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I've always been a fan of gross things. When I was 19 and lived in a
college house with 5 other people, including 2 frat boys. Long story
short, some morning I would wake up and go in the kitchen and find the
sink filled to the brim with unidentifiable, nasty liquid from the
party that was thrown the night before. I was always the person to put
my hand into the sink and pull some foreign object out of the drain to
help relieve the situation. It never bothered me. So when my husband
suggested brewing our own kombucha, I was all for it.
First off, what is kombucha? Kombucha is sweet tea that has been fermented using a fungus. Some people call the fungus, SCOBY
(Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast). The drink has been around
since the B.C.'s in China. The Chinese called it the "Immortal Health
Elixir." The drink got popular in the U.S. in the 60's with the hippy movement. There have been many health benefits reported about the drink, such as digestion aid, energy boost, appetite suppressant, impoves the appearance of skin and hair, and improves circulation. In Russia, it was believed to cure stomach cancer.
But
the facts are that no one really knows what it does. There are a lot of
conflicting stories and research. So, I'll tell you about my experience
and let you decide for yourself. You don't even need to brew your own,
because of all the risks associated with it. There are a couple
companies selling bottle kombucha. Go to your local health food store
and check it out. GT makes some awesome kombucha drinks.
Before
I go any further, let me say: I am not encouraging your to make your
own kombucha or to even drink kombucha. I'm just telling you about what
I did. Brewing your own kombucha can actually be dangerous if not done
properly.
Anywho, the first step in making kombucha is to get
the "mother." I know, that sounds pretty creepy. The mother is the
SCOBY. We got our's from my husband's cousin. If you wanted to, you
could probably find one on Craigslist.
So we got our "momma." Then
we made the tea. We boiled a big pot of water. When it gets to a
rolling boil, we threw in a cup or so of sugar and let it boil for
another five minutes. The sugar is super important. It feeds your
SCOBY. Yes, it just keeps getting creepier.
So after that, we took
the water off the stove and threw in five or six black tea bags and let
it sit another five minutes. After that we let it cool to room
temperature. If we were to put our SCOBY into tea that was warmer than
room temperature, it could kill it.
Now our tea cooled down and we
transfered it into a big glass container. So here's where things get
serious. You can not brew this tea in anything but glass (maybe you
can, but I'll just say you can't). No metal or ceramic. Just clear
glass. And not painted glass, either! Just clear glass, people!
So
our tea is in the clear glass container. Then we take a cup of already
brewed kombucha (we used a cup from our old batch or if we didn't have
any, kombucha from the health food store) and pour it in with our tea.
Then we'd take our slimey, slippery SCOBY and put it in there, too.
Then we'd cover it with a paper towel and rubberband and let it ferment
in a dark, room temperature place for about a week.
If your SCOBY
or tea gets any mold on it in that week, throw it all away. Do not
drink it! It can be very poisonous. See, this is why it may be better
to just go buy some from the store. It's important to be as clean as
possible when handling the SCOBY and tea.
I've been drinking
kombucha everyday for the last month or two. I have noticed my skin as
being clearer. It definitely does help digestion... maybe too much at
first. You have to get used to it. We also like the taste. It can taste
like apple cider vinegar. Kombucha is also naturally carbonated
(weird). I mix it with a little mango nectar.
If you're going to
try kombucha, you should really research it. There are plent of
websites and articles out there. Don't blame me if you poison yourself
with some moldy tea. Be safe, use good judgement, you knucklehead.
