Kombucha Tea
Kombucha tea originated in Asia in 212 BCE and has been know as a 'miracle' tea throughout the ages.
Health benefits of drinking Kombucha tea include detoxification, joint care, aids digestion and gut health, alkalises the body.
Preparation time: Fermentation time can take 2-10 days depending on ambient temperature and the SCOBY/tea ratio
Makes: 2 litres
Caution: If you are diabetic you must NOT drink Kombucha, without consulting your doctor first, and if you are on any heavy medication, it might be best to check out whether Kombucha is suitable to mix
Start slowly: Kombucha works by balancing your body’s pH levels as well as other things, and generally acts as a high performance tonic to your system, you need to give your body the opportunity to adjust to the changes. So, for the first week drink a small glass, once a day, preferably before breakfast. The following week increase this to a glass before every meal, then, from the third week onwards drink as much as you wish
Take care of your SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast): Avoid extremes of hot or cold. Keep your Kombucha sitting in a good amount of sweet tea when it is brewing or resting between brews. Metal and Kombucha don’t mix. When working with your Kombucha SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast), remove rings and watches. Use plastic or wooden utensils to stir the tea.
Ingedients:
A glass or ceramic container/jar that will hold from 1 litre upwards
Organic tea - leaf or bag, it can be green, black or white
Sugar, granulated, organic, good quality
Good quality water, filtered or spring
Plastic or wooden spoon, a plastic sieve, plastic funnel
Method for 2 litres:
Put 6 tea bags or 6 tbsp of tea in a glass jug (you can use a 1 litre Pyrex jug to prepare the tea and sugar, then add another litre of spring water to the Kombucha container). Add hot water. Black tea likes boiling water, green tea water at 80 deg Celsius, white tea at 71 deg Celsius
Add 160-200 grams of sugar and stir with a wooden or plastic spoon
Leave to cool to room temperature
Add the cooled tea to your SCOBY
Pour the cooled tea (minus the tea bags/leaves) into your brewing container (through a plastic sieve if you used tea leaves)
Add the SCOBY, lightest side up
Place a piece of cotton or muslin over the top and keep in place with an elastic band
Place the container out of direct sunlight at room temperature and allow the SCOBY to do its magic
When is the Kombucha ready?
The brewing time will depend on the tea/size of SCOBY ratio, and the ambient temperature. It will take longer to brew in winter
Keep tasting (with a wooden/plastic spoon). If it tastes like sugary tea, it is not ready. It is ‘just right’ when it tastes like a kind of marmalade drink, slightly sweet, slightly sour. As it matures it will go more like apple cider vinegar. It is all a matter of taste
When you feel your brew is ready, pour your brew into glass bottles and pop in the fridge
Leave the SCOBY sitting in a small amount of the brew in its brewing jar. The longer you leave the Kombucha in the fridge, the fizzier it will get, and it can be left without going off so drink at whatever pace suits
If you are going away on holiday the Kombucha will happily wait for you to come home if you leave it sitting in enough tea to cover. Otherwise, start up another brew