Kambucha Source

[jballenger]

Hello! Curious to know if anyone in Wacco-land has a great source for Kambucha. I know that Whole Foods sells it, as well as Community Market in Santa Rosa, yet I'm looking for this in bulk.

I would LOVE to be able to brew this myself, so if anyone knows how to do this and you're willing to share your favorite recipe, I'd love to learn.

Thank you for reading!
Jennifer

[LADYWITHART]

I also would like a Kombucha baby if any one finds a source.
thank you,
Suzanne

[paulfein]

Kombucha recipe:

Once you have boiled your water, let it boil with the lid off for a minute or two, to let any of the lighter minerals in your water to boil off (ie chlorine from the city sources) and add your sugar then, stir steadily. It is much easier to dissolve when the water is hot and also allows for sterilization of the sugar, just in case. My rule of thumb is to put about a 1/4 cup of sugar, and 1.5 tea bags per 1 quart of water. During the summer, I have had to adjust, usually more sugar. You need to adjust to taste. I can't emphasize the importance of both sanitation and note taking, to make consistent batches, and to make adjustments to your method easier. Let the tea steep, I leave it off the boil, for about a half hour, and let sit, covered, until cool. Then add the sweetened tea, plus the baby, and about a cup of starter liquid (previously brewed kombucha) to your brewing container and cover with a paper towel and rubber band, and wait, mine take about two weeks, longer in the winter. I taste as they go, when it tastes on the border of vinegar and still slightly sweet, you should be good to go. You can also test pH, but your taste buds should be sufficient. Too sweet, and you will get a lot of growth in the bottle (little jellies I call them) and also run a greater risk of infection. The less sugar, and more vinegary (more acidic) the brew is, the safer it is from wayward bacteria, and the more kombucha goodness you will get.

Bottle when done in bottles that you save from previous kombucha purchases, or wine bottles with a cork, these are a little harder to bottle with out making a mess, but work well. New caps for the GT synergy bottles are about 20 cents a piece at the Beverage people in Santa Rosa, as are corks for wine bottles. Kombucha tends to get better the longer it sits on the shelve unopened (in a cool location ideally), so smaller bottles are better.

[Isha Erskine]

Id love to start brewing my own Kombucha. Does anybody have a starter they can share?