[trmpetplaya]

I'm so excited!!! We just harvested (what would the word be?) our first batch of kombucha today

It's a bit sweet (even coming from someone raised on southern sweet iced tea

), and I think we'll be letting the next batch sit for two weeks instead of one and a half. It's still yummy though and our baby SCOBY is nice and thick!

I didn't even know this forum existed till I searched for kombucha here a week and a half ago. I'll be lurking around now that I know it's here

Dh and I are very interested in the traditional ways of preserving foods and making breads and such. It's so good to find you all

:

ETA - We've also been drinking raw cow's milk for a couple months now and I have always loved it whenever we can get raw goat's milk (which isn't often... our friends sometimes have extra, we can't afford to actually buy it)

love and peace.

 

[Threefold]

Isn't it fabulous! My dh just did not properly praise me when my first batch was done

I really love my scoby pets, such easy children to raise.

 

[member]

Excellent!

 

[desertpenguin]

kombucha is awesome!

 

[moneca]

I'm waiting for my kombucha mama to arrive any day in the mail. Can't wait to make my first batch. DH loves tea, but is scared at the idea of kombucha

. I'm hoping he'll love it since I've never liked tea.

 

[cobluegirl]

hehe...yeah!!!! I call it harvesting too...

 

[lilsparrow]

What is Kombucha?

:

 

[cobluegirl]

fermented sweat tea....

 

[lilsparrow]

Thanks, I did a google search and read about it.

... Very strange ... I'm kind of strange ... think I need to look into it.

Where does one obtain (ahem) some kombucha?

Is it something my type 1 diabetic hubby can drink? TIA

Wendy

Oh ... I just read you can make it at home.

No wonder I haven't heard of it. Just like I never heard about NFP from any of my gynocologists. There is no reason for me to know these things as they can't make their dollar off it.

:

Sorry, OP ... didn't mean to hijack your thread. I'll bow out gracefully now.

Congratulations on your first batch !!

Off to find out what that means.

:

 

[cobluegirl]

hehe..health food stores carry the drink..but yes you can make it at home. you have to obtain a scoby (symbionic culture of bacteria (&) yeast) )

I can mail you one for $6.

yes your dh should be able to drink it as far as I know.

 

[trmpetplaya]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cobluegirl hehe..health food stores carry the drink..but yes you can make it at home. you have to obtain a scoby (symbionic culture of bacteria (&) yeast) ) I can mail you one for $6. yes your dh should be able to drink it as far as I know.

Yeah, it's much better to make it at home anyhow 'cause the health food stores charge a bloody fortune. We made like $12 worth for under a dollar in just our first batch

How does one send a scoby through the mail (packaging-wise)? Wouldn't the PO be suspicious that it was some terrorist device? I'd love to give some to my relatives for Christmas, but we're in WA and they're in GA... so it'd be at least five days in the mail or would we need to FedEx it or ?

love and peace.

 

[tboroson]

I just got mine in the mail. The mama who sent it to me double-baggied it with a bit of nutrient solution (which, by the time I got it, was very well finished kombucha to use as starter). Those baggies were placed in a bubble mailer. I read on one webpage where they recommended packing it in vacuum sealed bags, two layers of bags, then sending it in a box with packing peanuts. I think I, personally, would compromise those two methods. Since I have a vacuum sealer, I would vacuum seal it, double bagging it, then put it in a bubble mailer. I might go so far as to take a plastic bottle, like a 1 litre water bottle, and cut a 1/2" thick ring off of it, place the scoby inside that ring, that whole shebang inside the bag, and seal it like that; that way there's some structure to prevent squashing.

 

[cobluegirl]

I pack mine in a quart size ziplock and then wrap in papertowels and then packed in another gallon size ziplock. then place in a bubblewrap envelope and mail.

 

[amydidit]

This might sound like a silly question... I've read about this a bit and am intrigued, but... it sounds gross to make. Is the starter really, uh, gooey or gross or something? ~laughs~

Any possible pictures? I just don't know if I'd have the stomach for it... I get really queasy.

 

[cobluegirl]

the starter is just kombucha tea...the scoby is a slimy pancake looking thing..but you get used to it...hehe...um...for pictures..check out the post I posted a few pages back about kombucha links..I don't have them on this puter so can't link it here...

 

[amydidit]

Yeah, I guess it's the scoby I'm nervous about... sounds so, icky... I'll go check out the pictures. I really want to give this a try, but, eh... I just don't know.

 

[cobluegirl]

hehe

 

[trmpetplaya]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amydidit Yeah, I guess it's the scoby I'm nervous about... sounds so, icky... I'll go check out the pictures. I really want to give this a try, but, eh... I just don't know.

They're so cute!!! It's like having a little pet that doesn't need to be trained or walked or cleaned up after. They're not gross at all

and if they were then I'd be the first to admit it because I get creeped out by creepy moldy buggy things. I'm scared to touch mold, but love petting our scobies

:

love and peace.