Do you ever try a kind of tea that color resemble black tea but its taste sour, sweet and a bit sparkling?

KOMBUCHA. Fermented tea that provides lots of health benefits that ranging from aid digestion, strengthen immune system, lose weight and many more.                     

                                                                               

The beverage believed originated in Northeast China  (historically referred to as Manchuria) and has been consumed there in many households for at least 2000 years. The first recorded use of Kombucha comes from china.in 221.B.C It was known as “ The Tea of Immortality”. 

It is believed that word “ KOMBUCHA” originated in japan in 415 A.D. A Korean physician called Kombu or Kambu treated Emperor Inyko with the tea and it took his name, “Kombu” and “cha”, meaning tea. 

The tea was brought to Europe as a result of trade route expansions in the early 20th century, most notably appearing in Russia (as “Kambucha”) and Germany (as ”Kombuchaschwamm”).The popularity of Kombucha waned during World War II due to shortage of tea and sugar supplies, Kombucha regained popularity following a 1960s study in Switzerland comparing its health benefits to those of yorgurt.

Till these days, KOMBUCHA is booming popular internationally as functional beverage. 

                                                                                                                                     

**KOMBUCHA often mistaken as Kobu-cha or Konbu-cha, a traditional east Asian tea made by infusing kelp in hot water. “Konbu” or “kobu” is Kelp in Japanese, while “Cha” is tea. KOMBUCHA is a fermented beverage while konbucha is hot water infusing kelp drinks. Picture above shown “Konbucha”.

HOW IS KOMBUCHA MADE?

Fermenting Kombucha is relatively easy, just combining brewed black or green tea, sugar with SCOBY and Let’s the mixture ferment. After fermentation about 2-4 weeks, you have kombucha.

The longer kombucha ferments, the less sweet and more acidic the resulting liquid will be. I highly recommend fermenting the kombucha for at least 7 days and up to 30 days.

                                                                        

                                                     SCOBY is an acronym for Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria & Yeast. 

Yea, you knew it. A SCOBY contains 1 or more species each of bacteria and yeast. The main bacteria species in SCOBY are Acetobacter and Gluconobacter which produce acetic acid or vinegar, which responsible for acidic taste. They also synthesize cellulose, material that makes up the SCOBY. The most common bacteria species is Acetobacter xylinus. The primary yeast species belongs to the genus Zygosaccharomyces which same family as baking yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Zygosaccharomyces are way more adaptable being unusually tolerant of high concentrations of Acetic acid, sugar and ethanol. Obviously, all these quirks sustained it surviving in a kombucha.

As the beverage ferments, pH decreases from the bacteria and the ethanol increase due to the yeast. Simultaneously, the original SCOBY continued to grow and produce more and more SCOBY.

SCOBYs need a lot of care.

If you try to make kombucha at home, you will quickly figure out that you need to feed them regularly if not your SCOBY in your kombucha will sink and die. This is just the community being disrupted.

Let’s start with materials and equipment you required:

• SCOBY (Using a bigger SCOBY will not affect the outcome (the kombucha will probably ferment more rapidly),  

• 1 L glass jar for the fermentation. Do NOT use metal or plastic.

• Cheesecloth or some other breathable cloth to cover ferment jar and a rubber band to hold cloth tightly. Round coffee filters also work.

• Organic black or green tea

• Filtered water, no chlorine.

• sugar 

• A plastic funnel (NO metal).

• 120ml kombucha. If you do not have store-bought kombucha or some left from a previous batch,

If this is your first batch and you do not have a SCOBY, then it is critical that you use unpasturized kombucha as opposed to vinegar for this ingredient step.

Procedure 

1. Clean all equipment with soap and water.

This step avoiding unnecessary contamination during fermentation process. Kombucha’s acidity makes it anti-microbial.

2. Boil 1 L of water. Poured boiled water into the glass jar and place 4 black tea bags inside glass jar.   

If you are using green tea, allow the water to cool slightly before adding the tea (to reduce bitterness in green tea, steap in temperatures less than 80°C).

3. Add the tea and steep for 1-5 minutes, depending on the tea. Most teas state the optimal brewing temperature and time on the package, but in general, steep green tea for shorter than black tea.

4. Remove the tea bags or strain out the tea leaves.

5. Add 7.5% sugar (75g for 1000ml of total mixture) to the hot tea and stir until the sugar dissolves completely.  

6. Let the solution cool to room temperature.  

7. Add the kombucha starter followed by SCOBY into the solution. 

The SCOBY should float immediately or within a couple of minutes. If it sinks, try lifting it to the surface. If it still sinks, then the SCOBY is not active. The kombucha should still ferment, but it will take longer as a new SCOBY has to form on the surface.

8. (Optional) Measure the kombucha pH with pH strips and cover the container. Allow it to ferment for 1-2 weeks. 

The kombucha will become more sour the longer it ferments.

9. Once the kombucha has reached your preferred acidity level, remove the SCOBY and some of the kombucha to use as a starter for your next batch. 

As a community of living organisms, your SCOBY needs feeding regularly to stay healthy. If you do not plan to make another batch of kombucha for several weeks, you may store the SCOBY in the fridge to slow its fermentation, but you should still feed it with a cup of (cooled) sweetened tea every 1-2 weeks. You can enjoy the kombucha as is, or undertake the following optional steps:

1. Get creative with different flavor additions: Fruit juice, ginger, fresh herbs, citrus zest, spices...

2. Bottle it for carbonation: Add 1 teaspoon (4 g) of sugar to the kombucha and seal it in a bottle or jar so no air can enter or escape. After 1 week, check to see if it has reached your preferred carbonation level. If not, add another teaspoon of sugar and leave it for another couple of days.

The procedure is about kombucha fermentation.There are many things to found inside KOMBUCHA, Stay tuned….