Kombucha seems to be one of those things people love or hate …. We LOVE it! Regardless of all its benefits, we find we enjoy the flavours, the fizziness of each brew and a feeling of being energized.

We started brewing over a year ago and have fallen in love with it. Our first Scoby we grew from scratch was with a bottle of GT’s Original. We also attended a class in Kelowna hosted by Mother Love Ferments Co. who also brew Kombucha locally. They were very educational and we definitely gained a lot by going to that class !

Supplies:

• SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast)
• Organic cane sugar
• Filtered water
• Organic tea (no flavoured teas or ones with oils)
• Large stainless steel pot
• Fine mesh strainer
• Plastic Funnel
• Wooden spoon
• Large jar
• Finely woven cloth
• Five – 12 oz glass bottles with lids (GT’s Kombucha bottles are great)
• Fruit and Veges

Tea Base – Assam/ Yerba mate (50:50)

• 8 cups of water.
• 1 tablespoon of loose leaf tea
• 1/2 cup of sugar

Method:

1. Clean out your gallon jar with hot soap and water. Rinse thoroughly with vinegar and hot water to remove all soap residue.
2. Bring the water to a boil adding in the sugar to dissolve and turn it off. As soon as it stops boiling add the tea leaves and steep for about 15-20 minutes …. too long and it can taste bitter.
3. Strain tea or remove tea bags and let cool to about 25°C or just warm, when dropped on inside of wrist (blood temperature)
4. Add the SCOBY and 1 cup of starter … Do NOT  use metal to touch the SCOBY but you may use clean hands rinsed with vinegar.
5. Brew base Kombucha for 7 to 14 days depending on your taste, it will be sweeter at seven days and more tart by 14, as the sugar is eaten up by the brewing process. This summer we stopped brewing  in the heat because it was fermenting too quickly.

Second ferment: Two recipes

Blackberry and Apple

1. Two apples juiced (or cut into small pieces)
2. Frozen BlackBerry’s at room temperature. Pour about 1 1/2 tablespoons of blackberry juice into each bottle with a plastic funnel (Juice ratio about 10 -20 percent of entire bottle.)

Carrot/Apple/Ginger/Turmeric

1. Juice 1 apple, 2 carrots, 1 orange, 1 small piece of fresh turmeric, 1 large piece of fresh ginger  (Juice ratio about 10 -20 percent of entire bottle.)
2. Pour with funnel into bottles
3. Let sit on counter or in cupboard away from direct sunlight for 3-5 days, depending upon room temperature. Longer in cool weather.
4. Store in fridge. You may drink right away but the flavours are great a week later.

SCOBY Health

•   You may keep the mother SCOBY disk attached to the baby for a month or so. The baby grows on top, or you may throw away the mother SCOBY after the kombucha is finished fermenting.
• If the SCOBY grows any mould, or smells awful, then throw away SCOBY and tea.
• Make sure you are very cautious with keeping everything clean and sanitizing equipment and hands