Kombucha tea culture?

larmy16

I would be interested to try the Lidl one, just to compare the taste to home made though.

jumblejack

larmy16 wrote: »

There is so much information about Kombucha that it can make you confused.

From what I have read, the original tea must be made with bog standard sugar (the one we are all supposed to stop using) as the culture thrives in it and tends to die off in other sweeteners like honey, fruit etc.

You can add the pineapple to the second ferment though.

I have been making it for some time now and love it. As it happens I went to Argos today to get a stock pot so I could make even more of it.

As I have a few scobies now I am experimenting with it and have one in some apple juice in an attempt to make cider!

I happen to love it and start every day with a small glass.

VERY interested in your experiment. Please share the results soon!!!

larmy16

jumblejack wrote: »

VERY interested in your experiment. Please share the results soon!!!

About 7 days in, I have a problem in that as I rarely drink apple juice, I have difficulty in telling if anything has happened!

It is very tangy and I think would be nice diluted half and half with fizzy water.

What I am impressed about though is that there is a beautiful healthy baby scoby at the top of the jar.

Will leave a few more days. Am then going to place the original scoby back in some tea to see whether the experiment harmed it. Likewise the babe.

larmy16

pickledtink wrote: »

I used to have one of these living in my kitchen. i drank it for about a year but in the end found it too much of a bind to keep going and it gets very bitter the longer you leave it.
Can't say I remember any appreciable benefits but certainly do try it. Everyone's different after all.
As to the Kumbucha tea you buy in Supermarkets I can't see it having any of the properties of the 'live' culture. As pointless as buying dead yoghurt to be honest.

I deliberately do this sometimes as it turns to vinegar which I then use for cleaning, descaling etc.

Occasionally the globby bits will block up the spray mechanism but no big deal. You could just decant and then replace into a container as you use it.

I found it descaled my kettle very well. I am thinking of having a go at using it as a fabric conditioner replacement.

It has a lovely mild smell compared to bog standard vinegar.

Caterina

I used to have one but eventually found it a chore to feed it and it went in the compost. I have read somewhere that it can be toxic, anyone know anything about this? It never did me any harm but likewise I never felt better for drinking it.

thriftwizard

Jumblejack, the thing about the fermentation process (which is what the SCOBY does) is that it actually "digests" the sugar, so what your mother would be drinking contains far less sugar than when the brew is first made. Very much like the sugar turning to alcohol when you use brewer's yeast, but with different yeasts (and bacteria) involved.

I've kept Kombucha SCOBYs on & off for years. I like the taste & I do feel better for drinking it (I have some fairly whacky ideas about fermentation & B vitamins being lacking in Western diets, etc!) but I also make kefir & ginger beer & of the three, have found ginger beer the quickest & easiest.

arkonite_babe

I'm interested in getting started with kombucha, if you can help me get my wings please see my request for help on the NI board

arkonite_babe

Bought a kombucha starter kit from Happy Kombucha, will see how I get on