Kombutcha Tea what is that and WHY would I drink it?

SEE the RECIPE HERE

So I have a new love; it’s rather scary. It is Kombucha tea. I have had many of my heath nut friends tell me about this tea for years however, I never seemed to get around to be on the receiving end of a starter. You see you need a ‘scooby’ to make this tea. It may actually be called a scoby with a long O but I really like scooby and this is my blog so I’ll call it whatever I wish. I’m just in one of those moods. Maybe it’s because Mercury is just coming out of retrograde and I’ve been a tad edgy lately. Anyhow, I digress.

The scooby, yes, this is the momma to the awesome, scary looking ‘why the freak am I going to drink that’ tea. So as fore mentioned I have known about this drink for years. When I was randomly on FaceBook this summer my friend, Sandy, posted, ‘if anyone wants a slippery slimy wad of bacteria please comment’. Then she posted that she could actually hear the crickets chirping at the lack of response. I saw this and posted, ‘yes sign me up!’ and so my relationship was born. We met at Northpark Mall and made the exchange like a drug deal. She handed me this brown paper sack with a glass jar in it. It had several precious scoobys in it and was to be carried in my bag around the mall like I was hiding a big bag if weed. My hand in my purse and all to make sure it wasn’t tipping.
I got home and called two of my crazy yogi and hippie friends. We got together and over several bottles of wine we make our first batch of the precious drink. (it takes a while, ok, don’t judge).
I now know why It’s so expensive in Sprout’s! This baby takes a lot of TLC! The first batch stayed in Teresa’s closet. Every time I came over we’d ooh and aaah over how fuzzy it’s getting and how the scooby was growing. Finally it was done. We were really scared to drink this sh%*. Why the heck were we going to drink this again, you ask?
Well I did some research. (Actually I pulled up a link on my iPhone; cut and pasted it) and here it is.

According to Wikipedia… ‘Kombucha is an effervescent tea-based beverage that is often drunk for its anecdotal health benefits or medicinal purposes. Kombucha is available commercially and can be made at home by fermenting tea using a visible, solid mass of yeast and bacteria which forms the kombutcha culture, often referred to as the “mushroom” or the “mother”.’

The first batch was a bit addicting. You feel a bit daring as you let this nasty fizzy substance pass your parted lips. And then (insert a chorus of angelic voices) wow! It’s the second and third drink that keeps you coming back. Then you’re hooked.

So I’m on another batch, I guess batch 3. Note this was started in the summer, so I am reiterating how long this takes. It’s almost December 2011.

Here is my latest adventure in a photo diary of me and my daughter making Kombucha Thanksgiving weekend.

This is the second batch, after you finish you remove the scoobys and 1/4 cup of the starter tea into a new jar. Then the tea is ready as is or, as you can see we added pineapple, blueberries and grape/ acai juice and to the third Juicy Juice because it was in my fridge and no one was drinking it since its sickly sweet. But makes great Kombucha!

All our babies! Aren’t they cute? Ready for making batch 3!

This is the stuff you’ll need to start a batch.

You’ll also need a bunch of glass jars and a few cut up tees with rubber bands.

So there they are in our coat closet fermenting and brewing away. 2 weeks.
So, anyone want a slimy, round, slippery wad of bacteria to call your own???
Hello?
Bueller? Bueller?
I can actually hear the crickets chirping now.
And incase you were wondering did that little girl really drink her micro tiny cup of fermented tea that tastes somewhere between a yeasty beer and club soda and old fruit juice? HELL no! She’s just a good little actress like her mom.
Peace out.