A Kombucha Recipe is Not Hard and Very Rewarding

A kombucha recipe produces fermented tea, which is a refreshing and very nutritious drink.

The answer to the question of “What is kombucha?” is simply it is a fermented tea. Kombucha tea may or may not fit your own personal definition of “raw” since it is made from brewed tea. It is however a popular fermented product for many health-minded individuals, so it would be wise to include a kombucha recipe under the subheading of 'fermented foods'.

Kombucha Tea Benefits

Kombucha tea benefits are many due to the production of beneficial yeasts and bacteria. Some of the reported benefits of kombucha include general detoxification, promoting healthy skin, relief of general arthritis pain, reducing negative effects of stress, helps in lowering high blood pressure, may be a cancer preventative, has been used in treating diabetes, promotes healthy digestion, helps to balance pH levels, helps fight fatigue, increases metabolism and generally is an all-around good tonic. With all of its reported benefits, all that is left is for you to make this inexpensive wellness supplement.

Not only is the finished kombucha good for you, it tastes good and looks beautiful.

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Make Your Own Kombucha Cultures — SCOBY

To make a batch of kombucha tea you need a SCOBY. SCOBY is an acronym that stands for Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast. It is this culture that inoculates tea to turn it into kombucha.

You have two choices to get a “mother” SCOBY. You can either get one from another kombucha maker or you can make your own. The following video shows how you can make your own kombucha cultures:

Here is the kombucha recipe to make the SCOBY from scratch.

Ingredients and necessities:

1 cup of unflavored, organic Kombucha tea (buy this at your local health food store)

1 cup of sweetened tea at room temperature ( use 1 rounded tablespoon of sugar)

A Jar large enough to hold the two cups of liquid with a bit of head space

A paper towel or coffee filter

A rubber band

Tips: Buy your bottle of Kombucha tea from your local health food store. Make sure it is unflavored and preferably organic. When you make your cup of tea, use black, green or even white tea, again, I prefer organic. Sweeten your tea with a tablespoon of sugar for the SCOBY to eat. This cup of tea is your “starter tea.” I like to feed my SCOBY raw sugar. Don't use honey or agave syrup since either may have some bacteria that would be harmful to the SCOBY yeasts and bacteria.

Directions:

Cover the mouth of the jar with the paper towel or coffee filter and secure with the rubber band. Place this in your home at room temperature of 70 to 80° F and away from strong odors such as cigarette smoke or strong cooking odors.

Wait for a few weeks for your SCOBY to form. Your SCOBY's growth depends on how warm your house is. With warmer conditions it will grow quite quickly. It will appear as a thick film on top of the liquid. The longer you wait, the thicker it will grow. You can use it to make your first batch of kombucha tea when it is about ¼ inch thick.

Once you have your SCOBY, you are ready to make Kombucha tea.

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Buy Kombucha Cultures

For those of us who are a bit impatient to start making kombucha tea and do not want to make their own SCOBY, here are a few places your can buy kombucha cultures:

Cultures for Health

Anahata Balance

Perhaps the most inexpensive way to get a kombucha culture is to join this Yahoo Talk Group and ask for a SCOBY. You may even be able to find someone with a kombucha culture near you so it does not have to be mailed.

Click to join original_kombucha

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Kombucha Recipe Using A SCOBY

So you have your kombucha culture and now you want to make your kombucha tea. Here is the kombucha recipe to make about three 16 ounce bottles.

Ingredients and necessities:

2 quarts of pure water (almost 2 liters)

4 tea bags (use black, green or white, preferably organic)

¾ cup of raw sugar ( regular white sugar is fine, too)

½ cup of starter tea (this is just kombucha tea from your last batch)

Kombucha culture (SCOBY)

A 2 quart size or larger jar

A paper towel, coffee filter or cloth

A rubber band

A fine wire mesh strainer or cheese cloth

Directions:

Boil a quart of water, add the 4 tea bags and stir in the sugar. Let this cool. Then pour the tea into your jar and add another quart of cool water. Add the SCOBY, the ½ cup of starter tea and cover the mouth of the jar with the paper towel or cloth and secure with a rubber band. Place your jar in a warm, undisturbed place for about 5 to 10 days. The longer you let it rest and brew, the less sweet your finished kombucha tea will taste. When the brewing is finished, wash you hands and utensils thoroughly before working with your finished kombucha tea. Remove the SCOBY and place on a clean plate; your SCOBY will have grown. You can either use this SCOBY for your next batch of teas or divide it to share with a friend. Finally, pour the finished kombucha thorough a fine mesh strainer or cheese cloth to remove the yeast strands. Reserve ½ cup of unfiltered tea for your starter tea.

Kombucha Tips:

Always take great care to be very clean when working with kombucha or the SCOBY. Wash your hands and utensils thoroughly before handling the tea of the SCOBY to get rid of any bacteria that could potentially spoil your entire batch of kombucha. Make sure your tea is cool before adding the SCOBY since high heat will kill the yeast and bacteria. Your SCOBY may either float or sink to the bottom, either way is totally fine.

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Carbonation Tips – Without a Second Fermentation

Use a BIG SCOBY.

Don't skimp on the sugar. You may think that ¾ of a cup of sugar is too much, but this sugar feeds your SCOBY; keeping the sugar amount large increases carbonation. The longer you allow the kombucha to ferment, the less sugar will be in the finished product.

Take the starter tea from the bottom on your fermentation jar to introduce more yeasts to your tea. If you filter your finished product, reserve half of the unfiltered tea for your starter tea.

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Adding Flavors

You can add flavor to your kombucha recipe, either when you are finished with your initial ferment or if you do a second fermentation. The flavors are endless, limited only to your imagination and availability. Here are a few ideas for your own kombucha recipe flavor.

3 to 4 sliced fresh strawberries

4 to 5 crushed berries
(fresh are best, but frozen are fine)

¼ cup of pure grape juice

Juice from a lemon or lime

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla flavoring

Several slices of fresh ginger root

Juice from a lemon or lime

I do hope that you enjoy both your kombucha recipe and making kombucha tea as well as the health benefits associated with this fermented food.

Special thanks goes to Jennifer Roy of  "Texas Family of Four Website" for allowing me to use her pictures of kombucha tea and the SCOBY .

Done with Kombucha Recipe?

Here are links to other fermented favorites:

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