Kombucha

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PaleoPath4Lyfe
PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
I am getting back into brewing the booch as I am tired of paying $4.00 a bottle for it in the grocery store.

I killed my previous Scoby and purchased a new on on Ebay. I can't wait to get this precious one in my hands and start feeding it so it will grow, grow, grow.
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  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
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    I am getting back into brewing the booch as I am tired of paying $4.00 a bottle for it in the grocery store.

    I killed my previous Scoby and purchased a new on on Ebay. I can't wait to get this precious one in my hands and start feeding it so it will grow, grow, grow.

    Who else brews their own Booch?
  • solarpower4
    solarpower4 Posts: 250 Member
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    I've been wanting to brew it ever since I first discovered it. I would love to hear about your experiences making your own -- and to hear about how well your eBay find works for you. I could LIVE on kombucha!
  • mominpa
    mominpa Posts: 25 Member
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    Me!

    I love it!! It took me a year to be able to "like" it...and actually only after going on a GAPS diet and having my tastes change drastically did I start to like it-- now I LOVE IT!!!

    Speaking of that-- I have a batch that needs jared....NOW.
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
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    I've been wanting to brew it ever since I first discovered it. I would love to hear about your experiences making your own -- and to hear about how well your eBay find works for you. I could LIVE on kombucha!

    Ok, great. If it goes well I will gladly send you out a scoby to start your own brew fest!!
  • ShawtyLatina
    ShawtyLatina Posts: 160 Member
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    I'm totally in love with Kombucha. I also became quickly tired with the high price tag to purchase it at the store. So I started brewing my own. I'm addicted. I even have a little scoby nursery and a brewery of about 7 bottles with all different kinds of combos, playing with different ingredients and different ratios of earl grey, english breakfast, chai and other black teas mixed with green teas. And I'm also playing with how different sugars affect the taste. My favorite part though is in the harvesting and flavoring.

    In my fridge now I have a pitcher of mango, cran pineapple, grape, and blueberry. Yummmm. :) I would definitely encourage you to brew your own. It's so worth it!
  • solarpower4
    solarpower4 Posts: 250 Member
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    I've been wanting to brew it ever since I first discovered it. I would love to hear about your experiences making your own -- and to hear about how well your eBay find works for you. I could LIVE on kombucha!

    Ok, great. If it goes well I will gladly send you out a scoby to start your own brew fest!!

    Wow, THANKS!!!
  • mominpa
    mominpa Posts: 25 Member
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    I'm totally in love with Kombucha. I also became quickly tired with the high price tag to purchase it at the store. So I started brewing my own. I'm addicted. I even have a little scoby nursery and a brewery of about 7 bottles with all different kinds of combos, playing with different ingredients and different ratios of earl grey, english breakfast, chai and other black teas mixed with green teas. And I'm also playing with how different sugars affect the taste. My favorite part though is in the harvesting and flavoring.

    In my fridge now I have a pitcher of mango, cran pineapple, grape, and blueberry. Yummmm. :) I would definitely encourage you to brew your own. It's so worth it!

    Oh wow... mine is just plain ol' Kombucha..... now I think I should try some additions.....

    I have had wanted to exerpiement with the sugars....but have never added flavors....

    How much are you adding to say a gallon?
  • ShawtyLatina
    ShawtyLatina Posts: 160 Member
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    see below...
  • ShawtyLatina
    ShawtyLatina Posts: 160 Member
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    I'm totally in love with Kombucha. I also became quickly tired with the high price tag to purchase it at the store. So I started brewing my own. I'm addicted. I even have a little scoby nursery and a brewery of about 7 bottles with all different kinds of combos, playing with different ingredients and different ratios of earl grey, english breakfast, chai and other black teas mixed with green teas. And I'm also playing with how different sugars affect the taste. My favorite part though is in the harvesting and flavoring.

    In my fridge now I have a pitcher of mango, cran pineapple, grape, and blueberry. Yummmm. :) I would definitely encourage you to brew your own. It's so worth it!

    Oh wow... mine is just plain ol' Kombucha..... now I think I should try some additions.....

    I have had wanted to exerpiement with the sugars....but have never added flavors....

    How much are you adding to say a gallon?


    I do mine in quarts, thanks to the baby size of a city refrigerator in a NYC baby apartment. lol. So for a quart, if it's dried fruits, I'm adding about 1/4 cup or 30 grams.

    If fresh fruits I'd keep to 1/2 cup.

    If pureeing your fruits, then it's about 2 tbl of the concentrate per quart. You can also buy the organic fruit concentrate in the bottle. Same 2 tbl.

    Warning though: do not attempt to eat the fruit. Just as the enzymes feed off the sugar that we feed it, I find it also does the same to the natural sugars in the fruit. It's like the live organisms robs the fruit of everything it has to give, leaving the fruit to taste like crap. So definitely strain it out as you serve it in order to avoid the sour puss face. :)

    Let me know how it goes. I would love to hear about any new flavor combos you discover.
  • ShawtyLatina
    ShawtyLatina Posts: 160 Member
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    Me!

    I love it!! It took me a year to be able to "like" it...and actually only after going on a GAPS diet and having my tastes change drastically did I start to like it-- now I LOVE IT!!!

    Speaking of that-- I have a batch that needs jared....NOW.

    Question for you... How tart do you go?? Do you brew for 1 or 2 wks?
  • mominpa
    mominpa Posts: 25 Member
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    When I remember.... lol

    I try for weekly...but the batch right now is a GOOD 2 weeks!! :0
  • mominpa
    mominpa Posts: 25 Member
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    I'm totally in love with Kombucha. I also became quickly tired with the high price tag to purchase it at the store. So I started brewing my own. I'm addicted. I even have a little scoby nursery and a brewery of about 7 bottles with all different kinds of combos, playing with different ingredients and different ratios of earl grey, english breakfast, chai and other black teas mixed with green teas. And I'm also playing with how different sugars affect the taste. My favorite part though is in the harvesting and flavoring.

    In my fridge now I have a pitcher of mango, cran pineapple, grape, and blueberry. Yummmm. :) I would definitely encourage you to brew your own. It's so worth it!

    Oh wow... mine is just plain ol' Kombucha..... now I think I should try some additions.....

    I have had wanted to exerpiement with the sugars....but have never added flavors....

    How much are you adding to say a gallon?


    I do mine in quarts, thanks to the baby size of a city refrigerator in a NYC baby apartment. lol. So for a quart, if it's dried fruits, I'm adding about 1/4 cup or 30 grams.

    If fresh fruits I'd keep to 1/2 cup.

    If pureeing your fruits, then it's about 2 tbl of the concentrate per quart. You can also buy the organic fruit concentrate in the bottle. Same 2 tbl.

    Warning though: do not attempt to eat the fruit. Just as the enzymes feed off the sugar that we feed it, I find it also does the same to the natural sugars in the fruit. It's like the live organisms robs the fruit of everything it has to give, leaving the fruit to taste like crap. So definitely strain it out as you serve it in order to avoid the sour puss face. :)

    Let me know how it goes. I would love to hear about any new flavor combos you discover.

    Okay I was inspired-- I added orange slices---and WOW-- IT IS DELICIOUS!! I have to be careful not to drink the whole gallon!!!!!!!!!!!
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
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    Ok, I got my SCOBY in the mail today and started a quart size jar (recycled coconut oil jar) until I can find some gallon size jars around here.

    Hitting up the good will and other thrift stores this weekend.

    I sure hope this turns out good.
  • mominpa
    mominpa Posts: 25 Member
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    A friend of mine gets gallon jars from her local deli.... they are SUPER nice.
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
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    A friend of mine gets gallon jars from her local deli.... they are SUPER nice.

    Ahhh, great idea!!

    Hey, is it ok for my SCOBY to have sank to the bottom of my jar this morning? Or did my husband's negative energy from being in a bad mood last night kill it on its first night in its new home?
  • mominpa
    mominpa Posts: 25 Member
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    Mine did that the first time....didn't lay on the bottom--- but it wasn't floating on the top either.

    The thicker mine got the more it floated (I dont alway get rid of the new mushroom)
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
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    Mine did that the first time....didn't lay on the bottom--- but it wasn't floating on the top either.

    The thicker mine got the more it floated (I dont alway get rid of the new mushroom)

    Ok, my 2 starter scoby's are still on the bottom, but I have a baby starting to form at top, is it supposed to be like that?
  • valleyofbaca
    valleyofbaca Posts: 4 Member
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    Awww, lil' baby SCOBY! Yes it is supposed to be like that. Hey ya'll, my first post here in boochville. I have my first batch going, well my 15 y/o daughter does it's her new job. We've been observing our friends expertise at Kombucha brewing and sampling their harvest...and getting educated for a while now and decided to take the plunge! Happy brewing!
  • momof8munchkins
    momof8munchkins Posts: 1,167 Member
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    We've been brewing kombucha for a while now.. we brewed it for over a year to help my mother heal from disease.. then our mushroom died soon after she passed away,symbolic maybe... we started again at the beginning of this year. How long you brew it depends a lot on climate and humidity. I live in South Central KY . Our weather is crazy and very unpredictable- just recently in a span of only a week we had tornados then snow, then hot and humid- 78 degrees, then back 50 degrees lol.. So we have to watch our brew and test it. anywhere from 7 -12 days. We do ours by the gallon , we gathered glass jars here and there.. many times when we need a new one we buy a huge jar of pickles and save the jar. We really like the flavored.. so far we've done grape, cranberry, and peach that we really loved- orange and pineapple- not so much. We do drink it plain and most of us don't care for it when it gets to the vinegar stage but one gallon is used up within a few days so that is not usually problem.. To make enough for the whole family we put a brew up about every 3 days..
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
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    Ok, I didn't do something right..........my booch isn't fizzy like the store bought booch I have bought in the past. Do I need to let it ferment longer?

    Momof8munchkins.........I am in Southern Illinois and have experienced the same crazy weather you all have in Kentucky. We don't actually live very far apart.