It's easy to learn how to make Kombucha, a yeast culture grown in tea. People who remove the culture and drink the fermented tea claim many health benefits, none of which are recognized by the federal Food and Drug Administration. This 'mushroom' dates back centuries and probably originated in Asia.
You can buy flavored versions of Kombucha in health food stores, but it's simple to make and maintain at home. You'll need a gallon-capacity bowl or wide-mouth jar, black or green teabags, granulated cane sugar, and a cloth to cover the container. The 'starter' - a cake of yeast/bacteria from a friend or a test-tube of culture you can buy online - is the only other necessity.
For optimum benefit, use organic tea and sugar. The culture, however, does fine with conventional teabags and sugar right off the grocery shelf. Using identified cane sugar avoids the beet variety, which is probably genetically engineered. This culture is called a mushroom because of the appearance of the colony, which is flat and covers the surface of the container it grows in.
Once you're familiar with the one to two week growing process and the taste of the finished beverage, you can experiment with other sweeteners. However, regular white granules seem to satisfy the needs of the culture, and the fermenting action transforms this vitamin and mineral deficient food into a health booster.
Prepare the tea using five teabags and a gallon of water. Stir in the sugar. Add the starter and a cup of Kombucha if you have it when the tea is no more than barely warm. A starter mushroom may sink to the bottom or float. All finished brews will have the mushroom and its 'baby' at the surface. Remove the mushrooms and reserve a cup of the liquid to add to the next batch. Refrigerate the rest of the finished beverage.
A forgotten cup of tea will grow a perfect little mushroom, so you can try using a cup as a starter if you can't find a friend with a mushroom to give you. If the culture is happy, the result will be clear, sweet-tasting, and effervescent. It's great alone or with food when served cold, A new mushroom is formed with each batch and should be whitish-tan and slick.
Like sourdough starter or wine, results may vary. People say that the culture is affected by the moon. Place the covered jar or bowl in a secluded spot far from direct sun, where it won't be moved or shaken and isn't close to electrical appliances. A cupboard with no light at all works well, but the back of a kitchen counter is fine. You'll know if your tea mushroom's happy and healthy, if it's just getting by, or if it's failed and begun to mold or rot. Use common sense to build a relationship with this remarkable culture.
It's worth trying and trying again if necessary to learn how to make Kombucha. People credit it with keeping their hair during chemotherapy or even curing cancers. Others like it as a great beverage and a health booster. Recycle extra mushrooms to your garden, where buried ones will be covered with earthworms. Once you begin talking about your new discovery, you'll probably give most of them away to friends.
You can buy flavored versions of Kombucha in health food stores, but it's simple to make and maintain at home. You'll need a gallon-capacity bowl or wide-mouth jar, black or green teabags, granulated cane sugar, and a cloth to cover the container. The 'starter' - a cake of yeast/bacteria from a friend or a test-tube of culture you can buy online - is the only other necessity.
For optimum benefit, use organic tea and sugar. The culture, however, does fine with conventional teabags and sugar right off the grocery shelf. Using identified cane sugar avoids the beet variety, which is probably genetically engineered. This culture is called a mushroom because of the appearance of the colony, which is flat and covers the surface of the container it grows in.
Once you're familiar with the one to two week growing process and the taste of the finished beverage, you can experiment with other sweeteners. However, regular white granules seem to satisfy the needs of the culture, and the fermenting action transforms this vitamin and mineral deficient food into a health booster.
Prepare the tea using five teabags and a gallon of water. Stir in the sugar. Add the starter and a cup of Kombucha if you have it when the tea is no more than barely warm. A starter mushroom may sink to the bottom or float. All finished brews will have the mushroom and its 'baby' at the surface. Remove the mushrooms and reserve a cup of the liquid to add to the next batch. Refrigerate the rest of the finished beverage.
A forgotten cup of tea will grow a perfect little mushroom, so you can try using a cup as a starter if you can't find a friend with a mushroom to give you. If the culture is happy, the result will be clear, sweet-tasting, and effervescent. It's great alone or with food when served cold, A new mushroom is formed with each batch and should be whitish-tan and slick.
Like sourdough starter or wine, results may vary. People say that the culture is affected by the moon. Place the covered jar or bowl in a secluded spot far from direct sun, where it won't be moved or shaken and isn't close to electrical appliances. A cupboard with no light at all works well, but the back of a kitchen counter is fine. You'll know if your tea mushroom's happy and healthy, if it's just getting by, or if it's failed and begun to mold or rot. Use common sense to build a relationship with this remarkable culture.
It's worth trying and trying again if necessary to learn how to make Kombucha. People credit it with keeping their hair during chemotherapy or even curing cancers. Others like it as a great beverage and a health booster. Recycle extra mushrooms to your garden, where buried ones will be covered with earthworms. Once you begin talking about your new discovery, you'll probably give most of them away to friends.
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