A Collaboration

Jeremy and I collaborated with our friend, makeup artist Vyvy Tran, on this mermaid inspired photo shoot.  I haven't quite known how to share these photos, because they are evocative.  However I love them, and want to share them with you.

Now that I brewed this weird drink what the heck do I do with it?

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.

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.

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.

  Yeah, that's SpaceCat on my shirt.  Jealous?

But wait!

Every experience is improved with the proper wardrobe!

Mad scientist at work:

I'm adding blueberry juice to my glass jars before I add the tea.

You just don't mess with a mad scientist.

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.

Fitting that I should include it in my new endeavor, then, right?

They also play a prominent role in mythology...

Oh Hades!  I'll stay here in the underworld forever!  Swoon

Now that I've added my flavorings I can actually pour the tea....

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.

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).

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.

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!

I grew this under a towel on my counter!

Meet: SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria & Yeast)

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.

New headshot?

Now I'm finally ready to pour my kombucha tea into my jars:

Pourin' the brew.

Ready for its airtight lid

Looks... frothy.

Pouring in action

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.

A veritable rainbow of digestive health.
  Yummmm.