Kombucha - my first brew :D

Kombucha is fermented tea said to have a million and two health benifits. It's got a tangy flavour and is slightly sparkling. I love it because it tastes great and makes me feel good.

In NYC i kinda got addicted to kombucha. I used to buy these in health food stores:

 

Now i'm brewing my own and just bottled the first batch.

Green Tea Kombucha with Strawberry

As I am incapable of following instructions or recipes, I ended up following different tips from a million places.

This is what I did:

1) Got my hands on a kombucha SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast) and starter. You can buy it online or get it free from somebody who's brewing.

2) Brewed 2 liters black and 2 liters green tea - as i wanted to try both out.

3) Added 150 grams of sugar to each tea batch.

3) Let the tea cool.

4) Poured the tea into two big glass jars, making sure to leave room for some starter.

5) Added the kombucha scoby and the starter - covered with clean cloth, sealing with a rubber band.

6) Went away for a week and came back to the most delicous sparkling kombucha. The parents had made two beautiful kombucha babies.

7) Added strawberrys to some, ginger and rhubarb to some and left some without flavouring.

Any handling of the scoby and the clean utensils must be done only with clean hands. Hygiene is important to avoid other bacteria to invade the kombucha.

There's a lot of videos on youtube and webpages with detailed instructions and tips and tricks.