Happy one week!!!!!!

 This one didn't look so pretty a few days ago. I'm not sure if the scoby is discolored from the tea but it is getting thicker. It seems that both this one and the one just below were made with turbinado cane sugar.

 This is my green tea scoby attempt with all green tea and a kombucha culture that came out of a KIS kombucha jasmint jar because the GT brand didn't really have what looked like one in it just all the sediment on the bottom. If you look back at some of my previous posts you will actually notice that this one is getting clearer and not as cloudy as it was a few days ago. there is a white biofilm finally forming on the top instead of the scary green.

 This one is my slowest starter working. The starter culture to the left just doesn't seem like it wants to do anything. There does look like a thin film is starting to form. I'm not sure if temperature has anything to do with it. Will continue to monitor it.

 B was also made from the KIS kombucha bottles like the one above and both have plain white sugar in them. It would be interesting if the sugar plays a role in this slow scoby starting? It actually looks like it is beginning to get to the white traditional biofilm on top. This is definitely a fun project and am eagerly waiting to begin stage two of my kombucha project with making this fermented tea. Below I have put a link to Food Research International from 1999 that will shed some like into what chemical reactions are occurring in the bottle between the sugars, bacteria, yeast and acidic liquid to make this fermented tea.


http://www2.hcmuaf.edu.vn/data/lhquang/file/Tea1/Tea,%20Kombucha,%20and%20health.pdf

day  three picture.

mmmm

Day two

Things seem like the are working and mushrooms look like they are wanting to appear but I will keep you posted on further developments. So I have labeled each mason jar:

 The above picture is my Jar B with KIS Jasmint.


The mason jar to the left is Jar C with the duo kombucha blend of GT'S and Aquavitea

 This mason jar is my green tea with KIS Jasmint or Jar A.












The bottom two pictures are my pure green tea SCOBY starter or Jar D.

And we are off! Starter SCOBY is on its way.

So yesterday I began my kombucha experience/experiment by preparing myself with plenty of youtube videos on how to make a mother mushroom SCOBY. Like anything on the internet, everyone has an input on what you should and shouldn't do. Some websites say you can start a SCOBY from scratch while others tell you to get it from a friend or look in your local seven days for someone willing to share. Yikes if you ask me. There are places where you can purchase fresh or dried SCOBY. So what is a SCOBY? By definition a SCOBY is a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast. This culture begins to digest the sugars in the sweet tea to produce various acids that are beneficial to you.

http://www.seedsofhealth.co.uk/fermenting/kombucha.shtml

The process I used was by getting pint sized mason jars because I read that you need to grow your SCOBY from small jars to larger ones to have them be healthier. I started with four experiments from various kombuchas that I purchased from health food stores. My first mission was to wash the jars with soap and water, dry them and them sterile them in boiling water for a few minutes. My next step was to brew my tea. I chose two different types: a organic green tea that prepared the old fashion way of brewing tea and a Celestial Black tea that I made with my Keurig machine. I decided to use two different types of sugar: regular white table sugar and an organic raw turbinado cane sugar. My store bought kombuchas were: KIS kombucha Jasmint flavor made in Morrisville, Vermont, GT'S organic raw kombucha multi-green and original flavor, and Aqua Vitea raw organic probiotic kombucha made in Bristol, Vermont.

In two of the mason jars I used the regular sugar, roughly about an 1/8 of a cup. In the other two jars I used the cane sugar and again it was an 1/8 of a cup. I filled two jars (one of each type of sugar) with green tea and two other jars (again using one of each type of sugar) with black tea.

In the picture to the left, you will notice that both jars contain this brand of kombucha in it. I found that both bottles had a nice looking strand of living culture in it that I hope will give me a better chance of creating my starter SCOBY.

In the other green tea jar, I added the GT'S kombucha multi-green. I strained most of the liquid off to get to the layer of "sludge" on the bottom of the jar. This will be my pure green tea kombucha hopefully although the kombucha itself didn't seem like it had a nice strand in it like the previous two bottles. The last jar of black tea, I added a combination of the GT'S kombucha original and the Aqua Vitea mainly because the Aqua Vitea bottle didn't appear to have a whole lot of sediment or strand in it as did the GT'S kombucha. So there you have it all four starters have begun and now I will check them daily and blog the results with pictures. All four of the jars do have a coffee filter on top that is kept in place by a rubber band. My one concern is that my house may not have a suitable temperature for creating my mother mushroom due to the season.

in the beginning

So I have chosen to make Kombucha which is a fermented tea drink that uses a symbiotic relationship between bacteria and yeast. It has many positive health benefits when consumed like detoxification, aids in digestion/stomach health, boosts one's immune system, and joint care. But most of all from what I've read, it seems like a really neat experiment where you see what is happening inside the glass jar that you have it in on a day to day basis. You will see the beginning of a SCOBY (which is symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) that forms a thin white film with gets thicker and thicker with every new drink you make from the original one. To make it it takes between seven to thirty days, depending on your preference for sweet or vinegary flavors. The longer you let is ferment, the more acidic it will get.

The process is not too complex, but cleanliness is required otherwise you will end up with a moldy product. From my research, it appears that temperature plays a role because if its too cold it won't ferment as fast. You also want to keep it out of direct sunlight and most of all, pests that are attracted to its sweet smell.

I will attempt to make a SCOBY from scratch using raw kombucha that I purchases from the Health Food Coop in Burlington. I will also visit my local health food store (who makes and bottles his own Kombucha) and see if I can acquire a baby SCOBY and experiment that direction. I have researched that you can purchase SCOBY kits on line which are dry ones that need to be rehydrated.

For the items that you will need are:

• Mason jars of various sizes. I researched that it is best to start from a smaller pint size and work your way up to a half gallon size which allows for your SCOBY to have room to grow and be healthier.
• Black or green tea. Try to stay away from flavored or oily teas as they will not work.
• Raw sugar. I read that regular table sugar works as well.
• Filtered water. I have bought some Polar Springs brand, as well as some distilled water. I will follow up with some local natural spring water when I get better with this experiment.
• Coffee filter or cheese cloth and some rubber bands to keep those darn bugs out.
• Store purchased raw, unpasteurized Kombucha drink with sediment on bottom.
• SCOBY if you got one otherwise what until you have one from all the above ingredients.
• Some recipes call for a unicorn or magical woodland creature, but I think those were optional.

So I hope you will come with me on my adventure into the makings of this probiotic; and in the end if all goes well, we will be able to toast to our new health.

http://www.foodrenegade.com/kombucha-health-benefits/

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-kombucha-tea-at-home-173858

I'll give it a try

http://www.aquavitea.com/

Hi, I think I will give kombucha a try. I just wanted to kick things off by promoting a Vermont product and a great source for information. So join me in this adventure and "Prost!" to good health.