The difference between buying kombucha in the store and brewing your own kombucha February 3, 2009

I can break down the difference between store bought kombucha and brewing your own kombucha pretty easily:

PRICE
Probably the biggest thing is price. I’ll put it this way, if you buy a bottle a day, let’s say you have 30 bottles a month, 360-365 bottles a year at 5 bucks a bottle. That comes out to 1,825 dollars a year on kombucha tea alone! So much for that new computer you were planning on buying…BUT if you brew your own bottles it comes out to literally pennies per serving, there is the money that goes into buying a kombucha brewing system but after a month of not buying kombucha bottles at the store it has literally paid for itself.

CONTROL THE SUGAR, (kombucha good for diabetics)
You can control the amount of sugar your kombucha has. Most commercially brewed kombucha you buy at the store is loaded with sugar so unfortunately diabetics can’t enjoy the other benefits of kombucha. To control the amount of sugar simply brew longer and your kombucha will “digest the sugar” if you will. This process also allows you to control the fizzyness, some people like it super fizzy, some don’t, simply let it ferment longer for more fizzy kombucha.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN CAFFEINE LEVEL
Some people are really sensitive to caffeine so the idea of store bought kombucha isnt really a good idea. BUT!!! When your brew your own kombucha you can use non caffeinated tea such as honeybush and rooibos for kombucha brewing. You can check out the entire selection of teas approved for kombucha brewing http://getkombucha.com/reforkobr.html

Question about my first kombucha brew January 24, 2009

Here is a question we recently got:

QUESTION:
Got the brew kit a week ago, and am about to start to bottle my first batch. I noticed yesterday that the new culture that formed on top looked kinda blue. I read that cultures can mold and infect the tea, and now I am scared. how does this look to you?

Picture of a Healthy, yet Very young baby scoby

If it is ok (i really hope it is), after i bottle the all the tea (and leave a little?) can i just put new brewed sweetened tea right on top of all the culture, or do i take some out?

Thanks for helping me out I am really excited to finally be brewing my own kombucha.

RESPONSE:
QUIICK RESPONSE:

As far as I can see you look good to go!! just save around 15% (usually the spigot placement is a good measure of 15%) and pure some fresh tea on top.

ADVANCED TIP!!!

To ensure a healthy and more evened out batch: After you pour your sweet tea on top of the SCOBY, draw a big ole glass from the spigot and pour it on top. This will take part of the 15% starter tea from your last batch that was on the bottom and place it on top of your new sweat tea. Kind of like a starter tea sandwich where the starter tea is the bread (rye, pumpernickel, any kind you want) and the sweat tea is the turkey (unless your a vegetarian, and then it would be the tofurkey).

This gently mixes the older more acidic brew with the fresh sweat tea, causing the ph level to drop a little bit faster before the sweat tea can become susceptible to harsh environmental conditions.

Happy Brewin’!

Dave

PS: Congrats on rockin out with the culture and a helluva great pic!

Kombucha and DEATH!!!! January 9, 2009

I was in a meeting a few weeks ago and had a bottle of kombucha and one of the women I was meeting with asked me if that was kombucha (the bottle clearly said kombucha), I responded with “yes it is kombucha“. She then proceeded to tell me how dangerous kombucha it was and how KOMBUCHA WILL KILL ME, and now I have heard about (HEAR, AS IN SAW IT WHILE SURFING THE INTERNET… SO IT MUST BE TRUE… PLEASE LOOK UP SARCASM IF YOU DID NOT GET THAT LAST COMMENT) a few incidents where people who were drinking kombucha became ill but I have yet to find any conclusive evidence that it is actually do to kombucha.

Kombucha is so new (actually it’s been around over 2000 years) so when doctors found out that a healthy person died and they also drank kombucha well hell that must be it right? I really don’t think so but I do know more people have died from drinking sprite or red bull. Improper brewing can cause mold spored and/or toxins and if you brew in a lead container but that’s not the kombucha killing you, it’s you being stupid brewing in a poisonous container. NOTE: ALL OF THE PORCELAIN BREWERS FROM GETKOMBUCHA.COM ARE CERTIFIED LEAD FREE 🙂

Back to the lady, when I asked her why she said she just heard about it and really had nothing else to say except that I should not drink it. I like to do my own research and not base my lifestyle on misguided (well intentioned), I mean anything can kill you, water can kill you if you drink too much. Get to know your body and all is well.

Bottle It! October 30, 2007

Hey guys! Sorry for the brief delay. I’ve been pondering my next steps…. the kombucha turned into a MONSTER! It’s big like a jelly fish. And it’s HUNGRY! Every day I taste the k-tea it gets less and less sweet. I was freaking out because I wasn’t sure what to do next… bottle it? Feed it? I talked to Dave, and it eased my mind. He told me to bottle it (in clean glass) and to put in 80% of the k-tea, so I’d have enough left over for the continuous brewing. I was worried about the whole precentage thing– but LUCKILY the tap is at the 20% point! So I was able to just pour it into a bottle until it didn’t pour quickly. Now, Wednesday when I see dave, I’ll pick up more dry tea, and make the kombucha a fresh batch to nibble on. My little Scoby’s so cute. Jodie. Sigh.

TIP!

make sure, as your scoby grows that it’s not popping out of the k-tea. Use a wooden spoon or a clean finger to make sure she’s a little bit submerged.

We don’t want our darlings to choke!