Do You Even Booch, Bro?

The first time I had Kombucha it was a home brew. I was super in love with how crisp and subtly flavoured it was. Then I found out how great it is for your gut health! Wonder drink! So I now brew often. I thought it might make an interesting post. I won't bore you with every single step of the process unless someone asks for it. This is a retelling of starting a flavour ferment this weekend.

Do you drink kombucha? Better yet, do you brew your own? If not, have you ever considered it? It's super easy!

If you don't know what kombucha is, here's a definition or two:

"a beverage produced by fermenting sweet tea with a culture of yeast and bacteria." -Google

"Kombucha is simply fermented tea, an ancient elixir consumed for hundreds or thousands of years by civilizations all over the planet." -Kombucha Kamp

To learn everything there is to know about Kombucha, please visit Kombucha Kamp. I highly recommend their book The Big Book of Kombucha. I have read it cover-to-cover and loaned it to many people. It's full of info and instructions on how to safely brew delicious Kombucha at home.

Why brew at home? Well, as many of you likely already know, it's very expensive to buy Kombucha in the grocery store. Brewing at home costs pennies, and it's fun, too! Also, when you have full control over your brew, you can make it taste however you like. I find that storebought brews are too sweet... I would guess in an attempt to appeal to a soda-addicted consumer. I really enjoy my booch dry, crisp, and bubbly with interesting flavours.

It's been a while since I've brewed. I've had a jar full of SCOBYs sitting on my counter for months, with every intention of getting back into it. So, 10 days ago, I got to work.

Here's the batch that I started 10 days ago. It's ready to be harvested. I will be reserving 2 cups of this liquid to use as starter for the next batch, and using the SCOBY as well.

In this shot you can see the original SCOBYs at the very bottom, and the new SCOBY, which drifted to the bottom when I moved the jar to take photos.

At this point I'll remove the SCOBYs and reserve them for the fresh brew. SCOBY stands for Symbiotic Culture of Bacertia & Yeast. It goes by a few different names but most English speakers call it a SCOBY. You need a SCOBY to brew kombucha. Every time you brew, you produce a new one. I like to give them away to other people looking to start home brewing. If there are no takers, then they go in the compost, which they are great for.

Here you can see the two smaller, older SCOBYs that I had been hanging onto and used to brew this batch. The bigger one is the new one that resulted. I put the old ones in the compost, and the new one will go in the new batch to brew.

At this point, the first ferment is finished. You could drink the kombucha now, and a lot of people like it just like this. I prefer to flavour mine and let it get bubbly. So, I will now take this liquid and move it into smaller vessels with fruit to flavour it.

I have never used orange to flavour booch before, and these tiny little tangerines are delicious so I thought I would give them a try. I peeled two and put them in the bottom of the jar. Using a wooden spoon I crushed them a bit to release some juices.

I filled the jar nearly to the top with the brewed kombucha, put paper towel cover on top, and set it aside. It will sit for 1-4 days to flavour, then will be bottled and allowed to sit another 4 days to get bubbly.

Now I will set about brewing a fresh batch in the big vessel. This means brewing tea, adding sugar, adding the SCOBY & starter liquid, and setting it aside for 7-10 days.

I will update you and let you know how this flavour turns out!

Does anyone have questions or suggestions about booch brewing? Let me know! I am by no means an expert but I have brewed a lot in the last couple years!

Cheers!

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