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I think kombucha is delicious, but like many healthy hippie foods, the only people I have met who are really into it are weird new-age people that I have since lost touch with. As they explained it to me, kombucha has to be started like a culture, but since a few years ago you have to start the culture from some sort of separate source instead of some bottled stuff at the store. Also, it has some cool properties, like as I understand it you can add tea leaves and the kombucha will absorb the caffeine? That may be apocryphal. Does anyone have any experience with starting their own kombucha cultures (which is what I want to try), or has anyone tried making brews with stuff (goji, acai) added?
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Jun 5, 2014 00:36
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 20:28 |
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I bet you drink PBR too.
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Jun 5, 2014 18:53
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I had a kombucha ginger ale thing at some brewery one time. It was pretty good. But that's all I know about kombucha.
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Jun 5, 2014 20:23
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I looove kombucha, and have wanted to start brewing my own for some time because it's terribly expensive at the grocery store. I don't know too much, but what I do know: You need something called a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria & Yeast), also often referred to as "the mother" (like when you buy Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar, it says right on the bottle "with the mother.") It's basically that weird slimy stuff that kinda looks like snot. Don't think about it too long or you'll be totally grossed out. It's easiest to just get one from someone you know that brews their own kombucha (they should have tons), but you *can* grow one from store-bought kombucha. Look for unpasteurized kombucha, without added fruit juice that has a little slime floating in it (appetizing, I know). I often find these in GT's Kombucha---especially their "Classic" line which you have to actually be 21 or older to purchase now (since 2010) because it may have .5% alcohol in it, or something ridiculous. I heard a rumor this came about because Lindsay Lohan claimed kombucha is what set off her alcohol monitor, hah. Now you need some black or green tea and some sugar. Add that and the bottle of kombucha to a bowl, place a towel over it and secure it with a rubber band or something, and let it sit for a couple weeks in a warm place. Uncover and you should have a big slimy, rubbery SCOBY. Brewing the actual kombucha is a very similar process, only you have the SCOBY in there. To add flavoring, you basically just add it to the bottles after the kombucha itself is brewed and let it sit at room temp for a few days to get all fizzy and carbonated. Since I only know this through research I've done on my own, you may want to google some DIY tutorials on all of this for exact measurements, etc.
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Jun 5, 2014 20:48
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I have, on three separate occasions, bought kombucha beverages by accident when in a hurry. Every time I toss it after taking one sip and am pissed that I wasted $4.
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Jun 5, 2014 21:44
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I had kombucha at a local brewery once. It smelled like stale piss but tasted only mildly objectionable. 2/10 would not kombucha again.
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Jun 5, 2014 21:57
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I do like some of the kombucha based drinks. Mainly bionade which is fairly common around here these days. But I never tried to make some myself. I used to make my own Kefir, which is handled similarly. There there are some websites that collect the addresses of open growers, you can then just call/email them and they will share part of their culture with you. There are also some people that send mother cultures per mail. Those also are easily found on google. I did stop because I consider it not worth the effort. It might be different for kombucha as afaik the quality of filtered kombucha at the supermarkets is worse then with kefir, if it is sold at all. Generally it is just annoying. You have to replant the culture quite often in hot weather, and in winter it might not ferment fast enough for you drinking needs. If you put it into your fridge it is too slow again. Also you can't really chill the withdrawn extract overnight because you don't want to store it too long. And I really like that stuff best when chilled. So I would recommend finding a source for good quality pre-filtered kombucha instead of rolling your own.
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Jun 5, 2014 22:55
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You should just drink beer. Beer's fermented.
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Jun 6, 2014 00:26
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Kombucha's great, makes ya feel energized!
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Jun 6, 2014 04:30
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It's good stuff. Especially the ones with chia seeds in them. Does anyone know where I could buy some komucha leather? I'm very curious about it. I'm also guessing it smells like rear end.
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Jun 6, 2014 07:43
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My weird hippie roommate grew kombucha cultures and drat if that thing didn't look like it was going to crawl out of its jar one night and get some pod people poo poo going. I'm still scared of it.
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Jun 6, 2014 11:04
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some of my former co-workers made amazing kombucha and did a blog post about the experiments. It might be too nerdy, but I think it's worth a read: http://nordicfoodlab.org/blog/2013/2/komboooucha Aumuller fucked around with this message at 18:29 on Jun 6, 2014 |
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Jun 6, 2014 11:28
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Also worth noting that it is tough on your liver, so drink kombucha in moderation if you don't drink alcohol in moderation.
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Jun 6, 2014 18:02
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Shbobdb posted:Also worth noting that it is tough on your liver, so drink kombucha in moderation if you don't drink alcohol in moderation. Ah, well then, I only want one hard thing on my liver, not two. I'll just keep drinking beer.
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Jun 6, 2014 18:33
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that "gingerade" stuff is pretty fantastic, I'm skeptical about any of the hippie-dippy claims of health benefits though
ZetsurinPower fucked around with this message at 18:44 on Jun 6, 2014 |
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Jun 6, 2014 18:42
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I never heard of kombucha. Where would I be able to find it?
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Jun 13, 2014 19:18
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contrapants posted:I never heard of kombucha. Where would I be able to find it? I was about to say "any grocery store," but I think that's only true for Seattle, haha. I recall visiting Florida and asking where the kombucha was in a grocery store, and they looked at me like I had two heads. You can find it at any "natural" grocery store (i.e. Whole Foods).
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Jun 13, 2014 19:32
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Shbobdb posted:Also worth noting that it is tough on your liver, so drink kombucha in moderation if you don't drink alcohol in moderation. What in the kombucha is tough on your liver?
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Jun 14, 2014 17:40
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^^^^ I've never heard anything along those lines, either. Most sources claim it's the healthiest poo poo you can drink. A good pint of kombucha generally works for me about the same as an energy drink or St. John's Wort - you just feel energized and chipper allll day. I'd be interested if someone could find some reputable sources on why kombucha will murder your liver however, most of what I found glancing around seems to say that home-brewed kombucha has the potential to make you sick from foreign stuff getting into it, such as fungus, mold, etc. sharkattack posted:It's easiest to just get one from someone you know that brews their own kombucha (they should have tons), but you *can* grow one from store-bought kombucha. Look for unpasteurized kombucha, without added fruit juice that has a little slime floating in it (appetizing, I know). Live cultures in kombucha don't taste like dead fish. You can also buy them easily online, or at fancy/specialty food stores. If you're in Oregon, I'd strongly recommend Kombucha Mama brand kombucha, you can buy it on tap at a lot of bars and places around the state, and of course everyone in OR has a growler to fill.. coyo7e fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Jun 14, 2014 |
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Jun 14, 2014 18:53
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombucha#Health_claims
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Jun 14, 2014 19:12
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as someone with some microbiology experience, if you are just getting cultures off someone or through the mail, there is a chance those cultures could have become contaminated with potentially harmful bacteria. this could be the reason that in rare cases people experience health complications after drinking kombucha. when i tried it i actually enjoyed the taste (kind of a fermented effervescent vomit) but i wouldn't just drink any kombucha that anyone handed me, especially homebrew kombucha that has been cultured for a number of years, probably just in someone's kitchen. there is also no scientific reason to think that kombucha specifically is in any way beneficial to your health, although it has not been researched very much to my understanding.
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Jun 14, 2014 21:02
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The German office of consumer product information says that kombucha has no or negligible effects on health. Similar to that probiotic yogurt and similar stuff. Unfiltered kombucha has a light diuretic and antibacterial effect, as you have in sour milk products like buttermilk or kefir. Self made kombucha can also have up to 3% alcohol. They also say that people with a Immunodeficiency should stay away from unsterilized kombucha as a contaminated culture can be dangerous.
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Jun 14, 2014 21:25
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Seconding the slightly easier to micro manage Water Kefir (or milk Kefir if your looking for a yogurt type thing). Kefir creates convenient little carbohydrate crystals with the bacteria and yeast on it fairly quickly, meaning people are often looking to give some away or sell it. Once it gets going the supply is endless (my colonies can ferment about 2L of sugar water every 24 hours) and it carbonates fruit juices in an additional 24 hours. Carbonated Orange Juice Kefir is wonderful...and from what I understand it can make a probiotic cider if you let it ferment apple juice long enough, so...healthy booze?
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Jun 15, 2014 01:30
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The paper I looked at for the hepatotoxicity was this one: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12808367 I don't have journal access and it's been a few years since I read it. What I remember is that, aside from a smattering of random noise you'd expect in a clinical meta-analysis, but there was a strong correlation between kombucha and liver damage. There wasn't any sort of a causal link but, again, that is what you'd expect from that sort of an overview.
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Jun 18, 2014 06:03
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If you add a bunch of sugar to milk, you can make a Kumiss-like drink. Kefir grains are great.
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Jun 18, 2014 06:06
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I drank half a bottle of kombucha once, and when I woke up the next day my mouth was full of sores. I haven't had kombucha since then.
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Jun 18, 2014 15:38
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I knew a kid who drank Kombucha once. He died. Kombucha. Not even once.
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Jun 18, 2014 15:50
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Revive is local to me, and we have a keg of it at work. It's the only kombucha I've ever had that was palatable. I work in a winery and as a result I'm pretty sensitive to volatile acidity and most kombuchas smell like a festering vinegar barrel that has gone untopped for ages. This one however is pretty clean, and if we finish the 5 gallon keg in a few weeks doesn't go off. We have a proper carbon-dioxide keg system and keep it at barrel room temperature, so that helps.
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Jun 21, 2014 01:49
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