Here is my first jar of homemade Kombucha

Here is my first SCOBY

Just looking at this picture probably makes you squirm!!!

What is a SCOBY you might ask?  SCOBY is an acronym for Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast and it makes a good drink.  It is the beginning of my new path to drinking kombucha.

I have been reading about the health benefits of kombucha as of lately and have found that it is antimicrobial and full of antioxidants.  The drink if you can believe it, is ALIVE and the LIVE bacteria is what is beneficial.  Here are some of the top healing properties of kombucha:

• it is probiotic
• it increases your metabolism
• it alkalizes the blood
• detoxifies the liver
• high in antioxidants which is good for cancer prevention
• alleviates constipation
• boosts energy
• rebuilds connective tissue–therefore helps with arthritis and rheumatism
• reduces blood pressure
• relieves headaches and migranes
• reduces kidney stones
• helps clear up yeast infections
• aids healthy cell regeneration
• provides the gut with healthy bacteria

Sounds good, but what exactly is this kombucha drink??

It is a fermented tea that has value as a medicinal drink and a refreshing effervescent one.  Wikipedia states that it originated in China or Russia.  Some believe it has been around for centuries with medicinal uses in Russia, China, and Germany.

The tea is typically made with black tea, sugar, and a SCOBY.  The SCOBY is the culture that makes the tea ferment and give it it’s good bacteria.  It ferments anywhere from 1-3 weeks depending upon your taste.

Here is how we made it:

I had a friend give me my first jar and it looked like this.  Strange, I know I let it sit for 2 weeks and then began my new process.

Before you begin, make sure ALL your equipment is clean.  You don’t have to be freaky sterilize clean, but wash all your items with very HOT water to ensure cleanliness.

 

In a gallon glass jar, don’t use plastic or stainless steel,  brew hot water, 6-tea bags–use black tea, think Lipton, and 1 1/2 cups sugar.  For my first batch, I did 4 tea bags and 1 cup sugar.  I am currently trying out different tea/sugar amounts to see what we like best.

I used raw sugar in mine, white sugar is fine as well.  The SCOBY feeds off of the sugar in the tea, so don’t use any other “sweetener.”    You have to let that completely cool off to room temperature.  If you are in a hurry, you can make half a jar and then let it sit and add cool water to bring it to room temperature faster.

Then strain out the tea bags.

Next, you are going to prepare your SCOBY.

Make sure that your hands are clean and the area that you will be placing your SCOBY on is clean.  Take out your SCOBY from the tea.  You will notice it has almost a mushroom like top.  You are going to pull apart the top one from the bottom one.  The top one is called the Mother and the bottom is the baby.

Look your mother over, make sure there is no visible signs of mold growing on it.  It is okay to have a hole in it, but no mold.  If it does show signs of mold, throw the mother away and use the child.    You will see brown stringy stuff, that is okay it is bacteria at work.

Just throw the baby away??  I know , seems like such a waste. But you really have no need to keep it, if you continuously brew your tea, your SCOBY will keep producing a baby with each new batch.  When I had my first batch, I used my mother and baby in separate jars  to start two new batches of tea.  This will allow me more in my rotation.  Because I have really grown fond of this drink.

If you don’t like throwing it away, I searched the internet for different uses for the babies.   Here are some uses I have found that different sources recommended:

• feed it to your chickens
• dry it and use it as a chew toy for dogs
• use it in recipes that call for “squid” it has the same texture
• use it as a “living” bandaid–it pulls the toxins to the surface of the skin
• use it in compost
• make a SCOBY hotel in a jar and store multiple ones in the refrigerator to give away later
• give it away to a friend to begin a new batch

Okay, if none of those sound appealing, just throw it in the trash.  You really will get a new one in about a week or so.

 

Now you are going to take that mother and place it in your jar of tea and sugar.  What if the SCOBY doesn’t stay afloat at the top?  That is okay.  Depending upon humidity and uncontrollable factors it can turn on its side or even float to the bottom.
From your already brewed batch, scoop out 1 cup of “starter” for your next batch.

Just pour it into the new jar and then you are done.  You are going to need to cover the top of your jar with something that breathes.  You can use a paper towel, coffee filter, or tea towel.  Use a rubber band to hold it into place.

Place it in a dark place.  I store mine in a cupboard and then you let it sit.  Anywhere from 1 week to 3 weeks.  My first batch I did 2 weeks, this next batch I did 10 days and I am going to try a week.  You can test your batch by tasting it to see where you like it.  I really enjoy the 10 days one currently.

**If you notice in the photo my SCOBY sank to the bottom of my jar.  It eventually floated on it’s side and then a baby grew over the top of the jar.  It doesn’t matter how it floats.  It can still do the same work no matter what the position.

The first time you do this, you will think it tastes bad.  Like a vinegary–tart flavor.  You get used to it, I promise.  Stick a straw carefully under the mother SCOBY.  Put your finger over top of the straw to suction up the liquid and then take it out.  Give it a taste and see if it to your satisfaction.   If you think it tastes bad, just let it go for 2 weeks and then next time you make tea, test it.  By that time, you will probably be used to the flavor. 

Now, you can either screw on a lid to your kombucha and be finished with it, or you can flavor it.  I recommend flavoring it.

I pour mine into quart jars from the big gallon  for ease of drinking.  I then add a few frozen berries to my mixture.  I have read about all different flavors.  I have only tried mixed frozen berries and enjoy it.  My friend, Danielle says they enjoy cinnamon sticks in theirs.  I also add about 1 tablespoon of honey to help sweeten it.

This is going to be your 2nd fermentation process.  Screw on your lids and place the jars back in your cabinet.

 

A 2nd fermentation is essential.  Let it set for 2-3 days.  The longer you let it continue to ferment, the more acidic and less sweet the taste.  If it is in an airtight container, the live yeast and bacteria in the kombucha will continue to gobble up the tea and sugar that remains from the first fermentation.  The fresh sugar from the fruit is then turned into carbon dioxide which makes the kombucha bubbly.

 

I have read about people not getting their kombucha right the first time and I understand, mine didn’t turn out “perfect” the first time either.  When using the baby to do your tea, it doesn’t work as strong, it takes a batch or two to get it up to “strength.”  My first fruit fermentation left it sort of bubbly–more like a wine. But my second one, as seen in the photos made it very bubbly, more like fizzy champagne.

Please note, I do not drink alcohol, but did before I was saved.  It is just a way to compare it.  

After your 3 days, unscrew your lids and scoop out your fruit.   Throw it out to the chickens or compost pile.  Then screw back on your lids and put in the refrigerator.

That is it.  I know, it sounds confusing, I was on the phone texting my friend every step of the way when I was making my first batch.  Now I realize it is very easy.

 

Here is a recap of what we just did in simple english:

1. Brew gallon jar of hot water, 6 tea bags, and 1 1/2 cups sugar
2. Let that sit until room temperature, scoop out tea bags.
3. Add your mother SCOBY to the jar.
4. Cover with cloth and rubber band.
5. Let sit for 10 days in a dark cupboard.
6. Take out the SCOBY and pour into quart jars.
7. Add a handful of berries to each jar.
8. Screw on lids and sit for 3 days to get bubbly.
9. Unscrew and scoop out fruit.  Put lids back on and refrigerate.
10. Drink and enjoy!!!

How much should you drink?

I have read that smaller amounts in the beginning are best.  Especially if your diet is Westernized.  It will move through your digestive tract quickly.  I started out drinking about 1 cup a day.  Had no problems, but my diet is fairly whole- food like.  I now drink  about 2 cups per day.  I enjoy a glass every evening before I goto bed.

I have always struggled with snacking at night time, especially while working on my blog.  I started  slowly sipping a glass and it has taken away my edge to want to snack.  It is very tasty and something I recommend drinking.

One more important thing when brewing kombucha……

Okay, what is this contraption??  Since starting to make my own kombucha, because of the ferementation process, my kitchen has been prone to attract fruit flies!!!

 

Gross, how do you get rid of them?  I made my own fruit fly trap.

Place a small amount of apple cider vinegar and squirt of dish soap in the bottom of a glass jar.  Twist a piece of paper to make a cone and set it in the jar.  The flies will be able to find their way down but won’t be able to fly back out.  I only had to do this for a few days and then it has gotten rid of the fly problem.

I am excited to try new flavors and different combinations of teas.  That will have to be a future post. For now, I enjoy my berry flavored fizzy drink.

 

We have been slowly working on eliminating processed foods from our refrigerator and pantry.  Here are some more items that we have replaced instead of buying “store bought.”

Dry beans

I like my convenience of opening a can of beans and just pouring it in the recipe. I don’t like that the cost can add up quickly for our large family if I am not careful.  I then realized how much cheaper it was to make dry beans and then freeze them.

Here are the beans  I buy and what we make with them:

black beans–for Haitian rice and beans and taco chili

garbanzo beans–for hummus—I have been making my own homemade hummus for years and have always used canned beans.  In my food processor it just does not get super smooth like the store bought version.  Well, my beans when frozen and then thawed and used in this recipe come up very smoothly.  I will definitely be using frozen ones from here on out.

pinto beans–for taco soup and chili

kidney beans–for red beans and rice

northern beans—for baked beans

red beans–made into chili beans–for lots of recipes

How I make my dry beans

I use my big roaster oven and crockpot when I am replenishing my bean stash.   Depending upon how much I am making, the rule of thumb is for every pound of beans add 6 cups of water.  You want to make sure that your beans are completely covered during cooking time. Remember that they will expand during cooking time and you don’t want to have to scoop any out before they are done.

I usually fill my crockpot and roaster about half full of beans and then fill the rest with water.  I turn them both on high and close the lids.  I let it come to a boil and then turn it down to a simmer.  The crockpot I turn down to low.  In usually about 2 hours I check and  most of the time, I have soft beans.  Drain out the liquid and scoop the beans into containers to freeze.  These will last for months in your freezer.

Tomato products

It seems we buy ALOT of tomato products.  We can buy pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato puree, tomato juice, salsa, tomato sauce and tomato paste.  We can devote much of our food budget just in buying these items.  I was thinking one day, wasn’t it silly to keep buying all these different tomato products when they were all made from the same base—-tomatoes???  It was more expensive to buy a large industrial size can of pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce,then to buy a industrial sized can of tomato paste.  Did you know that tomato paste is just highly concentrated tomato sauce, tomato juice and pizza sauce minus the spices??

We get a large can of this and then we freeze in 1/2 pint containers.  Whenever I need to make tomato juice, tomato sauce, or pizza sauce, I just add more water according to what product I need.  This saves much waste in packaging and cost.

I also either freeze pureed tomatoes for use in recipes throughout the year.  If you can get to a farmers market look to pick up a bushel of canning tomatoes.  It is usually pretty cheap and you can easily puree them and freeze them for use in spaghetti sauce. 

Making homemade salsa was a HUGE thing for us.  We really like buying it in the jars and I always thought that to purchase the tomatoes fresh along with the other ingredients it would cost more than just picking up a jar, then I realized you can make this with canned tomatoes and it tastes delicious.  I do buy diced tomatoes in a CAN for this purpose.  I haven’t tried making it with frozen tomato puree–I don’t think it would be that good.  This is super cheap when you use diced tomatoes and some spices.  We found a large bag of jalapenos last year on clearance for $.50.  I brought them home, pureed them and put them in ice cube trays to freeze.  I popped them into double ziploc bags and then keep them in the freezer.  My bag will last me ALL year for making homemade salsa.  The cost of a jalapeno is usually $1, but I have nearly eliminated my cost by picking them up in bulk.  Rinse your ice cube trays afterward with vinegar.

Looking at my pantry, we do still have canned foods to use up like canned vegetables, but for the most part we won’t have any need to purchase anymore.

Here are some I might still consider:

canned green chilies—-we use it in our taco soup.  I could probably get some this summer and freeze them like I did the jalapenos to cut down on $12 a year.

Alfredo sauce—we use this when making homemade macaroni and cheese pizza.

canned mushrooms—I use these for making cream of mushroom soup, I probably could get them fresh and then puree them to freeze.  Might try that.

canned pumpkin–I really like using canned pumpkin when making muffins, pies,  and cookies.  I have tried using fresh pumpkin and did not care for it.  I will try again this fall and tweak the recipe a bit.

 

My shelves are almost going to be empty!!! My freezer will be full.  I try and use just my deep freezer chest.  I have an upright one that we use to flash freeze our food and then transfer to the deep freezer.  I then shut off the stand up one to save on electric.

Condiments

We do buy these from the store.  Maybe homemade would be better–I have to come across some good recipes before we do that.

ketchup

mustard

soy sauce

sweet chili sauce

sesame oil

cooking spray—I have made a homemade version of this but it never worked quite right.

Miscellaneous

We do buy store bought whole wheat tortillas and corn chips for salsa dipping.  I haven’t yet braved making my own yet.

Sliced bread, I buy for quick lunches.  I try and get the “naturalist” kind from our bread store and store in the freezer.

 

Refrigerator foods

yogurt is a very simple and easy thing to make for our family.  We make 8 quarts jars almost every 3-4 weeks.

Salad dressings.  We have replaced our need to buy Italian dressing, french, and ranch with our homemade versions.  Takes seconds in the blender.

Bulgur burger, this is how we stretch our hamburger meat in most recipes.

 

Did we do any better with our food challenge this week?  Stay tuned next week to see how we did. part 8