kombucha

[Guest guest]

I make kombucha and drink it but I don't like the taste. Is there

something I can mix it with or put it in that would make it taste

better? Thanks:)

 

herbal remedies , " Flo " <fgarig@b...> wrote:

>

> Jasmine,

> Here is a website...please read it and look at the pictures and

then read this letter.

> http://www.kombu.de/anleit-e.htm

> http://w3.trib.com/~kombu/howto.html

> --

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

>

> SCOBY is

> Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria & Yeasts..

> good beneficial bacteria and yeast

>

> When I make kombucha tea, I must have a scoby to make it. I make

the tea at night (I use only green tea) and let it cool. In the

morning I put the tea in the jar and add my scoby and the tea (1 cup)

that my SCOBY was in when it came to me. I them put a piece of

cheesecloth or a papertowel on the top of the jar and use a

rubberband to hold it there..(it needs to breathe but you must keep

dust and smells out).

>

> I then set the jar in a quiet place, not in the kitchen as there

are food fumes there, and let it sit for 6-10 days. It will form a

NEW thin scoby on top. You cannot ferment tea in a room where there

is smoke of food fumes--it will die.

>

> (The new baby Scoby will cover the entire top of the tea you are

brewing, like a rubbery disc) If it gets a powdery mold on it, throw

it away. I have only had this ever happen one time and some child of

mine had poked a hole in my cover cloth and I didn't notice it for a

few days.

>

> After 6 days I take a drinking straw and gently push down the edge

of the new baby scoby with the straw. I stick my drinking-straw

down into the tea about two inches, put my thumb over the top end of

the straw, and lift the straw away. I then put the dipped end of the

straw in my mouth and remove my thumb to see if it is slightly tart.

The tea resembles apple cider, and it slightly tart, and slightly

sweet.

>

> If the tea isn't tart enough, which depends on the individuals

taste buds, then I leave it. If it is slightly tart, then I go back

to my kitchen and make a fresh batch of tea. That is made this way, 3-

1/2 quarts of water, 1 cup sugar, and three tea bags. Bring all of

this to a boil and boil for ten minutes. Then remove the tea bags

with a spoon rinsed with regular white vinegar. Put a top on the tea

and the next morning it will be cool enough to use.

>

> The next morning, in a cereal size bowl, mix 1/2 cup water, with

1/2 cup white vinegar. Carry the jar of tea to the kitchen, and have

several containers for your tea to be poured into. You will need

cheesecloth or a piece of a t-shirt or sheet to strain the tea. Wash

your hands in the vinegar water mixture and wash a plate with it,

then pour the mixture down the drain. Gently lift the new SCOBY and

old SCOBY out of the tea and put it on the clean plate. Then strain

the tea into containers (I use wide mouth quart jars) leaving about a

cup in the jar. Refrigerate the tea in the jars that you will drink.

Then, without washing the glass brewing container that you grew your

tea in, add the nearly gallon of tea made the day before and then---

1) slip the old SCOBY (called mother scoby) back into the tea, and 2)

try to put the new baby scoby back on top of the new batch, and it

will grow thicker. If it doesn't float that is okay, it will still

grow thicker, but you will also get a new floating scoby. When you

end up with several scoby's then give them away. . Sometimes they

float, sometimes they don't. Then go set the jar back in the nice

quiet, semi-dark place to brew for another week or so. After 3 or 4

batches, will you notice you are beginning to love this tea. It will

also be slightly effervescent (bubbly) and it will be so good. Only

drink a half cup a day at first till your body adjusts, as it is very

cleansing.

>

> Sometimes the tea in the jars will continue to ferment and get more

tart, even in the fridge. This is normal. You may even see stuff in

there that you want to strain out as you pour it into a drinking

glass. Just save that scum to put in your next batch of kombucha

tea.

>

> You cannot make kombucha tea with herbal tea, only regular black

(orange pekoe) or green tea..The herbal teas often have antibacterial

properties which will kill the scoby's good bacteria and yeast. Then

the scoby will die. You can however mix the finished tea with another

tea if you want to flavor the K-tea or water it down.

>

> Never let your tea or cultures come in contact with metal after it

is brewed. I don't know why, I just know what I was taught. I believe

it saps impurities out of the metal and into the tea.

>

> Flo

>

> -

> Abbas, Jasmine

>

> What is kombucha tea SCOBYs ...i live in FL...where do you live?

>