Kombucha Tea

What is Kombucha?

This is simple and very healthful. Kombucha Tea is a natural probiotic, excellent for digestion, and when prepared correctly, tastes like yummy sparkling apple cider.

I have made my own kombucha tea, in the past, for a continuous number of years. For myself, I can claim that after drinking it on a continual basis, it cleared up my chronic sinus infection (not a medical claim, just my own experience). For someone living in the PNW, this is a BIG deal!!

Anyway, here is my simple procedure for brewing my own kombucha tea - you will need:

1 gallon jar
1 gallon hot water (purified, filtered, or boiled)
1 cup sugar
5-6 tea bags (black or green)
1 kombucha "mushroom" or scoby
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
coffee filter and a large rubber band
5-10 days brewing time

Dissolve the sugar in the hot water (in the jar). Steep tea bags for as long as you wish (at least 1/2 hour, or until water is cool). Remove the tea bags and add scoby and apple cider vinegar (you can also use previously brewed kombucha in place of the vinegar). Place coffee filter over jar and secure with rubber band. Place jar in a location where it will not be disturbed, out of sunlight (the top of the fridge is a great spot!)

Let brew for 5-10 days undisturbed. Filter and serve room temperature (refrigerating kills the fizz).

I have read quite a bit about brewing your own kombucha online, and frankly, some can make it very complicated. It is not difficult, and the best way I found was to do a "continuous brew" method, where you are adding fresh sweetened tea mixture to a large container with brewed kombucha (as you drink the brewed tea, you can add new tea to the established scoby "environment"). I found that this method has great results because you can adjust the flavor of the tea with each addition of fresh tea.

My original scoby was given to me by a friend who insisted that I needed to drink kombucha for my sinus infection (and boy, was he right!!). However, there are other sources--you can find one online, such as the link above, or hit your local farmer's market in the spring-fall for a local source. I just picked up an incredibly healthy scoby from the Ballard Farmer's Market for $15.

Speaking of healthy scoby--while I have never had problems with mold or rot, it is a possibility. Do a bit of googling to familiarize yourself with what scoby mold issues look like, then be on the lookout. Don't ever use a scoby that has spots or mold.

Concerning flavored kombucha, I have experimented with flavored black and green teas - very tasty and worth a batch or two. Really loved the peach-black kombucha tea, as well as berry-black kombucha tea.

----------- the following was found on Food Renegade---------------

What are the health benefits of Kombucha?

Kombucha Health Benefit #1 — Detoxification

Detoxification produces healthy livers and aides cancer prevention. One of kombucha’s greatest health benefits is its ability to detox the body. It is rich in many of the enzymes and bacterial acids your body produces and/or uses to detox your system, thus reducing your pancreatic load and easing the burden on your liver. Kombucha is very high in Glucaric acid, and recent studies have shown that glucaric acid helps prevent cancer. I know 2 people in my immediate circle of friends who have had cancer (pancreatic and breast) and fought it into remission without any chemo or radiation therapy. Instead, they warded it off by detoxing their lives (going 100% organic, removing chemical cleaners and agents in their home, changing their diet to be at least 80% raw or fermented, etc.) Central to the detoxification process was drinking Kombucha regularly. Even Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the recently deceased Russian author and nobel-prize winner, in his autobiography, claimed that kombucha tea cured his stomach cancer during his internment in soviet labor camps. (And because of this testimony, President Reagan used Kombucha to halt the spread of his cancer in 1987. You’ll note he didn’t die until 2004, and that was from old age, NOT cancer.)

Kombucha Health Benefit #2 — Joint Care

Kombucha contains glucosamines, a strong preventive and treatment all forms of arthritis. Glucosamines increase synovial hyaluronic acid production. Hyaluronic acid functions physiologically to aid preservation of cartilage structure and prevent arthritic pain, with relief comparable to NSAIDs and advantage over glucocorticoids. Hyaluronic acid enables connective tissue to bind moisture thousands of times its weight and maintains tissue structure, moisture, lubrication and flexibility and lessens free radical damage, while associated collagen retards and reduces wrinkles.

Kombucha Health Benefit #3 — Aids Digestion and Gut Health

Because it’s naturally fermented with a living colony of bacteria and yeast, Kombucha is a probioticbeverage. This has a myriad of benefits such as improved digestion, fighting candida (harmful yeast) overgrowth, mental clarity, and mood stability. As such, it’s noted for reducing or eliminating the symptoms of fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety, etc.

Kombucha Health Benefit #4 — Immune Boosting

Kombucha is extraordinarily anti-oxidant rich, and you all know the benefits of anti-oxidants forboosting your immune system and energy levels.

Where can you learn more about kombucha health benefits?

Here are a few articles on the health benefits of kombucha:

http://www.kombu.de/val-gwf.htm
http://www.gaiaresearch.co.za/kombucha.html
http://www.acupuncture.com/herbs/kombucha1.htm
http://www.gokombucha.com/health_benefits.html

Are the health benefits of kombucha for real?

When I first read about the panacea of benefits, I was skeptical. How could one beverage doso many things? But then I realized that it’s not so much that the beverage does something to our bodies, like a medicine targeted at curing specific symptoms. It’s more that this beverage promotes health. It gives your body what it needs to heal itself by 1)aiding your liver in removing harmful substances, 2)promoting balance in your digestive system, and 3)being rich in health-promoting vitamins, enzymes, and acids.

The general consensus seems to be that with regular, daily consumption, you’ll notice improvement in immune system functioning and energy levels within about a week, the healing of more minor ailments within a month or so, and the healing of more radical illnesses within a year or so.

Where can I get kombucha?

You can usually find a bottle of kombucha in your local health food store, but I recommend making your own kombucha at home.