Sunday, March 20, 2011

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




6 comments:

Just Me said...

You are very welcome dear. It usually takes 2 or 3 batches between new ones for me. I love kombucha and it's health benefits. And I really love being able to make my own for only the price of the tea and sugar.

Julie said...

Hmm, well, I definitely have a baby one already. You can see in the top pic the small one - the one you gave me on top, and the 'baby' is actually much larger, the size of the full gallon jar around. It's a lot thinner and floppier, but it slid out of the jar separate from the one you gave me. I'm gonna give it to Katie and let her have a go at it. :-)

Unknown said...

Okay, that is just weird! But,I must say, I'm quite intrigued. I must look further into this. Wacky... but interesting.

Ew, I just read your comment, "thinner and floppier and slid out of the jar.." and was like EW all over again. ;-/

Anonymous said...

Congrats, Hippie ;-) LOL! If I were closer I'd stop in for a baby fungus LOL!
--Life.

Wendy said...

oh my gosh have I missed the fun and the laughing out loud on your blog. I saw the first photo and was like, Julie is going to make her daughter drink this. What a great sport she is. But seriously, I want a scoby of my own! I read a novel about this guy and they kept describing the jar of kombocha he kept in a dark bottom cabinet.

Wendy said...

Ha ha - I'm just finishing a post on this. Have you still been making kombucha tea?