Kombucha, anyone? This satisfying cultured drink from ancient times is getting quite a lot of good press! Boasted as being anti-aging, pH balancing, an excellent energiser, as well as being absolutely chock full of good bacteria (literally millions of organisms per serving) – no wonder it’s quite the rage amongst celebrities! It is truly a living food, bursting with enzymes!
The Kombucha ‘SCOBY’ is actually a fungus (like a mushroom) which thrives in black tea and a room temperature environment. I have used organic Ceylon, green, white and even Chai teas with success, but the SCOBY is quite a creature of habit and generally tends to prefer the standard black tea. It also devours sugar, as it’s what the living SCOBY eats. When you see the amount of sugar in the recipe below, remember that most of the sugar will be eaten up by the time the Kombucha is ready to drink.
Next time you’re at the organic/farmers’ markets, see if you can find stalls with bottles of fresh Kombucha for sale. You should be able to pick up a ‘SCOBY’ from the grower – you will need this living creature to make your very own fresh Kombucha at home. Here’s everything you need to know:
Home-Brewed Kombucha
Ingredients:
Baby kombucha ‘SCOBY’ in 100ml mother culture
2 litres sweetened organic black tea (read below)
Directions:
Put the baby kombucha ‘SCOBY’ & the ‘mother liquid’ into a 2 litre glass jar.
Prepare 2 litres of black tea with 3 organic tea bags and 185g raw organic sugar and allow to cool.
Combine kombucha mixture with cooled black tea.
Cover with a paper towel and rubber band. Leave for 8-10 days, strain and store in the fridge until desired. Fresh ginger juice may be added before storing or serving over ice. You can also try the following flavour variations: lemon, lime, pomegranate, mint, cinnamon.
