Steeped in Tea

One of my new favourite tea obsessions is kombucha – and I feel like I’m one of the last to the party. After discovering kombucha, and learning how much it is to buy a bottle (3 – 6 dollars), I decided to brew my own “buch”. There are tons of sites on how to brew kombucha, so I won’t get into too much detail on how to brew kombucha here. To find out more about brewing visit Cultures for Health. In a nutshell, you brew unflavoured tea (oolong, black and green work great) in sugar water. After the mixture cools down, you add the SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) and you’re good to go! After 7 – 30 days the brew is ready and you have kombucha. If you are going to attempt a brew, make sure you follow the ingredient ratios very closely as listed on the different sites.

After brewing comes the fun part – flavouring the kombucha. My favourite, quick way to do this is to create a 20 percent juice, 80 percent kombucha mix. Grape juice is my favourite. Bottling it in a Grolsh style bottle and leaving it on the counter for a few days makes a wonderful, fizzy flavour of kombucha. Apple juice mixed with cinnamon makes a delicious applie pie flavour. Of course, plain kombucha is also great. And for a subtle flavour, some freshly squeezed lemon and orange goes a long way.

So why kombucha anyways? It is kind of weird right – drinking a tea that fermented via bacteria and yeast. Mainly, I’m doing it for the taste. It’s a wonderful alternative to other types of beverages. It’s a great, quick drink to have in the morning for a fast jolt of caffeine. It’s been enjoyed by many for years, and has been dubbed the “elixir of life.” Some call it almost a cure all – for all types of ailments, such as pain, digestion and hangovers. I can’t say I have noticed any changes since I have began enjoying kombucha, but there is tea in it, so there is no denying there are benefits within the drink.

If you haven’t tried kombucha yet – give it a shot. It’s not too difficult to find these days, and almost all health food stores will most likely have some bottled kombucha in a variety of flavours.

My first big batch of kombucha brewing – I have since switched to a 1 gallon jar with a nozzle for a continuous brew system.