Here are links to several other kombucha recipes for more perspective and for additional information:
The Traditional Brewing Method
- Kombucha Brewing Guide by Happy Herbalist
- Quick Recipe KT by Happy Herbalist
- How to make your own Kombucha Tea by Günther W. Frank
- Kombucha Recipe: How to Make Kombucha Tea by Manna International
- How to Make a Big Batch of Kombucha at instructables.com
- Kombucha Recipe at getkombucha.com
- Brewing and F&Q at Organic-Kombucha.com
- I cover continuous brewing in Part I and Part II
- Continuous Brewing Method by Happy Herbalist
- Continuous Brewing: Tastier, Easier and Superior Kombucha by the Weston A. Price Foundation
5 comments:
hey, your blog's such a great resource!
and therefore i got two questions for you, that you might can answer with a post or so...
first, i have a kombucha brew going for a while, but the moms are pretty flimsy.. what's a good strategy for making a good solid mom in a pretty big jar?
second, sometimes i get this algae looking thing down in the brew that floats up to the top.. I guess it's particles from the green tea, could that be correct? what's the best way to avoid it? hmm.. maybe rinse the tea carefully before brewing it.
alright, brew on!
Thanks!
-If you want a thick kombucha mother, I would put some kombucha in a glass jar, cover it well with a breathable cloth, and let it sit for some weeks until a thick mother develops. Or, just let one of your kombucha brews go on for awhile until you get a thick mother.
-The kombucha will get pretty strong and acidic if it has been fermenting for a long time, and using this kombucha as starter tea will favor the bacteria/thick SCOBY formation.
-Acetobacter xylinum has been shown to be the primary bacterium that forms the kombucha mushroom. So to favor a good looking mushroom, you want to favor the bacteria.
-The site Kombucha Balance also talks about ways to decrease yeast to bacteria ratios, which will favor a thick SCOBY http://users.bestweb.net/~om/kombucha_balance/#Less%20Yeast.
-As for the algae, I think what you are referring to are dead/spent yeast cells. There is a picture of spent yeast cells a third way down on this page: http://www.happyherbalist.com/kombucha_brewing_guide.htm.
-Spent yeast cells are common and are supposed to be healthy for you, but some people choose to filter them out. Although you can favor the bacteria in your brews, I expect that you will always have some spent yeast cells. (Dead yeast cells occur in beer and wine-making, too, and they are filtered out).
Good luck!
Some people make Kombucha with honey. Is this a particular culture? becuase I know honey can kill the bacteria...
Hi,
Sorry for the delayed reply! Final exams took their toll. >.<
Some people swear that brewing with honey works, while others swear that brewing with honey doesn't work, such as because of honey's anti-bacterial properties (http://www.organic-kombucha.com/brewing_kombucha.html).
Everyone pretty much agrees that brewing with cane sugar works, however health benefits of other sweeteners often comes up as an issue.
Although I have personally never brewed with honey, something to remember is that if you introduce something foreign to the kombucha culture, even if you don't see any immediate short-term effects on the culture, there may be unforeseen long-term effects.
For example, you cannot brew kombucha using only herbal teas in the long-term. However, if you brew with it for only one or two weeks, the culture will still live. Thus, some individuals alternate brewing herbal and non-herbal brews, or brew with a combination of herbal and non-herbal teas.
If you're interested in brewing with honey, I would recommend keeping a spare SCOBY stored in kombucha made with cane sugar.
More on kombucha and honey from Gunther Frank: http://www.kombu.de/hoopla.htm and Happy Herbalist: http://www.happyherbalist.com/kombuchamushroomhoneystarter.aspx
I also added a post,
"Q&A: Can you brew kombucha with honey?" http://kombuchafuel.blogspot.com/2010/05/q-can-you-brew-kombucha-with-honey.html
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