What is Kombucha?

What is that drink all the hipsters and health experts have been talking about? Kombucha is a fizzy sweet-and-sour drink. It's made out of yeast, sugar and your choice of black or green tea.

How did making Kombucha become a hobby of mine?

Social distancing during a global pandemic has allowed me the time to have new experiences, and making Kombucha has been one of them.

Check out my "What is Pyrography?" blog post.

My First Attempt.

My neighborhood is fairly small, so you get friendly with your neighbors quickly. During quarantine one of my neighbors asked me if I enjoyed kombucha, and if I had ever tried to make my own. The simple answer is, yes I like it, and no I never thought of making it. I was only familiar with the brands I purchased in the super market. When my neighbor mentioned he had an extra scoby. I was both excited, and hesitant. My first thought was, "what is a scoby?" and "is there a way I could screw up this project so bad that my family would get sick?" However, with my neighbors directions, I was excited to try something new.

*Warning, the scoby isn't the prettiest thing in the world.*

What is a Scoby?

Kombucha is made with yeast, sugar and black tea. When you put the culture in the tea with sugar, the scoby eats the sugar and "ferments" for 14 days. During that time, bacteria and acids form, and the yeast culture grows on the scoby. This fermentation process is similar to how cabbage is preserved as sauerkraut & kimchi, or how milk is turned into yogurt.

Is drinking Kombucha for everyone?

There have been several claims made about potential health benefits. Among the long list of benefits, the most common is that kombucha helps with digestive health. The reason is that fermentation makes natural probiotics which help with digestion and bowel movements.

Kombucha isn't for everyone. My suggestion would be to try it from a store before making it for yourself. And check the serving size on each bottle you buy in the store. Once you have determined kombucha is right for you, you will find that making your own is a great way to save money while helping your health.

The Process

Like anything you try to do, there is a learning curve. Hopefully after you use my tips and tricks below, you won't run into issues like I did. You will find more often than not that my approach to learning is all trial and error.

Here is the play by play that I received from my neighbor for the 1st fermentation...

Reflection after my first fermentation.

After the first fermentation, I realized that I really wanted to do more flavoring in a second fermentation process. I had tasted my neighbors batch as a comparison which was very helpful. My suggestion for learning new things is to try to not compare to others to much. My neighbors batch was definitely more vinegary compared to mine. I also had to keep in mind that his was also not flavored.

I believe overall this first fermentation was a great life lesson. In life when you compare yourself to other people and their work you need to take things as the say in latin "Cum grano salis." In other words, "with a grain of salt." I needed to remind myself that he had been doing this process for a while. Although it was good to compare, I needed to make modifications to my recipes going forward. My batch also didn't need to taste like his, and your batch doesn't have to taste like mine. Although, I do have to mention my batch was yummy and I am really sad you all couldn't try it!

Flavoring

I have experimented with lots of flavors so far, and I will do a separate blog post sharing them all with you soon. But my go to right now, is Lavender blueberry. I have linked the recipe I use below.

Lavender Flavored Kombucha Recipe.

My Tips & Tricks.

-If you don't have swing bottles & don't want to purchase any right away, you can use old kombucha bottles you get from the store or mason jars. (the mason jars are even a better option for cleaning) But DON'T use other bottles other than the ones mentioned. If you find a swing bottle make sure you can in fact use it for fermenting. Not all glass is made to with stand the fermenting process. Trust me, I learned the hard way.

- DON'T FORGET TO BURP YOUR BOTTLES!

By that I mean, every day or so take a second to open up the bottle for air during the fermenting days. I've noticed so far that you might not want to do this with all the flavors. With some, it is extremely necessary to avoid an explosion.

-After the 2nd fermentation and frig time, OPEN YOUR BOTTLES OVER THE SINK!

Conclusion

I am in no way a expert in making Kombucha. But like every blog post on this website, I will take you through my journeys with DIY projects. And I will share with you what I learn as I go. Hopefully this blog post gave you more insight as to what Kombucha is and how you can save money by making it yourself. Shout out to my neighbor who convinced me to start the project, and gave me my first Scoby.

Check out this Kombucha Starter Kit on Amazon.

I gotta go now, it's bottle day & I have to flavor more. Happy tasting and learning! Cheers!

"Be brave enough to be bad at something new." - Jon Acuff