The Kombucha culture

The Kombucha culture is the live substance which is put into the sweet tea to ferment and convert it into Kombucha tea. The kombucha culture is probably best known as a Kombucha mushroom, though this is an incorrect definition.

The Kombucha culture has been known as a mushroom, a lichen and many other things but the best and most accurate definition we have today is a SCOBY "symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast".

What's In Kombucha

Though you begin with a lot of sugar when you initially brew your tea, eventually this sugar get converted into beneficial acids as well as many other healthy ingredients, such as:

Lactic Acid: Found in Kombucha in its most potent form L-lactic(+). Lactic acid is essential for the digestive system. Interestingly, it is not found in the tissues of people with cancer, and its lack has been established as indicating susceptibility to cancer.

Acetic Acid: Its main function is to inhibit harmful bacteria. Acetic acid is used as a preservative because of this action. It is also what gives Kombucha that 'kick' to its smell and taste.

Malic Acid: Is also used in the body's detoxification process.

Oxalic Acid: Encourages the cellular production of energy and is a natural preservative.

Gluconic Acid: Is effective against many yeast infections such as candidiasis and thrush.

Butyric Acid: Is produced by the yeasts and when working with gluconic acid, helps combat yeast infections such as candida.

Nucleic Acids: Work with the body aiding healthy cell regeneration.

Amino Acids: A group of acids which are the building blocks of protein. Your muscular system is made of proteins. As a group they have many benefits including building cells and repairing tissue, they also form antibodies to combat invading bacteria & viruses.

Enzymes: Are proteins that act as catalysts, speeding the rate at which biochemical reactions proceed. Therefore they boost the actions of other health giving components within the Kombucha and your body.

Kombucha also contains vitamin groups B and C, beneficial yeasts and bacteria.

How to Brew Kombucha

We will now present the basic recipe for Kombucha tea to prepare your own Kombucha Tea, using a Kombucha Culture. Please note there are many different recipes out there, but this seems to be the one that everyone uses based on ease and effectiveness.

Kombucha is so easy to make, it is hard to believe you can make your very own Kombucha tea at home with very little money, time or effort. It is simple to make and very rewarding.

Without modern equipment or facilities people have been able to make this enriching brew for generations, so you should have no problem Wink



You can do it by following this simple method, easy, easy, easy

You will need:

* A suitable brewing container, about 5 litre / 1 gallon capacity (see information on brewing containers)

* A piece of muslin, kitchen towel or some other piece of clean porous material. A size that will cover the top of the brewing container with some overlap.

* A large elastic band to hold the material on the container.

* A thermometer (optional)

* 4 litres (plus a glass) of water (boiled and cooled or filtered)

* Tea (6 teaspoons loose or 6 tea bags), black, green or a mixture of both.

* 320g refined white sugar (ordinary household sugar).

* A healthy Kombucha culture (information on where to get a culture here)

* 400ml of ready brewed Kombucha or 60ml (4 tablespoons) distilled vinegar (white, apple, cider or white wine vinegar). If you are using vinegar, it must be distilled - not live, brewed or fermented.

* Suitable bottles (4 litres worth) (see information on bottles)

* A kitchen measuring jug

Note: Cleanliness is very important - hands, equipment etc. And the first thing you should do is to clean everything that you are going to use.

Make your nutrient (sweet tea) solution:

This is the liquid that feeds the kombucha culture and is turned into the finished Kombucha tea.

To make the nutrient, take approx. 1 litre of water.

The water should either be filtered or should already have been boiled for at least 5 minutes.

Bring the water to the boil in a kettle, stainless steel or heat-resistant glass household cooking pot.

After boiling, add the sugar and tea, stir it till the sugar dissolves, then leave off the boil to infuse for about 15 minutes.

Put the other 3 litres, and the extra glass of cool water into your brewing container.

When the 15 minutes are up, strain out the loose tea (if used) or remove the tea bags; then add the sweet tea to the rest of the water in the brewing container.

The 4 litres of nutrient needs to be between 20C - 30C, this is where the thermometer comes in useful. You might be able to judge this yourself, it's about room temperature. Just make sure that it's not too hot, otherwise you could kill your new culture very quickly.

Adding the Kombucha Culture:

Once at the right temperature, plop the kombucha culture in the liquid. It may float or sink, it doesn't matter which, it will work just the same. Then add the 400ml of finished Kombucha or 60ml of distilled vinegar if you don't have any Kombucha tea.

Time to brew:

That's it.

Just cover the top of the container with your muslin or kitchen towel and use the elastic band to hold it in place. The brew needs air but definitely not insects, plant or mould spores Wink

Move the container to a suitable location. Somewhere that it can be left undisturbed for about a week. It should be at a constant(ish) temperature 20C - 30C, away from tobacco smoke, strong smells and not in the kitchen if there is a lot of grease in the air from frying food.

You could possibly use your living room (providing no-one smokes) or an airing cupboard. If you do put your brew into a cupboard please bear in mind a couple of things:

1. It needs to be left undisturbed the whole time so, don't put it on top of your stack of towels or bed linen. 2. The culture needs air, so leave the door ajar.

5 days later

After 5 days, it is time to taste!

By now, you should have a new baby culture forming on top of your brew and the tea might be nearly be ready. Exciting!

If you take take a good deep sniff in your brewing container it will probably smell like pure vinegar, so be careful it might bring tears to your eyes Smile

Press down lightly on the newly formed culture with the back of a spoon so that you can get a sample of the tea. Or slide a plastic straw carefully down the side of he new culture and sample a little (be careful about back flow).

Taste it

What you are looking for is a slightly sharp (acidic), not sweet taste. If it is not quite there yet then put the cover back on and leave it for another day before tasting again.

The length of brewing time can vary quite a lot but, it is normally between 5 days to 2 weeks though, it can take longer under certain circumstances.

I know it is difficult to tell what the right taste is when you first begin but you will get the hang of it quickly.

Once you have the right taste, it is time to bottle your lovely, healthy Kombucha tea.

Bottling:

Get yourself some suitable clean bottles.

With clean hands, take the two cultures out (the new 'baby' and the original 'mother') and place them on a clean plate.

Pour some of your Kombucha tea into a kitchen jug and then, using the jug, pour it into the waiting bottles - right to the brim, no air gaps. Pour a little on your resting cultures whilst you do this - it helps keep them free from airborne nasties.

Put the top on and stick a label on the bottle with the date.

Continue with the rest of the tea.

Remember to save some tea for your next batch - about 10%.

There you go! Your prepared, brewed and bottled home made Kombucha tea.

You want to keep these bottles at room temperature for at least 5 days. The reason for this is twofold:

1. It allows a build up of CO2 (gas) that makes the drink fizzy. 2. It allows the tea to mature and develop a more mellow taste.

After 5 days you can move your bottles to the fridge or somewhere else cool / cold, then drink your cold, fizzy Kombucha

(portions of this article has been taken from "Kombucha Tea ...all you need to know" http://www.KombuchaTea.co.uk)



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