Kombucha

I recently began my quest to cook and started a 100 Days of Recipies on my instagram. I set out to follow a new recipe every day. I started out strong but as you might have already guessed I haven't been doing it everyday. 

The last recipe that I did was my 8th one kombucha. 

I just want to share a little bit with you about this lovely fermented bevarage!

I first purchased the stuff from Whole Foods and then here and there until I was absolutely addicted. At first sip I thought I wouldn't like it but I seriously ended up in love! I guess it doesn't have to be love at first sip to be real! At first I was intrigued by the fact that it was one of the best places to get probiotics and then it turned into a yummy soda for me. More of a treat than something meant to be healthy.

So, my husband and I frequently go to Ventura on dates and when we would go we would stop by The Sandbox Cafe. Which is a place right by surfers point that sells beer, fresh sandwitches, juices, smoothies, coffee, and kombucha. Their kombucha is home made... I'm telling you, there is nothing like the real stuff. Your whole body feels warm and detoxed. 

But here comes the sad part. For the past couple months they have not sold it there because they no longer have a provider. The owner was telling me that they were looking for a new one. My imagination went wild. 

{photo from our honymoon}

I can be a bit unrealistic at times. In my head I was thinking "I have wanted to start making kombucha for a while now and Brandon (my husband) makes it... What if we were the provider" 

This, of course, was obsired. Sure we were regulars and sure we kind of knew the craft of fermenting tea but we are by no means pros. Not worthy of the store owners secret recipe. 

::side note:: 

Brandon is really into fermenting foods such as kefir and sour kraut for the wonderful probiotics so he tries to make kombucha from time to time. 

Anyways, that inspired me to try and make it. Brandon hasn't been able to come out with a kombucha that is delicious and I am up to the challenge. 

For a while I had been plagued by the fact that he is the main cook because it's a hobby of his that he is passionate about. I have felt for a while that I would like to know what it would feel like to make him food "just how he likes it". 

Which brings me here. The present.

So I began my 100 days of Recipies. 

My last recipe was the kombucha. It finneshed firmenting this week and I want to tell you how it turned out

I used two Recipies.

One from the Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon & one from the Lorna Jane App. 

The Nourashing Traditions book is a great book that has everything you will need for eating right and heeling yourself with food. The kombucha recipe is a good basic one. I will put it at the bottom.

But this first time I made it I made it too strong but I think I did very well with it. I think I am going to keep trying with it and attempt to make it great one day!

The Lorna Jane recipe is a ginger turmeric kombucha that I will also post at the bottom. I fermented it longer than the first one and it was so very good! Not perfect, but good. 

This has been an adventure that has shown me that maybe I can do this. Maybe I actually can make delicious things people can consume.

My desire is to keep with my goal and make all 100 Recipies. Maybe making at least two a week until I feel confident just whipping up food at will! Oh gosh... Fingers crossed.

Nourashing Traditions| Kombucha:

Makes 2 quarts

3 quarts filtered water

1 cup sugar 

4 tea bags of organic black tea

1/2 cup kumbucha from a previous culture 

1 kombucha mushroom 

Bring 3 quarts water to boil. Add sugar. Let simmer and dissolve. Remove from heat. Steep tea bags. After cool  transfer to Pyrex. Add 1/2 cup kombucha from previos batch. Place mushroom on top. Cover loosely. Let ferment in a dark warm place for 7-10 days. 

Remove mushroom and put in jar in the frige with some kumbucha inside for next use.

----------------------

Lorna Jane| Kombucha

 1 litre filtered water

¼ cup organic white sugar (normal or raw is fine – the bacteria do not like the fancy sweeteners like rapadura or stevia)

2 organic black tea bags (many say non-organic tea just doesn’t work as well)

½ cup pre-made kombucha liquid (from a previous batch or a commercial one in a bottle)

1 SCOBY (you can buy these online or phone a friend who has a spare)

Fresh ginger, cut into match sticks

Fresh Turmeric or ground

Bring water and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat, add tea bags, cover and allow to steep for at least 10-15 minutes. Remove tea bags and allow liquid to cool to around body temperature. Pour into a glass or ceramic jar (which you’ve sterilised with boiling water). The jar needs to be broad to allow plenty of contact with oxygen.

Add pre-made kombucha (the liquid needs to be quite cool so you don’t kill bacteria) and then gently place the SCOBY on top (it may sink to bottom, this is OK). Cover the jar with a towel or muslin. I use a tea towel and secure it with an elastic band.

Allow to sit for 7-10 days (7 will be plenty in warm weather). The temperature needs to be around 24C, so if it’s cool where you live, stick the jar on the top of the fridge.

At the end of 7-10 days, a “baby” SCOBY will have formed on top of the liquid, the mother underneath. Remove both SCOBYs and store them in a glass container with a little kombucha liquid. Or use one to start a new batch straight away. 

Add fresh ginger and turmeric to the kombucha and screw cap on tightly.

Let sit out for 4 to 5 days as a secondary fermentation. The longer you let it sit, the more carbonation will build up. (Caution, depending on your ginger, room temperature, and sugar content of your kombucha and length of this secondary fermentation, the carbonation can be surprisingly strong. Best to refrigerate after 4-5 days rather than leaving it out indefinitely, and open cautiously). 

Refrigerate and enjoy a shot every morning before breakfast.

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/13040545/?claim=vcc3fj94k3a">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>