Anyone for Kombucha

[redsturgeon]

Visiting a friend a few weeks ago to view his "new" home, before he knocks it down to build a Passive House, I saw a strange thing sitting on his dresser. It was a large Kilner jar with a jelly fish like thing floating on top of a brown liquid.

"What's that?" I asked.

"That's our pet scooby." Came the slightly mysterious reply.

Further questioning revealed that this was a batch of Kombucha brewing.

They gave me a sample from the fridge and it was delicious, slightly sour with almost a lambic beer/scrumpy cider taste to it.

I took a bottle home, finished it off in a few days and determined, after some research, to brew my own.

First catch your scooby!

The key to this strange brew from the East is the scooby which is indeed a living thing, a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, hence the name.

You can get your scooby from someone whose own has given birth or conveniently they are plentiful on eBay (other internet auction sites are available).

I ordered mine, it arrived in a slightly gloopy double sealed plastic bag (inside plain brown wrapping for the squeamish) and I set it to work.

I brewed a litre of tea with four tea bags and 80 grams of sugar, left it to cool, added my scooby and left it on the shelf to do its thing for two weeks.

I tasted some of my first brew today to check it was ready for bottling and it was delicious.

A bottle now sits in my fridge and I have now started a bigger brew in a Kilner jar with a tap on the bottom so I can have a continuous supply from two week's time.

I know I'm probably late to the Kombucha thing and it is all the rage in Camden among the yoga mummies, apparently it has many health giving properties but I just love the taste.

Anyone else have a pet scooby?

You can read more here or many other places on the internet

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-ko ... chn-173858
(Sorry about the music! I'd mute it!)

John

[Lootman]

I know I'm probably late to the Kombucha thing and it is all the rage in Camden among the yoga mummies, apparently it has many health giving properties but I just love the taste.

Yes, it became fashionable about a decade ago. But I assume it isn't any more as Waitrose stocks it:

http://www.waitrose.com/shop/ProductVie ... reId=10317

WholeFoods has a fair selection of flavoured ones. But presumably the bottled varieties that you see in more up-market food and health shops are not the "live" variant, and so inferior in some ways. Definitely more convenient to buy and less messy that way, though.

Its health-giving qualities are known but the taste is definitely an acquired one. Personally I don't like it at all and my fad for it didn't last long.

[JMN2]

Instead of Kombucha I used to ferment carrots, onions and sauerkraut. Has all the good bacteria for the tummy.

[redsturgeon]

Instead of Kombucha I used to ferment carrots, onions and sauerkraut. Has all the good bacteria for the tummy.

I already make my own sauerkraut, great with pulled pork!(easiest thing ever for those who have never tried I'd recommend it) and kimchi is one of my favourite things.

Coincidentally I was just listening to R4 this afternoon and there was a whole programme on Sandor Katz who is known as the king of fermentation and wrote the bible of fermentation

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wild-Fermentat ... rmentation

John

[sg31]

Instead of Kombucha I used to ferment carrots, onions and sauerkraut. Has all the good bacteria for the tummy.

Before we moved to this house I got in to Thai and other oriental cuisines. One of the things I tried was Kimchi which came in small tins at an extortionate price from the local Indian and oriental food shop. I really liked it and so did my wife.

I decided to make my own, I picked a recipe and went for it 2 heads of Chinese leaf, one of the large mouli radish things and the proper chilli powder. Obviously I tried it when it was first made and it was so-so, nothing to write home about. I put it in the fridge and because we were busy with other things it got left there taking up space for about 3 months. After that time my wife wanted me to dump it to free up the space in the fridge and I'd pretty much lost interest. Before it got dumped I decided to taste it. It was amazingly good. My wife loved it, I loved it, we ate some every day until it was finished.

That's about 18months ago and I've not made it since because I've been busy renovating this house and all the containers we used were packed away in the loft. They are coming out of the loft next week and this thread has inspired me to have another go.

OK it isn't Kombucha but it is fermented food. If you haven't made it give it a try, it's easy to make, healthy, low calorie, very tasty. You can eat it straight away but it improves with age.

[Devjon]

Is this a similar thing? ( from yesterdays Guardian )

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... kit-kimchi

[redsturgeon]

Is this a similar thing? ( from yesterdays Guardian )

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... kit-kimchi

Yes indeed it is, I am going to brew up my first batch of Kimchi this week.

John

[sg31]

Is this a similar thing? ( from yesterdays Guardian )

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... kit-kimchi

It is the same thing but you don't need the fancy equipment, just a large jar with a tight fitting lid. It doesn't need to be completely airtight as it is natural yeast that causes the fermentation. Once it starts working pressure is forcing air out of the jar so it is difficult for other bacteria to get in and the amount of good bacteria in the kimchi prevents infections.

Hospital level bacterialogical control isn't necessary.