What is kombucha? I won’t go into a long explanation here, but it’s a fermented tea drink. Besides tasting good, it has (anecdotal) health benefits. You can read a full description here.
Caveat emptor. I am not a doctor, and am not promoting kombucha as a health supplement or cure. However, if you’ve never had kombucha, I do suggest starting out by drinking a small bit at first (4oz or so). Some people do react negatively to the probiotics and yeasts. This especially holds true if the drink is homemade. Let your body get used to it, and slowly increase your intake.
Anyway.
Once in a while I used to buy a bottle or two of kombucha when we would go grocery shopping. I liked it, but I’m a weirdo. Hubs tried it and hated it. However, each bottle was around $3-$4 each, which makes drinking it regularly not a viable option. So I did some research to find out how I could make my own. And it’s actually pretty easy.
The main thing you need to make kombucha is a scoby (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast). This is also known as the “mother.” Sounds gross, right? It looks kind of gross too, but it’s 100% necessary.
So how do you get a scoby? If you have a friend who brews, you can ask them for one. The mother produces a “child,” so eventually your friend should have an extra. You can also buy them from people online, but then you run the risk of it dying during shipment, or getting a less-than-quality one.
I however, made my own scoby. Yes, it is possible! All you need is some sugar, tea, and a bottle or two of plain kombucha from the store. I followed this instructional to make my scoby. I won’t copy it here, but if you’re interested please visit that link and follow the instructions. Make sure your bottle of store-bought kombucha is plain (not flavored), and try to find the one with the largest floating bits in it.
Now, once you have your scoby, here’s how you brew kombucha Kelly-style.
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