Kombucha Tea-tips/testimonials?

[BerryMac]

Hi everyone!

It's been a while since I've been on MDC (had a beautiful baby girl a year ago!). I'm happy to come back.

I have recently started down the real food path, and ran across some information on kombucha tea. One of my friends has a "mushroom" (SCOBY mother) and gave it to me. I started the fermentation Thursday night in a sun tea jar. I used 3L water, 4 tea bags (3 orange pekoe, one green pomegranate) and 1 c of sugar. Now I am just waiting.

Does anyone have any advice or tips they'd like to share, or testimonials as to what kombucha tea has done for them? I'm looking forward to experiencing the benefits of this fermented tea!

[PlayaMama]

there's thread on it in the traditional foods forum if you search for it.

i love it and so do my kids. i've taken to adding herbs to it to mix up the flavor. so, i do the first ferment, remove the scoby, bottle it with either lemon balm/lemongrass/lemon verbena or make a root beer flavor with sasparilla/licorice root/a few cinnamon chips/ teeny bit of sassafrass.

it' just good stuff!

i would recommend trying it each day because it doesn't take too long to go over and get really acidic.

oh! i like mine brewed with green tea better, less tea flavor.

have fun!

[BerryMac]

I've seen the traditional foods forum mentioned when I was searching for raw milk information, but I couldn't find it. Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough <grin>

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm looking forward to trying it out. I plan on doing a continuous brew method, at least at first. That seems to be the easiest. If it starts to get too strong/acidic, I will bottle it. Actually, I plan on bottling some of it anyway, since I doubt we'll be drinking enough at first to go through it all.

I posted on our local freecycle for some grolsch bottles, and someone replied. I emailed her but she hasn't returned my email arranging pickup. Grrr, I hate that. I only need 6 or so, maybe I'll just buy some from the liquor store. They run about $2 a piece here.

I am looking forward to experimenting!

[WuWei]

I've not made it yet. But, here is the long thread in TF about Growing My Own Kombucha Scoby.


Pat