Kombucha

A friend of mine gave me a "scoby", the starter used to make kombucha. I've gone ahead and stuck it into a batch of sweetened black tea and it's in the dining room (which stays relatively dark most of the day), fermenting away. After four days, there's an appropriately yucky-looking gelatinous mat forming on the surface and a nice, yeasty smell.

It'll be interesting to see how this turns out.

Please, do say.

It is to be hoped that it doesn't crawl out and strangle you in your bed one night.

It is to be hoped that it doesn't crawl out and strangle you in your bed one night.

Y'know, it does have a certain 50's-horror-film aspect to it. You can only imagine what would happen with your kombucha if there were atomic testing happening nearby.

I had that thing growing in my kitchen years ago. Never could get past the smell and ugliness of it. It never hit my mouth.

There was something similar to that growing in the bottom of the refrigerator that was in the house when I moved here.

It'll be interesting to see how this turns out.

Determined to give that new immune system of yours a workout, eh?

Love Kombucha but yeah it is pretty creepy looking. I've taken to making lacto fermented lemon/lime aid since that doesn't freak the family out. And the floaties are less scary. And it only takes a few days.

I went ahead and pulled the "mushroom" out of the kombucha this evening. It all ended up working quite well. I could have left it fermenting for another couple of days - there's a little sweetness left in this batch. It's very tasty, though, with a nice sour edge and no off flavors or odors.

Jason is correct - this is pretty scary-looking stuff. I didn't bother with a photo of it before I bottled it. You would have all thought I was insane to put any part of this concoction into my mouth.

Jason is correct - this is pretty scary-looking stuff. I didn't bother with a photo of it before I bottled it. You would have all thought I was insane to put any part of this concoction into my mouth.

It has been years since I made Kombucha, it supposedly has health benefits. What are they saying about that these days?

I posted several weeks ago about starting to make my own kombucha. I can now say I feel quite proficient - I started with 2 scobys and they have grown and multiplied and now I am fermenting with seven of them! Although plain kombucha is tasty, I love flavoring mine with juices. My favorite flavors right now are fresh watermelon, pineapple and black currant. I also have some ginger syrup that I have added to the pineapple and watermelon for a nice kick. So easy to do and so much cheaper than buying it in the store!

Joy -

How are you using the fresh watermelon? Do you just add the juice after it's all done fermenting or is there some other way to do it?

I always add any flavoring juices after the initial fermentation. I add a small amount of juice at the time of bottling. I like my kombucha quite dry, so the juice gives extra sugar to the yeast when bottled to create CO2, cuz nobody wants flat kombucha!