Would you like some tea?

Have you ever felt compelled to make fermented tea from a slimy hunk of fungus?



I have.

I'm blessed to have cool friends who have things like kombucha scobies to give away. A couple of weeks ago, I became the proud owner of my very own scobie. (Thanks, Apryl!) And now, we have successfully fermented our own batch of kombucha.

I have to tell you, this is about the most disgusting-looking thing I've ever considered ingesting. In general, we're taught to avoid things that are growing fungus. But kombucha is different. That mushroom on top is chock-full of healthy probiotics, spreading it's healthy goodness all through the tea.

I had a fantastic time poking at the scoby with a wooden spoon. There was lots of "Oh, ew!" and some minor squealing going on. I'm such a sissy when it comes to things that are slimy.


And then there was the question of who would be doing the tasting.

Thankfully, my sweet oldest daughter happily volunteered (a brave little soul, she is.) I mixed it with a splash of cranberry-raspberry juice, and she drank it all up.

Then Littlest One demanded her own glass. I gave in and tasted it... and honestly? It was really good. It tastes just like the kombucha I buy at the health food store. And it's a heckuva lot cheaper. You can reuse the scoby over and over, growing new baby ones to give away with each batch. How cool is that? It's like the gift that keeps on giving!

For more information about kombucha (and in case you're convinced I'm crazy) here's an informative link:
Kombucha Tea (wikipedia)

And here's the site where I got my kombucha-making directions from:
The New Homemaker: Kombucha