Kombucha Recipe

Here are my simple instructions for making kombucha. It is much more potent than what you can buy at a store. You will need to find a scoby. Join a kombucha Yahoo group or post your desire to find a scoby on a freecycle or your local health food store bulletin board. Most home kombucha makers are more than happy to share. Many have tried to make kombucha from store bought kombucha. To my knowledge, no one has ever been able to succesfully do it.

Most important thing to remember while making kombucha is that it must be made and handled in a very clean environment. Take off all jewelry. Scrub under your nails with a nail brush. Also make sure that no chlorine or chlorinated water comesds into contact with your kombucha or scoby at any time. Here's the instructions:

12 cups spring water/ 1 cup sugar/ 5 tea bags (bring spring water to boil, pour in 1 cup of white sugar and boil 5 mins, turn off heat and let 5 bags of organic black tea simmer for at least 10 mins. Let the tea/sugar/water cool down before adding ur scoby and kombucha tea to it.) Add your scoby in smooth side-up -- if it flips, no problem. They have a mind of their own. Don't freak out and take me literally!

1 cup of kombucha tea (if u forget to save kombucha from ur last batch you can use apple cider vinegar instead -- I don't know how much, I never used vinegar before. You can look that info up on the kombucha website if u need to use vinegar)

1 or one large mother (SCOBY)
and can add a baby SCOBY on top (both SCOBY should be smooth side up)

Put in a dark quite place for around 8 days. Temp. around 70 to 75 degrees. Taste to your liking. 6 days is too sweet and 10 days starts to taste more vinegary if you mess up and it is too vinegary for u to appreciate, u can add a juice, water it down, use it as table vinegar for your salads or for shampoo or antifungal -- I keep some in my bathroom for my hair. Add strawberries or herbs to your tea after the scoby has been removed (they call that the first fermenting) add your stuff and then let it soak a day or two in the fridge or out of fridge for a few hours (that is the second fermenting). Remember to burp ur bottles every once in a while to prevent them from blowing up:)

Here is Beverly's instructions http://users.bestweb.net/~om/kmi/. Her instructions are far more detailed than mine. She is one of the few individuals who is most knowledgable in kombucha making. She is a member of one of the groups that I am a member of. In fact, I suggest that if you are not a member of the Original Kombucha Yahoo Group, it would be very helpful for you to join. If you have any questions you can always ask her for help too.