Kombucha

Comment

Comment by Michelle Natale on December 10, 2010 at 2:26am

I just brewed and bottled my first batch of kombucha!  It tastes great!

I wonder though...  Do I keep the growth that started on the liquid the second time around, or do I grow an all new one again?

Plus, on the new mushroom (I'm not sure if I'm using proper terminology here), there's a patch of purple, is that bad?  What is it?

Any advice is appreciated!!

Comment by Beth on June 25, 2010 at 8:50am

Is drinking kombucha and kefir too much? I've had kefir culture and been drinking from that since the beginning of the year. Also, I have never seen kombucha in any of our stores (central PA) - any reliable sources to purchase the starter? Thanks so much!

Comment by Cornelia on May 5, 2010 at 5:53pm

Marie - Honey actually has antibacterial properties, so it is not recommended to ferment kombucha - sorry! The white refined sugar is consumed by the culture, so none actually remains in the brew that you drink.

Comment by Aliza Ess on April 27, 2010 at 11:05am

Yeah, the mother will grow to fit the container eventually.

Comment by Shannon Hayes on April 27, 2010 at 10:22am

I never realized I could do that. When I get a new mother, is the size proportional to the size of batch I can make?

Comment by Aliza Ess on April 27, 2010 at 10:09am

You can always easily get a new mother by buying a bottle of the storebought kombucha, maybe feeding it a little sugar, and letting it sit out on the counter like you do your regular kombucha. A new mother will form on top!

Comment by Shannon Hayes on April 27, 2010 at 10:03am

No - I never tried that, and in a fit of kombucha rage, I permitted my husband to compost it. Now I'm sorry, and need to find a new mother to try that...I feel like an evil orphan.

Comment by Aliza Ess on April 27, 2010 at 10:00am

Shannon: do you use some of the liquid as part of your starter from the next batch? I had a friend who suggested only using the SCOBY to start a fresh batch. Sometimes the starter liquid can be really acidic.

Marie: seems like honey might work! Update us if you experiment. I think I'm going to try it to. I was kind of wondering how people in Russia/Asia used to make kombucha since they might not have always had access to sugar cane. Seems like they would have had to use alternative sugar sources like honey, sorghum, etc.

Comment by Shannon Hayes on April 27, 2010 at 9:56am

Hi Marie - I think Sandor Katz writes about using all kinds of crazy things for feeding the mushroom in Wild Fermentation - I believe he tells of a friend who even used soda (!??). In any event, in Nourishing Traditions, S.Fallon says that white sugar is the only way to ensure the glucoronic (sp?) acid - I suppose you know that already, though...

Comment by marie on April 26, 2010 at 6:27pm

Has anyone tried using anything, but white sugar as the food source? I've got some left over agave syrup and am wondering about honey. Thanks!

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