Kombucha 101 10/12/2017

Kombucha is a fermented tea which can re-establish the microbiome of one’s gut improving digestion, aiding in detoxification and supplying your body with many vital vitamins, minerals and amino acids.

Getting started:
Gather your ingredients. 
You will need:
-1 gallon glass jar with a loose-fitting lid
-1 cup organic sugar
-8 organic teabags or loose tea equivalent
-1 SCOBY
-1 cup Kombucha from a previous batch

For tea choose an organic combination of black, green and pu’erh tea.  Either 8 tea bags or about 3-4 TBS loose tea.

Boil water and steep tea in quart jar for about 10 minutes

Stir in 1 cup of organic sugar and when tea is completely cooled, pour into your kombucha jar.

Next, add 1 cup of kombucha from your previous batch.  This helps the SCOBY get the probiotics growing. Then fill glass jar to equal a gallon of liquid.

Now comes the SCOBY.  This is the gelatinous culture of bacteria and yeast which is responsible for turning your sweet tea mixture into delicious, fizzy, probiotic-ladened kombucha.  The picture shows the old SCOBY, smaller and darker, on top of a fresh new SCOBY, larger and whiter on bottom.  
A new SCOBY should grow during each batch you brew.  Separate old from new and put the new SCOBY into your tea mixture.  
You can save the old one in a pint jar with a cup of kombucha covering it in the refrigerator, share these with a friend and even dehydrate them into Gummie SCOBY treats, if you‘d like! ​

Place the entire jar, now filled with all the kombucha components, in a dark corner of your kitchen.  Fermentation depends on the warmth of your kitchen, the warmer the temperature the faster the fermentation.  Allow kombucha to sit for 5-7 days undisturbed, then take a taste to see if the flavor is tangy and fizzy enough for your tastes.  If not, allow to sit for an additional day and test again.  If it is delicious,  pour the fresh kombucha into a clean glass jar, refrigerate and start the process all over again.