Tuesday 24 June 2008

Kombucha tea

I got a kombucha SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture Of bacteria and Yeasts) and some kefir grains through the post today. Very excited to try them out. My kefir grains are already sitting in milk, hopefully doing their thing. And my sweet tea is cooling ready to put the SCOBY in.
These are the instructions I followed for kombucha

Bring 2 litres of filtered water to the boil and add 6 tbsp of organic white sugar per litre. Boil for a few minutes to dissolve the sugar and sterilise the mixture. Then add 1-2 teabags of organic black or green tea per litre. Black tea gives a nicer flavour and green tea adds more fizz so I use a combination of the two - usually 2 bags of black and 1 of green in 2 litres. Turn off the heat and cover and leave for 10-15 minutes. Fish out the tea bags and leave the sweet tea to cool to luke-warm. Put the tea into a large glass container with the SCOBY and a cup of finished kombucha tea. If you don't have any finished tea then you can use some apple cider vinegar (not raw - be sure it is pasteurised). Cover tightly with clean muslin and elastic (fruit flies love kombucha!) and leave in a warm dark place (like an airing cupboard) for 7-14 days (or up to twice as long if you are sugar sensitive). Don't disturb the tea while it is brewing and keep it away from smoke, dust, mold etc etc. When the tea is finished, remove the scoby (and the new one that will have grown with it) and put the tea into bottles. The scoby can then be used to start a new batch and the spare one given away for used to make even more tea! You can check to see if the tea is done by putting a straw into the kombucha, past the SCOBY, covering the end and removing a sample to taste. When you like the taste it's ready.

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