Kombucha Sunday: And then there were two....
Hello! hello!
I hope everyone is having a super Sunday.
For me, Sunday is now all about kombucha. Brewing a new batch, bottling the old batch, reading and making notes.
Every Sunday I'll update about my progress towards the best 'bucha ever. Stay tuned if you're interested and thank you!
Stray observation: My favorite fermented things start with K!
So, after a successful first batch my SCOBY made a baby! That's also something that will happen every time a batch is completed. The SCOBY makes a baby SCOBY that can be used in the next batch and so on. Soon, we'll have many many generations co-living in some sugar tea around here. I'm a proud...well..GOD? :D
For now, I have two 3litres jars brewing.
THERE ARE PHOTOS!
If you look closely you might notice that the tea is in two different shades of dark. That's because I am experimenting with pu-erh tea in one of the jars. This is an already fermented tea that has a pungent, earthy taste that I think might complement the Scoby well. Time will tell.
And one aerial photo for the biggest fans:
One thing to note here: I want to experiment with covering the jar with a coffee filter which I heard can be better than cloth. As you can see, some o the tea went over and stained the cloth which I now have to change and pray that little fragments are not in the batch now and spoil it. One can hope!!
That's it for today. Still, a photo with my bottles that are now in the second fermentation stage. I'll tell you all about it next Sunday!
I love the fact you are using grolsch bottles!
:D
It;'s kind of a tradition in the kombucha community that people are crazy about these grolsch...grolsch-type of bottles.
But here's something interesting about it. You can buy grolsch bottle on amazon for pretty steep prices imho. Like 2$ for a bottle. Is it me or this is insane?
[https://www.amazon.com/California-Home-Goods-Fermenting-Resealable/dp/B01F4MLIA4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1494757512&sr=8-3&keywords=grolsch+bottles]
That being said, I don't even buy, I just re-use some old bottle that I found around. Used to like Grolsch, now that I'm into hops...well, you know how it happens :)
Still, my plan is to ...steal..hmm..from friends, foes and restaurants empty Grolsch bottles so I can have enough for a 12 litres batch [ about 20 :D ].
The real questionis how much internal pressure they can handle. Those fermenting 3 are creating a SHITTON of CO2 that is building up inside and who knows...might go boom. Never heard of anyone getting killed by an exploding Grolsch bottle but certainly don't want to be first :D
I have heard of plenty of fermentation explosions right enough from alcohol home brewers!! Here hoping you avoid an extinction event!!!
beer home brewers are the heroes we don't deserve
I use to make kombucha tea. I loved the flavor. Living in the South with so much humidity I had trouble with mold. I would love to make it again if I could conquer the mold problem.
that's nasty. sorry to hear that!
Best ones I've made is with orange juice from my orange tree. I brew the kombucha for a week then fill about 1/6th of the bottles with orange juice top up with kombucha and leave for about a week, depends on temperature. It goes really fizzy like Fanta but tastes about a million times better.
never seen an orange tree. sounds amazing!
I wouldn't worry too much about the cover, as long as it can breathe. I use a dirty old tea towel (see the photo)! Be proud of your brew! Enjoy it!
I'm a worrier though. And I read some nasty mold-related incidents :D
But I do believe in the resilience of the scoby :)
I've been brewing for over 6 months now and have had no mold issues. I have kept the same SCOBY and only split it when I have shared the SCOBY/starter with friends. I occasionally rinse the SCOBY in filtered water between brews, as it does start to get a bit dirty with old residue from the tea etc etc
yeap. mostly what i want to do from now on. Have enough for my brews and let them grow, occasionally share with whoever wants one!
thats awesome I'm started making my own now
I'll be watching the bucha!
thanks :D
Love Kombucha here's my latest brew, using Japanese green tea. The bottle behind is on a second fermentation, berries and candied ginger, tasting good, will follow you! I'll post soon on my Kombucha experience , follow me at @mbrownvn if you are interested.
That looks great! Huge 2f jar...does it really make carbonation in that?! IF so, I need to test it out myself soon!!
It does carbonate in the jar, but I do "burp" it a couple of times a day, by opening it up a little. The second fermentation is only a few days, I taste it and when the flavour is good, I bottle into grolsch bottles as well.
i burp my grolsch bottle as well. A bigger jars the some advantages though, you can bottle a clear kombucha...I just worry that it won't keep the fizz in as it goes from jar to bottle. glad this haven't been your experience.
keeps its fizz fine, I have a friend whose big jar exploded! he woke up in the morning to find his kitchen sprayed with kombucha and glass everywhere! so "burping" is important!
ouuuchhh! nightmarish!
Haha, Grolsch bottles are so useful I use them for a lot of drinks or fluids I'm preparing!
Upvoted&Followed!
looking forward to future posts - on your favorite flavor combos and such
May I ask how it tastes? I have heard some good things about drinking it on the regular but have not had the pleasure of tasting it before.
hard to tell man...it's like a tart tea. it can be very tasty and with the added flavors it's really great. I suggest you get some from amazon or a local shop and give it a go! I think most ppl love it
thanks for the reply <3