My homebrewed kombucha has been fermenting on my counter for just over a week. Now it's ready to be decanted into smaller bottles for flavoring and additional fermentation.
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| Most people would use a gallon jar, but I had a vase, so there it is. You can see the mother floating sideways there - gnarly, right? |
Each time you brew your kombucha a new baby SCOBY will form on top.
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| Tasty, right? (As if a bacterial process could really look tasty...) I need to remove the baby in order to pour off my brew. |
If you needed any confirmation of my weirdness, just check out that manic gleam in my eyes (and ignore the circles underneath them). That's what excitement looks like.
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| Yeah, that's SpaceCat on my shirt. Jealous? |
But wait!
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| Every experience is improved with the proper wardrobe! |
Mad scientist at work:
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| I'm adding blueberry juice to my glass jars before I add the tea. |
You just don't mess with a mad scientist.
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Recipes online suggested adding fruit juice and/or cut up pieces of dried fruit. Ever one to use what's on hand, I decided to add fresh pomegranate seeds in addition to blueberry juice. |
Pomegranates are a sign of new beginnings.
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| Fitting that I should include it in my new endeavor, then, right? |
They also play a prominent role in mythology...
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| Oh Hades! I'll stay here in the underworld forever! Swoon |
Now that I've added my flavorings I can actually pour the tea....
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| How on earth am I supposed to pour that tea into those jars? How do I get around the baby?!?! |
Before touching the SCOBY, be sure to wipe your clean hands with vinegar to remove any oils or soap residue that might contaminate it.
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| I'm not sure if the blue nail polish is truly sanitary, but it greatly enhanced my mental preparedness |
All the containers used in kombucha preparation should be glass (ideally) or hard plastic. Metal interferes with the SCOBY and will keep it from doing it's thing
(that's a scientific term).
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| That ceramic bowl is waiting to cradle my little baby. If I can ever get it out.... |
Sometimes you have to overcome your fear of the slimy and gross and just go for it.
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| Remember the haunted houses of your childhood? Sticking your hands in dishes of strange substances while blindfolded... The texture of SCOBY is something like that. |
Eeeeew!
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| I grew this under a towel on my counter! |
Meet: SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria & Yeast)
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| I currently have this baby in a tupperware at the back of my fridge, in case my original mother becomes compromised. If I want to use it I'll have to bring it back to room temperature, because they go dormant when regfrigerated. |
That's pomegranate juice on my face... And scoby juice on my fingers.
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| New headshot? |
Now I'm finally ready to pour my kombucha tea into my jars:
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| Pourin' the brew. |
Ready for its airtight lid
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| Looks... frothy. |
Pouring in action
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| The kombucha mother lurks just below the surface of the tea, unable to escape. Like a crocodile lying in wait for a sweet baby elephant. |
Now I'll let them ferment for a few more days before I refrigerate them.
I varied the amounts of juice added to see what tastes best.
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| A veritable rainbow of digestive health. Yummmm. |
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