Anyone brew kombucha?

[Apple]

So, 20 years ago my ex-husband's friend talked him into this "healthy tea", and we had a fungus-y looking mass growing in a glass jar for months.  I didn't care much for the taste, but ex-h was a fan.  Don't know how it eventually went away, but it did.

A few weeks ago, my son mentioned wanting to try some.  Yesterday, I took a fermentation class with the Extension office (we made sauerkraut).  They had several fermented foods/drinks to try, and one of them was home brewed kombucha.  She had the jar of brew, some in a dispenser jar, and some smaller jars she had added fruit or fruit juice to.  The regular stuff was ok, the fruit added stuff was actually pretty good!  It was fizzy, sweet, but tart too.

Anyway, she had a bunch of "baby scobys" in her brew jar, and was willing to share them.  So, I became the recipient of a fat, healthy baby scoby.  I brewed black tea with sugar last night, and now have my own batch brewing (one gallon).

If you've done this, do you have some "kombucha soda" mix-ups you really like?  Berries will still be in season for my first batch, so I figure I'll throw a handful of black berries in one jar, but what other stuff do you like?

I think my son will really like it, he likes all kinds of weird stuff and likes to eat as naturally as possible (although he requested Dominos pizza for dinner last night, so he still likes the junk stuff too).

[weltschmerz]

I used to. Nasty stuff that made the whole house stink.

[weltschmerz]

It's a biosorbent. It binds to heavy metals and contaminants.
It also contains lead and chromium. It feeds candida.
Bottoms up!

[kittensaver]

Jul 20, 2016 13:03:59 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

It's a biosorbent. It binds to heavy metals and contaminants.
It also contains lead and chromium. It feeds candida.
Bottoms up!

These are all *mays* - as in *some* homemade kombuchas *may* feed candida.

These are not foregone conclusions.

Donna Gates (who you have clearly Googled and quoted) DOES have her detractors, you know, just sayin' . . .

one (wo)man's meat is another (wo)man's poison. What you are quoting is NOT a universal truth, just sayin' . . .

[weltschmerz]

Jul 20, 2016 14:15:16 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

Jul 20, 2016 13:03:59 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

It's a biosorbent. It binds to heavy metals and contaminants.
It also contains lead and chromium. It feeds candida.
Bottoms up!

These are all *mays* - as in *some* homemade kombuchas *may* feed candida.

These are not foregone conclusions.

Donna Gates (who you have clearly Googled and quoted) DOES have her detractors, you know, just sayin' . . .

one (wo)man's meat is another (wo)man's poison. What you are quoting is NOT a universal truth, just sayin' . . .

Who? I never heard of her.

[weltschmerz]

My BFF, who buys into all manner of woo, got very sick, and her doctor told her to stop drinking it immediately.
I have no idea who Donna Gates is, but here's some info.

bodyecology.com/articles/4-surprising-reasons-to-ditch-kombucha

[kittensaver]

Jul 20, 2016 14:38:40 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

My BFF, who buys into all manner of woo, got very sick, and her doctor told her to stop drinking it immediately.
I have no idea who Donna Gates is, but here's some info.

bodyecology.com/articles/4-surprising-reasons-to-ditch-kombucha

Um . . . . Donna Gates is the person who *owns* Body Ecology . . . . *duh*

[weltschmerz]

Does she own this, too?

www.ibtimes.com/what-kombucha-tea-reported-benefits-dangers-fermented-drink-414536

[weltschmerz]

Evidently, there's not a single clinical study that supports any benefits.

In any case, the question posed was "has anyone done it?"
I have, and aside from stinking up the house, it did nothing.

I did have more upset stomach issues than usual.

That's my 5 cents.

(We don't use pennies any more.)

[Apple]

I've not "met" anyone with a bad experience, so awareness of possible bad side effects are good to note.  I do know not to brew/keep it in any metal container, unknown glaze covered container, or glass that could contain lead, since the acid levels will cause bad stuff to leach.  So, I'm only using a glass container/containers.

I also think people can way overdo things, but I think (less than) one gallon, split between two people/week (so about 8 oz/day) should be fairly moderate.  If I find it's too much, I'll reduce it to brewing a half gallon a week (or I could just toss the scoby and quit, at this point, all I'm out are 8 tea bags DS wasn't likely to use since he now prefers loose tea leaves, a cup of sugar, and some time).

Not too surprised there are no studies, since studies involving "pro-biotics" are slim when compared to the number of those done for anti-biotics.  I guess I'll be donating myself to the "anecdote only" cause, one way or the other.

[Pants]

What are you hoping to get out of drinking it? Yeast and bacteria tea with bits floating in it sounds like an awful idea to me. Also, anytime someone touts "detoxification" as a benefit they are just trying to blow smoke directly up your ass.

[Apple]

Mostly just the pro-biotic stuff, since I don't care for yogurt.  I don't buy into any "detox" claims, etc.  I've pretty much given up pop, but I miss the "fizz" sometimes, and the kombucha tea provides that.

[weltschmerz]

Jul 20, 2016 20:40:50 GMT -5 Apple said:

Mostly just the pro-biotic stuff, since I don't care for yogurt.  I don't buy into any "detox" claims, etc.  I've pretty much given up pop, but I miss the "fizz" sometimes, and the kombucha tea provides that.

Club soda. I mix mine with a little pure pomegranate syrup.

[Peace Of Mind]

Not me but I'm quite familiar with Sambuca.   Talk about fixing what ails you with a side of lots of fun times.   

[Apple]

I've done club soda and fruit juice, trying something different.

[copperboxes]

Haha, I figure the major joy of being an omnivore is being able to sample pretty much any chewable/drinkable thing that won't kill a person outright.  

Beer, wine, hard alcohol, they're plant slurries or juices with yeasts and bacteria to add flavor, and I classify them as poisons.  A few cups makes it hard to think right and spot things.  Drink too hard for too long and organs fail.  Yet I love rum cake and will hold/drink a cup of alcohol at parties to blend in.  The idea of Kombucha production and final product is really mild to me, compared to the sketchy look of natto (fermented whole soybeans, it seriously looks like the beans went south in a bad way, but tastes good).  I gather a good contingent of people from asian countries feel about cheese how we often do about stinky/fermented tofu.  It's all delicious stuff though, I seriously enjoy microbial flavorings 

Apple, I think it's really cool you got a scoby to try out for free   

You might not like it, or it might produce too much, but like you say, no harm in giving it a shot.  

I mostly go for culturing veggies since I have a lot of plant matter from my somewhat compulsive need to scratch around in dirt.  I found there was a strong scent fermenting in a large crock with the moat style water seal, but if I used canning jars with brewing fermentation locks there wasn't any noticeable scent, even with three jars going at once.  I've never worked with kombucha, but if you experience a scent like Weltz reports during fermentation, maybe that might be something to try?

Good luck!  I hope you let us know how it goes!

[Pants]

From what I've read kombacha can go pretty alcoholic if you leave it to ferment, so there's a point in its favor!

[Apple]

Seven pints...  Two left plain, for DS, are in the refrigerator.  Two are on the counter with some peaches added, two with blackberries, and one with blueberries.  They'll sit there for a couple days to ferment then go in the fridge.

Honestly, the apple cider vinegar I put out for fruit flies in the summer (when we have a lot of fruit, because I never think to put the fruit in the fridge before I see some) smells way worse than the kombucha.

We did a black tea for the first brew and are trying a green tea for the second brew.  There was already a healthy baby scoby forming, I just put them both back in the gallon jar. 

I'm not sure if you can do air locks with kombucha, everything I've seen so far has you just cover it with a coffee filter or cloth to allow it to "breathe". 

However, all this has me wanting to make mead, and the local brew supply store guy seemed very helpful when I went in to buy some bottles.  A coworker brews his own mead every now and then, but he retires next year so I'll have to try it on my own.  I could have quilt and mead parties with my sister and SIL...