Kombucha anyone?

[Fire Me Boy!]

Does anyone here make their own kombucha?

I admit, I do like the stuff periodically. I kinda want to make my own. I can read all the blogs I want (and have read several), but curious if anyone has any first-hand experience.

Otherwise... do you like kombucha? What kinds? What do you like about it?

[BlackHelicopters]

Please enlighten me. What is kombucha? TIA

[Fire Me Boy!]

Please enlighten me. What is kombucha? TIA


It's a lightly fermented tea. Chinese have been making it for a couple millennia, and the probiotics are supposed be good for you. I don't much care or necessarily buy into the health part of it, but I like the flavor. Slightly fizzy, too.

You can usually find bottled versions in higher end grocery stores and health stores. Kinda pricy.

[LoneWolf]

Uh, no. I'll stick to regular tea.

http://cdn.blisstree.com/files/2011/08/kombucha.jpg

[Fire Me Boy!]

Uh, no. I'll stick to regular tea.

http://cdn.blisstree.com/files/2011/08/kombucha.jpg


Yeah, the SCOBYs are kinda gnarly. But it's really not that different than making your own beer or vinegar, both of which I've done.

[noa]

I love it, and we've made it a few times. It's very easy, and the SCOBYs were easy to get online. The only downside was that it would take a while to make, and then we'd drink it all so quickly. But we were only doing one big jar at a time, not a set up like that in the picture above.

[LoneWolf]

Yeah, the SCOBYs are kinda gnarly. But it's really not that different than making your own beer or vinegar, both of which I've done.

I'm sure it's not as gross tasting as it looks in that picture, but I'm certain I couldn't get past knowing what it looks like in that state.

I'm the type of guy who prefers to keep the wizard behind the curtain. Now that I've seen that, there's no way I could drink it.

[Fire Me Boy!]

I love it, and we've made it a few times. It's very easy, and the SCOBYs were easy to get online. The only downside was that it would take a while to make, and then we'd drink it all so quickly. But we were only doing one big jar at a time, not a set up like that in the picture above.

I was hoping to find a SCOBY locally, but no luck. I've read you can grown one from unflavored store-bought kombucha, but I can't find that either. So I'm thinking online will have to be my answer.

Any hard-earned lessons you've found?

[Fire Me Boy!]

I'm sure it's not as gross tasting as it looks in that picture, but I'm certain I couldn't get past knowing what it looks like in that state.

I'm the type of guy who prefers to keep the wizard behind the curtain. Now that I've seen that, there's no way I could drink it.

ROFL

Fair enough. I don't mind seeing how the sausage is made. :)

[LoneWolf]

ROFL

Fair enough. I don't mind seeing how the sausage is made. :)

I'll bet you don't. ;)

[Fire Me Boy!]

I'll bet you don't. ;)

Giggity.

/nohomo

[noa]

I was hoping to find a SCOBY locally, but no luck. I've read you can grown one from unflavored store-bought kombucha, but I can't find that either. So I'm thinking online will have to be my answer.

Any hard-earned lessons you've found?

You should go for it. I think the only time we hit a snag was we got a bad SCOBY so it didn't ferment properly. I was pretty happy with the outcomes. We didn't try any flavors though -- but when I buy it from a store, I usually get a flavored one. And I like chia seeds in it, too.

[Fire Me Boy!]

You should go for it. I think the only time we hit a snag was we got a bad SCOBY so it didn't ferment properly. I was pretty happy with the outcomes. We didn't try any flavors though -- but when I buy it from a store, I usually get a flavored one. And I like chia seeds in it, too.

I saw one like that at the store yesterday. Little chia seeds floating in suspension through the whole thing.... I think chunky drinks is where I might draw the line, but I'd be willing to try it.

I got a ginger blueberry one last night that was damn tasty.

[Donger]

I don't like Mario Bros.

[Mennonite]

http://114.imagebam.com/download/ECUcX9XuPD9YFEkdA1t-Zg/47261/472607972/slurm%20tea.png

[Rasputin]

Do you use chopsticks for it?

[BWillie]

Its gross. For hippie drinks, I do drink those mamma chia things, but Kambucha is nasty

[seclark]

rock on fmb...dude knows how to prepare a dish.
kombucha? sorry. not much for tea.
sec

[lazepoo]

If you stay on top of it, you'll be fine. You've made vinegar before so you know more or less what you're in for with the mother/scoby. My wife would make it periodically but infrequently enough that it tasted too vinegary for my tastes, and I didn't care for the constant vinegar stench in our kitchen from it. Be prepared for everyone that comes to your house to comment on the scoby and how it looks like a cancer or parasite or something.

As for getting a scoby, I would take a look at a local co-op. A lot of places offer a class where you'll get a scoby or they might have a message board with people offering some scoby or something. Good luck!

[Toby Waller]

A. I thought it was a type of booze.
B. You can't drink it with chopsticks.

[lazepoo]

It has a small amount of alcohol occuring naturally in it (2-3%ish) so there are issues at the regulatory level on how the government wants to classify it and tax producers, but I don't believe there's any impact on people like FMB doing it at a hobbyist level.

You don't need to be 21 to buy it I believe.

[phisherman]

Let me know if you want a scoby, I'm out in Lee's Summit. We make a few gallons every two weeks. We let the first fermentation go about a week and then we'll usually do a secondary with fruit.

The stuff is darn good and super good for you, though if you let them sit too long they go WAY sour. For anyone that's a sour beer fan, kombucha is an easy transition.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Let me know if you want a scoby, I'm out in Lee's Summit. We make a few gallons every two weeks. We let the first fermentation go about a week and then we'll usually do a secondary with fruit.

The stuff is darn good and super good for you, though if you let them sit too long they go WAY sour. For anyone that's a sour beer fan, kombucha is an easy transition.


I am a sour beer fan. If I was still in KC, I'd take you up on that SCOBY.

[Pablo]

Looks like an AIDS puck soaked in hobo urine. Sure it tastes alright though.

[Fire Me Boy!]

If you stay on top of it, you'll be fine. You've made vinegar before so you know more or less what you're in for with the mother/scoby. My wife would make it periodically but infrequently enough that it tasted too vinegary for my tastes, and I didn't care for the constant vinegar stench in our kitchen from it. Be prepared for everyone that comes to your house to comment on the scoby and how it looks like a cancer or parasite or something.

As for getting a scoby, I would take a look at a local co-op. A lot of places offer a class where you'll get a scoby or they might have a message board with people offering some scoby or something. Good luck!

The local farmer's co-op is actually doing a kombucha seminar in April. And wouldn't you know it, it's the same day I leave to go to NAB in Vegas. :cuss:

I'm doing it, though. Just ordered a SCOBY online.

[MOhillbilly]

its super easy.

[58-4ever]

The local farmer's co-op is actually doing a kombucha seminar in April. And wouldn't you know it, it's the same day I leave to go to NAB in Vegas. :cuss:

I'm doing it, though. Just ordered a SCOBY online.

Do you live in the KC area?

[BWillie]

It has a small amount of alcohol occuring naturally in it (2-3%ish) so there are issues at the regulatory level on how the government wants to classify it and tax producers, but I don't believe there's any impact on people like FMB doing it at a hobbyist level.

You don't need to be 21 to buy it I believe.

Http://www.vice.com/read/i-tried-to-get-drunk-on-kombucha-511

[BWillie]

Let me know if you want a scoby, I'm out in Lee's Summit. We make a few gallons every two weeks. We let the first fermentation go about a week and then we'll usually do a secondary with fruit.

The stuff is darn good and super good for you, though if you let them sit too long they go WAY sour. For anyone that's a sour beer fan, kombucha is an easy transition.

Why does everybody think Kombucha is so good for you? How many long term studies have ever been done confirming such?

[58-4ever]

Http://www.vice.com/read/i-tried-to-get-drunk-on-kombucha-511

ROFL "That night, I tried to sleep, but my body had been commandeered into a gas factory. Every 20 minutes I'd have smelly, noxious air pumped out in one direction or the other. The next day at work, I spent a quarter of the day shitting, and another quarter working from my phone as wet, deafening farts shook the only good bathroom in our office." ROFL

[TambaBerry]

I just bought some because of this thread. It's not terrible but drinking bacteria like this freaks me out.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Do you live in the KC area?


Nope, Alabama.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Why does everybody think Kombucha is so good for you? How many long term studies have ever been done confirming such?


I don't think it's a cure all. But I'm not opposed to the probiotics, I actually like the flavor, and most importantly, I like making stuff.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Those of you that have brewed your own: Do you do any flavorings, or just the natural kombucha?

[ping2000]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160320/1dec90c33c5ab70997f20da1dc96bad4.jpg

[DaKCMan AP]

Don't make any myself, but regularly buy from the local company Mother Kombucha.

[phisherman]

Those of you that have brewed your own: Do you do any flavorings, or just the natural kombucha?

We use fruit to do secondary fermentations. Just make sure to breathe your bottles or they will explode, the residual sugars from some fruits (particularly pineapple) will make for a real gusher if you let it sit too long. We use strawberries, cherries, blueberries, peaches, etc.

I have also used the dregs from sour beers and wild ales for secondary fermentations before and they've usually come off pretty well. You wouldn't think that brettanomyces could affect flavor that quickly (within 5-7 days), but it will dry the vinegary taste out a bit and give it some nice funky, earthy flavor instead.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Got my first batch going last night and a case of flip-top bottles on the way (along with some more good tea for the next batch).

Those of you that brew your own, any teas you particularly like? Or do you do any of your own blends?

[BucEyedPea]

It's a lightly fermented tea. Chinese have been making it for a couple millennia, and the probiotics are supposed be good for you. I don't much care or necessarily buy into the health part of it, but I like the flavor. Slightly fizzy, too.

You can usually find bottled versions in higher end grocery stores and health stores. Kinda pricy.

All fermented foods have probiotics in them which are good for you—not supposed to be. They're the healthy bacteria help get rid of the bad bacteria. Important to take after taking antibiotics. ( as well as B1)

Lot of immunity in our guts.

[Eleazar]

While some laboratory studies suggest that kombucha tea may have some health benefits (one published in January 2009 in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture investigated potential cholesterol-lowering and antioxidant effects), no human study has been published showing a beneficial effect for kombucha.

I am also concerned about the possibility of contamination in home-brewed kombucha. Some batches contain aspergillus, a toxin-producing fungus. This would be a significant risk for individuals with compromised immune systems, such as those with AIDS or in chemotherapy for cancer. There have been reports in the medical literature of adverse reactions, including nausea, vomiting and headaches, in people drinking more than four ounces of kombucha tea daily.

In 2009, physicians at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles reported a life-threatening case of lactic acidosis (the build-up of lactic acid in the bloodstream faster than it can be removed) and acute kidney failure in a 22-year-old man newly diagnosed with HIV within a few hours of his consuming kombucha tea. Other cases of lactic acidosis and cases of serious liver dysfunction associated with ingestion of kombucha tea have also been reported, along with allergic reactions, jaundice, and head and neck pain. I would particularly caution pregnant women, nursing mothers, the elderly, children and anyone with a compromised immune system against consuming it.

In summary, I know of no kombucha benefits to be gained by drinking this tea.

Andrew Weil, M.D.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA365602/Cured-by-Kombucha.html

[BWillie]

All fermented foods have probiotics in them which are good for you—not supposed to be. They're the healthy bacteria help get rid of the bad bacteria. Important to take after taking antibiotics. ( as well as B1)

Lot of immunity in our guts.

So thats why we should drink copius amounts of beer & wine?

[Fire Me Boy!]

Just bottled six 16oz bottles - three plain and one each of blueberry, grape, and cherry/lime. Meant to add ginger to the blueberry one, but forgot. Interesting that after 10 days the buch already had a little carbonation without being bottled.

[Beef Supreme]

You gotta hand it to Chiefs Planet. Start a thread about some disgusting shit you'd think nobody has ever heard of, and sure enough, there is already a fan following here.

[dls6501]

Kombucha is disgusting. It boggles my mind knowing people actually drink this stuff for reasons other than punishment.

[jspchief]

My wife drinks the Synergy kombucha. For the price, I damn well should learn to make it.

[Fire Me Boy!]

My wife drinks the Synergy kombucha. For the price, I damn well should learn to make it.



I enjoy some of the Synergies, but yeah, it's like a Starbucks habit.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Just cracked my first bottle of homemade buch. It promptly geysered to the ceiling and across the room.

ROFL

The couple drinks I salvaged tasted really good, though. I guess I'll be more careful about opening the rest.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Second batch is already better than the first. I think I didn't let the first ferment enough. Just bottled 11 16-oz bottles, various flavors. This batch was naturally a lot fizzier than the last.

[TLO]

Idk WTF this thread is about, but I'm putting it on ignore. Thanks

[aturnis]

It's a lightly fermented tea. Chinese have been making it for a couple millennia, and the probiotics are supposed be good for you. I don't much care or necessarily buy into the health part of it, but I like the flavor. Slightly fizzy, too.

You can usually find bottled versions in higher end grocery stores and health stores. Kinda pricy.
Actually, science has a positive outlook on probiotics. Plenty of research to do though.

[Simply Red]

The GTS Lavender is sensational. Sort of packs a punch.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Actually, science has a positive outlook on probiotics. Plenty of research to do though.



No, I agree probiotics are generally good. But if you research specifically the health benefits of kombucha, you'll see people claiming it cures everything from arthritis to diabetes.

[aturnis]

Cured my herpes AND my AIDS!

[Groves]

Anyone in Springfield who needs a scoby can let me know.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Been doing a continuous brew for the maybe 3 weeks. This is the best. It's pleasantly fizzy on first fermentation, nice and tart. No bottling needed, just use the spout to pour over ice.