Makes 1 gallon
3 quarts filtered water
1 cup sugar
1 pinch of salt
4 tea bags of organic black tea
½ cup kombucha from previous culture
1 kombucha mushroom
Some pieces of fresh ginger
Bring the water to boil. Add salt and sugar and simmer until dissolved.
Remove from heat and add tea bags. Allow to steep until completely cooled. Remove tea bags.
Pour liquid into glass bowl, add the ½ cup from previous batch and place mushroom on top.
Make a crisscross over the bowl with masking tape, cover loosely with a cloth and transfer to a warm, dark place, away from contaminants and insects. In about a week or 10 days the kombucha will be ready, depending on the temperature. It should be rather sour and possibly fizzy, with no taste of tea remaining.
Transfer to covered glass containers. Peel and finely slice ginger and put some in each bottle or jar, and store in the refrigerator. Do not wash the kombucha bowls in the dishwasher!
This is my slightly tweaked version of kombucha after a recipe by to the authors of Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon and Mary g. Enig. With the ginger in a really fizzy kombucha, you get a healthy version of Ginger Ale. Sometimes I add a thimble-full of my homemade red currant concentrate; it adds a beautiful color and a smattering of taste of summer.
For in-depth explaining, Fallon and Enig continues: When the kombucha is ready, your mushroom will have grown a second spongy pancake. This can be used to make other batches or given away to friends. Store fresh mushrooms in the refrigerator, in a glass or steel container – never plastic. A kombucha mushroom can be used dozens of times ( I have used mine for much more than that) .
If it begins to turn black, or if the resulting kombucha doesn’t sour properly, it’s a sign the the culture has become contaminated. When this happens, it’s best to throw away all your mushrooms and order a new clean one.
If you don’t have a friend who already brews kombucha, and can give you a mushroom and a ½ cup of already brewed kombucha, to get you started, you may order one on-line from https://kombucha2000.com/products.html
White sugar, rather than honey or Rapadura, and black tea, rather than flavored teas, give the highest amounts of glucuronic acid. Non-organic tea is high in fluoride so always use organic tea.
More on the glucuronic acid in another post 😊 …as in “keep on reading”!
