Kombucha

KOMBUCHA

What is it?

Kombucha is a fermented, slightly alcoholic, lightly effervescent, sweetened black or green tea drink commonly intended as a functional beverage for its supposed health benefits.

A few years ago my mom started making her own kombucha; at first I was skeptical.  The slimy looking fungus called a scoby had me questioning this new endeavor.  After getting over the way the scoby look I finally tried what she made and I really liked it!

It wasn't too long after that I started to make my own from time to time.  It's actually easier than it looks!  If you don't have a friend that makes kombucha, and can get a scoby from them you will have to buy or grow you own.  All you need to get started is a half gallon mason jar, some left over store bought kombucha, green or black tea, and sugar.

There is a really simple guide on how to get started making kombucha on instructables.com that I found easy to understand.  It gives instructions on how to make a half gallon or a gallon of kombucha.

Recently I started making kombucha again and now I have learned how to flavor it.  Getting to flavor your own makes it really fun and exciting!  I used the Cultures for Health website to help me learn how to flavor my kombucha and it's so easy.  They have lots of flavor combinations; some we have tried are: grapefruit/lime, orange/ginger/lime, lemon/lime/, lemon/lime/ginger, and mango/lime.  All very yummy!  It's important if you are going to try to flavor your kombucha to get glass bottles with pop tops.  These are easily found on Amazon.  My bottles are 16 ounces each and I can fill three of them out of a half gallon jar of kombucha.

I struggle with indigestion, and drinking a little kombucha after a meal has helped settle my stomach.  I know everyone's body is different, and what helps on person doesn't work for another but for me it has helped.

Another benefit is the cost savings to make it verses buying it at the store.  Fresh fruit and green or black tea doesn't cost that much.  Whereas buying kombucha from the store can cost you $3-6 per bottle.  If you were to drink a bottle every day that would cost you on the high end $21-42 a week.

While some may be skeptical of kombucha and it's benefits it has helped me at different times in my life.  Thanks for reading!

Be sure to check out my Instagram for my IGTV on how to flavor you kombucha - https://www.instagram.com/inthelifeofgray/channel/