She will eat fish eggs and dairy though so at least she is not a vegan. I guess she is a fish - itarian.

[beerocd]

@capozzoli

we only eat meat or fish once or twice per week.

My two year old will not eat meat.

I see a correlation. (maybe?)

How do you have time to run at least 4 separate fermentations, and yet claim to have no time to brew?

[capozzoli]

I brewed last weekend.Had to, the batch before turned to vinegar. Maybe in the secondary a little to long.

But I think the difference is that these other types of fermentation take very little time at all. the kefir makes its self. Packing up the crock with Christmas kraut now, chop, chop, chop, salt pack and done in time to watch The Walking Dead. I am assuming that the kombucha and water kefir is the same. Beer takes several hours, even extract. especially when you factor in bottling. I can squeeze that in only every now and again.

As soon as thanksgiving is over it gets a little slower for me, then on really cold days we shut down. I will be doin some brewin for sure.

[bluesman]

@beerocd

@capozzoli

we only eat meat or fish once or twice per week.

My two year old will not eat meat.

I see a correlation. (maybe?)

How do you have time to run at least 4 separate fermentations, and yet claim to have no time to brew?

Maybe I can coax him into travlin’ south to my place for a brew session.

Give him a little incentive to brew.  :-\

[morticaixavier]

@capozzoli

My two year old will not eat meat. We cant even get her if we mix it in with something else. She may be a born vegetarian. She will eat fish eggs and dairy though so at least she is not a vegan. I guess she is a fish - itarian.

Don’t worry about the kid not eating meat. I was raised vegetarian from birth (Ovo-lacto, I eat eggs and dairy) and I turned out just fine (anything you mighth hear to the contrary is pure lies!) There were even times when I didn’t like dairy. The only thing that a vegan would need more of is vitamin B12 but if she is eating eggs and milk no worries there. If she likes fish that’s all good but even if she doesn’t it’s no reason to worry. the american diet is way overboard on protien. you can get plenty from beans, grains, nuts and seeds (Not to mention eggs and dairy) iron and calcium are available in abundance in dark green leafies (iron can also be got from using a cast iron pan) you do wnat to watch mixing dairy foods with iron foods as the dairy can interfere with the absorbtion of iron. Pescatarian by the way if a fish eater.

[capozzoli]

S,o got my scoby and started some Kombucha. Ye,p the Manchurian mushroom, Tea Kvass. Texas tea, black gold.

Just made some sweet tea basically, I used organic sugar, its just a better quality and still has some molasses in it.

I used Assam tea from India. Its my favorite tea.

The scoby smells really nice, the first thing I smelled when I opened it was beer.

I also got some tibicos or “water kefir grains” .

I got those going in a mixture of water sugar and ginger that I steeped and then let  cool.

With the tibicos I have some carbonated beverage ideas.I just have to figure out how much sugar to carbonate with. I was discussing this with someone and told them that I would be using Easy-Cap bottles. He said that those types of bottles wont explode cause the gasket will burp the pressure before the bottle explodes. Never heard that before but kinda makes sense.

One drink I am thinking about is a sweet rice milk fermented with the water kefir grains.

Well, Ill tell ya if half of the health claims they make about this stuff is true I should be like a super hero in about two months. Fire proof, bullet proof. capable of flight.

I dont know about all that I am just hoping to focus my brain power enough to do this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY-03vYYAjA

[pyrite]

Wow, I’ve never heard of tibicos.  The sweet rice milk fermented tibicos sounds interesting though.  The e-z caps do by the way release the pressure by way of the rubber gasket.  I use these type of bottles to pack my sours and any other type of beverage that might have the tendency to grow out of control.

[pyrite]

@capozzoli

One drink I am thinking about is a sweet rice milk fermented with the water kefir grains.

Well, Ill tell ya if half of the health claims they make about this stuff is true I should be like a super hero in about two months. Fire proof, bullet proof. capable of flight.

I’ll just drop quote here.

Scientists and doctors today are mystified by the
proliferation of new viruses—not only the deadly
AIDS virus but the whole gamut of human viruses
that seem to be associated with everything from
chronic fatigue to cancer and arthritis. They are
equally mystified by recent increases in the incidence
of intestinal parasites and pathogenic yeasts,
even among those whose sanitary practices are
faultless. Could it be that in abandoning the
ancient practice of lacto-fermentation and in our
insistence on a diet in which everything has been
pasteurized, we have compromised the health of
our intestinal flora and made ourselves vulnerable
to legions of pathogenic microorganisms? If so,
the cure for these diseases will be found not in vaccinations,
drugs or antibiotics but in a restored
partnership with the many varieties of lactobacilli,
our symbionts of the microscopic world.

The Rosicrucian Fellowship - An International Association of Christian Mystics

[beerocd]

So if you noticed - Weston A Price is the organization. When you need to find products that aren’t necessarily easy to find on your local grocer’s shelves (fresh eggs, REAL organic produce, RAW milk cheeses, honey, etc)  you can check out your local group and they’ll likely have a webpage with “resources” listed. Basically a directory of where to get what.

[capozzoli]

What happens when the kombucha is in something other than tea. Does it need something in the tea,what if it were put in cider?

[beerocd]

@capozzoli

What happens when the kombucha is in something other than tea. Does it need something in the tea,what if it were put in cider?

After you make your kombucha - if you separate off a glass with the dregs, let it sit for a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time and you can let that grow. Another mother will form and you can start a new thread.  ;D

[capozzoli]

I thought a new thin little scoby will grow on top of every batch?

here is the top of my first batch that is well on its way. I was a little scared about the little white spots, I thought maybe that they were mold but I have read that this is just part of the new scoby forming.

Im not sure though, wht do you guys think?

[beerocd]

It’s ugly alright. But I doubt it will hurt you. Maybe your next one will be prettier.