Q&A: How do you grow a thick kombucha mushroom?

Q: How do you grow a thick kombucha mushroom?

A: Remember that Kombucha Mushrooms Come in All Shapes, Sizes, and Colors! Even if your kombucha mother does not look like a perfectly even 1/8 - 1/2 inch thick cream-colored pancake, it could still ferment your kombucha very well!

If you want a thick kombucha mother, you can put some kombucha in a clean glass jar, cover it well with a breathable cloth, and let it sit for a few weeks until a thick mother grows and develops. Or, you can just let one of your kombucha brews ferment for a prolonged period of time until a thick SCOBY forms.

The kombucha will become pretty strong, sour, and acidic if it has been fermenting for a long time, and using this kombucha as starter tea will favor the bacteria and thick SCOBY formation (1). For other uses of sour kombucha, check out Happy Herbalist's recommendations: Kombucha Tea Too Sour?

Acetobacter xylinum has been indicated to be one of the main bacteria in the colony that helps to form the cellulose structure of the kombucha mushroom (2-3). So to favor a thick kombucha mother, you want to favor the bacteria.

For more information on decreasing yeast to bacteria ratios, which will favor the bacteria and a thick SCOBY, visit Kombucha Balance: Decreasing the Ratio of Yeast to Acetobacter Populations.

References:
1. Kombucha Balance: Decreasing the Ratio of Yeast to Acetobacter Populations2. Greenwalt, C.J., R.A. Ledford, and K.H. Steinkraus. "Determination and characterization of the anti-microbial activity of the fermented tea Kombucha." Lebensmittel-Wissenschaft und-Technologie 31 (3) (1998): 291-296.3. Malbasa, R., E. Loncar, and M. Djuric. "Comparison of the products of Kombucha fermentation on sucrose and molasses." Food Chemistry. 106 (2008): 1039-1045.

Brew Your Own Kombucha Workshop at the Boston Skillshare

Join Kombucha Fuel at the 2010 Boston Skillshare!

What: Brew Your Own Kombucha Workshop
When: May 30, 2010, from 12:45-2:15 pm
Where: Simmons College (300 Fenway, Boston, MA 02115)
More info: http://www.bostonskillshare.org/2010/DIY+Kombucha
Donation: $3-$10 sliding scale suggested donation to attend the Boston Skillshare, for a day full of workshops, and food is provided!

The Boston Skillshare is an annual weekend event for people to share and learn skills. Read more about the Boston Skillshare, the 2010 Boston Skillshare, and the workshops at the 2010 Boston Skillshare.

Q&A: Can you brew kombucha with honey?

Q: Can you brew kombucha with honey?

A: Some people swear that brewing with honey works, while others say that brewing with honey doesn't work because of honey's anti-bacterial properties.

Everyone pretty much agrees that brewing with cane sugar works. However, health benefits of other sweeteners often come up as an issue. In addition, taste is another aspect you may want to consider.

Although I have never personally brewed with honey, something to remember is that if you introduce something foreign to the kombucha culture, even if you don't see any immediate short-term effects on the culture, there may be unforeseen long-term effects.

For example, the SCOBY will not survive in the long-term if you brew kombucha using only herbal teas, such as rooibos. However, if you brew kombucha with an herbal tea for only one or two weeks, the culture will most likely survive. Thus, some individuals alternate brewing herbal and non-herbal brews, or brew with a combination of herbal and non-herbal teas. (Read more on brewing with herbal teas at The Different Teas for Your Kombucha Brew).

If you're interested in brewing with honey, I would recommend having a back-up mushroom, such as by storing a spare SCOBY in kombucha made with cane sugar in the fridge.

More on Kombucha and Honey:

• From Gunther Frank: Kombucha Tea: What's All the Hoopla? (around two-thirds down the page, "Can honey be used instead of sugar?")
• Steve Dickman, the co-founder of High Country Kombucha, states that brewing kombucha with honey works in this video (he begins talking about kombucha and honey at time 7:18)
• It's possible according to Happy Herbalist

Kombucha Recipes

My simple kombucha recipe using the traditional brewing method can be found here, and my more detailed brewing recipe is here.

Here are links to several other kombucha recipes for more perspective and for additional information:

The Traditional Brewing Method

• Kombucha Brewing Guide by Happy Herbalist
• Quick Recipe KT by Happy Herbalist
• How to make your own Kombucha Tea by Günther W. Frank
• Kombucha Recipe: How to Make Kombucha Tea by Manna International
• How to Make a Big Batch of Kombucha at instructables.com
• Kombucha Recipe at getkombucha.com
• Brewing and F&Q at Organic-Kombucha.com

The Continuous Brewing Method

• I cover continuous brewing in Part I and Part II
  
• Continuous Brewing Method by Happy Herbalist
• Continuous Brewing: Tastier, Easier and Superior Kombucha by the Weston A. Price Foundation
  

Kombucha in the News

Kombucha has been receiving quite a lot of press lately:

• 4/1/2010, The Huffington Post: Kombucha and Kefirs: Hype or Healthy?
  
• 3/24/2010, the New York Times: Kombucha Tea Attracts a Following and Doubters
• 3/4/2010, Serious Eats: Kombucha: The Acquired Taste for Funky-Tasting Fermented Tea

In addition, this article by the Weston A. Price Foundation published in Oct. 2009 is quite comprehensive: Continuous Brewing: Tastier, Easier, and Superior Kombucha.

Recap: Kombucha Demonstration and Potluck

Thanks to everyone who came to the Kombucha Demonstration and Potluck last week, and to all the supporting groups who helped to make the event possible!

I wrote a recap about the event for the Urban Homesteaders' League:

"Last week there was a Kombucha Demonstration and Potluck put on by Slow Food BU, the Boston Localvores, and Kombucha Fuel, a blog of which I am the author. Thanks to the Urban Homesteaders’ League for supporting this event!


Kombucha, sometimes referred to as 'the elixir of immortality,' is a fermented tea traced back to Chinese origins to around 220 B.C. Various health benefits have been attributed to kombucha, which is said to have probiotic benefits and detoxifying effects. It’s been claimed that kombucha reduces blood pressure, boosts the immune system, and even cures cancer..."

Read the rest of the post here.

*Special thanks to Darry Madden of the Boston Localvores for taking some great photos of this event.*

Celestial Seasonings Launches Their Own Kombucha Line

In December, I addressed the launch of Honest Kombucha by Honest Tea in my post Kombucha's Going Mainstream.

Now, Celestial Seasonings is launching their own kombucha line.

Sequence of events:

• Celestial Seasonings is a brand of The Hain Celestial Group
• Last October, Hain Celestial Group Acquired Infinitea Kombucha. Infinitea Kombucha was an independent kombucha company begun by Nicole Gervace in 2005 in Boulder, Colorado.
  
• This month, The Hain Celestial Group announced that Celestial Seasonings is launching their own kombucha line that will be available in Whole Foods Market and other natural food stores beginning in April.

Celestial Seasonsings is definitely focusing on the functional food aspect of kombucha. Their kombucha will be available in five varieties:

• Digestion: Meyer Lemon Ginger
  
• Antioxidant: Superfruit
  
• Metabolism: Berry Guava
  
• Energy: Pomelo Citrus
  
• Super Green: Tropical Blend

For more information on Celestial Seasonings' launch of their kombucha line, read the press release.

To me it is always sad to see an independent and successful company get sold to a large conglomerate. Read this 2008 article about the founder of Infinitea Kombucha, Nicole Gervace of Infinitea Kombucha on being a Successful Entrepreneur. Infinitea Kombucha even used to sell at the Boulder Country Farmers Market in Colorado.

Expect more comments about Celestial Seasonings Kombucha once I see it in stores.