Home-Brewed Kombucha - Day 1

That's right! A bold new step into living the hippe-vegan stereotype... Home brewing kombucha!

The first few times I was offered kombuha I didn't really care for it. Too vinegary. Too funky tasting. Generally not very tasty.

I've been liking it quite a bit this past year, it has certainly improved into a tasty beverage. There are a few good varieties at markets around town and get some once in a while. A few places are putting it on tap around Portland, haven't checked out this yet. I really like a particular brand that I only get a couple of places around town, Kombucha Wonder Drink (Asian Pear, yum).

Last month I had some awesome homemade kombucha out at Great Vow Zen Monastery. After talking to the brewer, Jordan, I was encouraged to give it a try at home. He generously packed up a piece of his mother culture into a bag and it is been residing in the fruit crisper drawer for about a month now. I'm hoping it is still active, the cold should have kept it dormant. If not, I'm going to go out to Great Vow a week from Sunday and can always ask for another piece.




Shopping with Mom on the 5th I picked up a very large glass jar with a lid (which I won't be using since it needs to breathe). She also requested that I give it a try, she recalled it being beneficial to her one of the times she had cancer. Today's the day I decided to get going, cleaned the kitchen up and got out the supplies.





I'm following Jordan's advice as well as guidance from a recipe on the Get Kombucha site.

Into the jar I've got:

3 liters + 1 glass (8oz aprox.) water that was brought to a boil and cooled.
1 liter sweet tea made with Wuyi Oolong from Tao of Tea and 1 1/3 cups evaporated cane juice
1 piece of Jordan's mother culture
400ml of Kombucha Wonder Drink made with Oolong tea.

We'll see in 5 days if I've got my own kombucha brewing or nastiness in which case I'll get a new piece of culture and start over.