Kombucha

So far, I am liking my kombucha, and this batch I used strawberries for flavoring for the second ferment. The apple kombucha from my first batch tastes good, but did not acquire much carbonation, maybe because I didn’t leave it out long enough and the weather here has been cold again. I will leave the strawberry out a little longer until I see definite signs of carbonation this time.
I have been using the bottles from the store bought kombucha, and think maybe I can’t get them tight enough for a perfect seal; so I decided it was time to try the bottles with the swing tops. I had some amazon points, and I used those to order a 6-pack of 16 oz bottles, and I am excited to see how they work.
Even without the carbonation, I love the sour taste of kombucha; but I know I will be happier once I can get it to carbonate better.

 

My strawberry kombucha came out nice and fizzy this time ! I let it sit on the counter longer because of the cold weather. It has the baby SCOBY in the top of the bottle, which the book says they are called “ooglies”. They don’t have much taste and I just drink them along with the rest of the Kombucha.
This time, I am using the new gallon jar with the spigot and starting my first batch of continuous kombucha. I have more energy, and i think that it is all of the extra live B+ vitamins that are in the kombucha (sort of like having the brewers yeast tablets, but much better), and my head seems clearer, too.
All in all, I believe that this is very good for me, and my body keeps telling me it wants more.

I was looking at the ceramic kombucha crocks (you don’t have to worry about sunlight getting in), and they are almost $100 , or more; so definitely not going to be in my Amazon cart for a while !

 

I am thinking that I want to move more into the constant brewing rather than the batch brewing, @Kate Ellery , now that I am more confident about making it, and also thinking that kombucha is something that I will be drinking for a long time.
I do little surveys and get points for Amazon gift cards, so I can eventually save up enough, but it just seems like a lot of money to spend for a crock, so I will be watching for something here, maybe at a yard sale.
One thing that I really like, is that you do not lose carbonation overnight like you do if you have a bottle of soda pop and do not finish it up soon. The kombucha actually develops more carbonation when I leave it sit out overnight if i didn’t drink all of it.

My daughter is home for work training this week, so she came over and inspected my “kombucha laboratory” and tested out the strawberry batch.
I have some with ginger and kiwi fruit that I just set out for the 2nd ferment today.

Also, did you know that there is a kombucha app on the App Store, Kate ? I just got the free version, but you can put a lot of information about the brews there.

 

I ordered a larger size jar for the continuous brewing. It is a gallon and a half, so it will hold more than the gallon jar I just bought, and it is real glass. I thought the last one was glass, but it turned out to be plastic when it arrived.
I can use it to make sun tea for the kombucha once the weather is warm enough, and we can have it for regular iced tea as well, which Bobby likes.

Does that homesteading forum talk about fermenting foods, @Kate Ellery ? If so, can you share the link for it , please , unless it is just for Australia.

 

So far, my favorite kombucha is the grape, but I also really like the apple kombucha. This time, I am making some with Hawaiian Punch and extra pineapple juice, so I am looking forward to trying that.

I have been learning about the health benefits of hops, so I just ordered two hops rhizomes from ebay, and am going to plant them when hey arrive. This fall, hopefullyI will have a few hop flowers that I can use to try flavoring my kombucha with, and I am looking forward to seeing how that works out !
I joined a forum that talks about fermenting, home brewing, and kombucha, so I will maybe be learning more about growing the hops from there.

 

I have been learning about “hoppy kombucha” , and apparently, it is a Thing ! So, earlier this week, I ordered some hops rhizomes from a hop grower and also ordered a small bag of hop pellets from Amazon. They are both arriving today, and we will plant the hop roots and then I am also going to try using some of the pellets and make my first batch of hoppy kombucha.

We are headed to the fitness center today, and Whole Foods is on the way, so I want to stop in and get some bottles of hoppy kombucha to try and see what it is supposed to taste like.
That way, I will have a better idea when I make mine today of exactly the taste it is supposed to have.

The hops plants grow really fast, and I am hoping that by this fall we have at least a few hop flowers on the hop bines. (Yes, they are called bines, not vines…… who knows why, they look like vines to me ? )

 

Okay….. the first experimental batch of hoppy kombucha is bottled and ready for the second ferment. It tastes bitter from the hops, and has an interesting aroma. ( I might have put in too much hops.) The video I watched said to add some orange, so I added a little more sugar and some frozen orange juice concentrate.
Now , I just let it sit on the counter for a few days to carbonate, and then we can see if it is drinkable.
It looks pretty, though …..

 

So….. tonight I tried my hoppy kombucha for the first time, and it is actually pretty good !
After letting it sit out for several days, I put it in the fridge to mellow a bit, and tonight decided to try a bottle along with our dinner. I can taste and smell the hops, but the actual flavor reminds me of grapefruit juice, just a bit more bitter.

I think that I will make this again, with less hops, and maybe some mango or pineapple for flavoring. the pineapple is fairly sweet when I make that, so it should offset the bitterness from the hops.
Bobby tried a little taste, but declined having a bottle with his dinner.

 

Once I get my vitamin/mineral blood test done later this month I've been thinking of giving this a try.

How did you keep the finished kombucha before you got those bottles, @Yvonne Smith?
Regarding adding flavorings: I assume you do that after it is initially fermented? I just read a website that made mention of the flavoring process.

I also noticed you mentioned getting a crock to keep the light out. One of those sprout kits I got has a black sack with a drawstring end that might fit around a gallon jug. When I do sprouts in canning jars, I put a dark towel over them to keep the light out.