Homemade Kombucha

Remember yesterday when I said I picked up another Scoby? Well, here it is. I know that these are not pretty. What can I say. They’re gross and weird looking! But kombucha is good and I am thrilled to be making it at home, and so I deal with the ugly factor.

This is the kombucha “mother” Scoby that I got from the lady yesterday and about a cup of her kombucha brew. This all goes into my new batch and from this “mother”, a “baby”will grow, and the cycle repeats.

When making kombucha, it’s normal to ferment it anywhere from 7 to 14 days, to as much as 30 days on your countertop. Then, some people do a second fermentation of another 2 to 5 days or so to get it fizzy. So my thinking is that the more batches I have going the better since there’s quite a lag time in between starting it, and consuming it!

Here’s what I’ve got going so far…

I took This Scoby

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Homemade Kombucha

1/2 to 1 gallon brewed tea, using green or black tea in a glass jar or wooden barrel

1 cup granulated sugar added to room-temperature cooled tea, and stirred to dissolve

Add scoby and cover with a cloth, secured with a rubber band (to prevent anything from getting in the jar you don’t want)

Without disturbing the jar (don’t touch, move, bump, poke, or bother it), wait 7 to 10 days and serve; serve strained if desired. Refrigerate brewed kombucha to slow the fermentation.

Two scobies will have formed; repeat process using two jars, waiting 7 to 10 days; at that point you will have 4 scobys. Start sharing with friends. Do not flavor the kombucha until it is ready to be consumed, i.e. don’t add stevia, orange extract, pineapple juice, etc. in the presence of your scoby; it would ruin it.

Because kombucha is such a unique beverage, and no two fermentation situations will ever be the same, if you plan to brew at home, you need to do your homework, research, and let common sense and experimentation be your guide. Google and do your homework and have fun.

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Yes, it’s super ugly. I know.

Add 1/2 or 1 gallon of Tea (that’s why the water is brown, it’s tea) + Sugar and Cover It

Homemade Kombucha ingredients in large glass jar covered with cloth

And 3 Days Later This Little “Skin” formed on the top layer of the tea water which is the New Baby that is growing from the Mother Scoby

Homemade Kombucha three days later with skin on top

The Bubbles mean the Bacteria are Cultures are Alive and At Work! Fermentation is fun!

Homemade Kombucha in jar showing bubbles

This is early on Day 3. In a week or so this thin skin will turn into a half inch thick Scoby Baby “patty”. It will keep getting thicker over time. I will post progress pics.

There was a little thickening of the new skin, i.e. new baby that’s forming late on Day 4

And this is Day 5

Yes, definitely getting thicker. It’s working!

Skylar thinks that the Baby Scoby is somehow a real baby. She looks at is and says, “Shhh, The Baby’s Sleeping”.

Little girl sitting at table eating snacks

“Don’t Wake the Baby Up, Mom. Shhhh, Be Quiet!”

Ok, I’ll move on because I realize many of you probably don’t care about fermentation, but I think it’s fun! And my gut health and overall health will thank me since I am loading it full of healthy bacteria.

Moving On…

Green Food: Edamame Salad with Stevia leaves from the Stevia Plant I bought last week

Close up of Edamame Salad with stevia leaves

I have been on an Edamame Salad kick, daily, lately. It’s my current food groove. Groove, not a rut.

I used Greens and Tomatoes from the Farmer’s Market

Dressed With Homemade Vegan Slaw Dressing using Reduced Fat Veganaise

That center leaf is a Stevia Leaf.

My verdict on the Stevia Leaves in things is that with all the dressing I use and the flavors of the other veggies and greens, the stevia gets lost.

On it’s own, just chewing on a leaf, it’s definitely sweet but not in that shocking way that commercially ground white stevia powder is. Think sweet like a piece of fruit, not sweet like, whoa blast your eyeballs out sweet, or anything. And it’s a tiny little leaf. You’d need about 500 leaves to get the flavor in one packet of stevia. Just hazarding a wild guess, of course.

Verdict: Fun Plant, for me it was $2.99. Buy one to have fun but not to replace your stevia powder.

Also, I followed up with lots of veggies dipped in my latest creation: “Spicy Doritos” Cheezy Dip