Kombucha is a drink made from a composite culture of good bacteria and yeast which has benefits for your digestion:
Weak acids assist stomach acidity and stimulate digestive secretions in the upper intestinal tract;
Good bacteria adds to the culture in your gut.
See below for my step-by-step on how to make it yourself!
You’ll need a scoby, which is the starter culture; if you can’t obtain one from a friend, you can generate one by using some good store-bought kombucha.
How to make Kombucha
Equipment
2L Jar; cleaned and sterilized with boiling hot water
Muslin cloth and rubber band
Tongs
Scoby
4x organic black tea bags
Filtered water
6 tbsp sugar
1. Make the tea; add 1.5L boiling water to the jar along with the tea bags. Stir in the sugar to dissolve.
2. Let the tea cool to room temperature.
3. Take out the tea bags. Add the scoby and cover with a clean cloth fitted with a rubber band to stop insects from getting into the tea.
4.Leave the jar on the kitchen bench for 4-7 days. The bacteria and yeast in the scoby will break down the tea’s sugars and convert them into the alcohol, carbon dioxide (giving it a light fizz) and acids. The longer the tea ferments, the more acidic your kombucha will taste.
5. Extract the scoby with tongs and place it in another clean jar. Pour the tea through a strainer into a jar so that you get a clear liquid, then store in airtight containers in the fridge.
6.Repeat step one to make a new batch.
Making a scoby from scratch
Buy some good-quality kombucha from the store or from the organic markets.
Make about 2 cups of organic black tea in a large sterilized jar, add 8tsp of sugar and let it cool.
Add about 1/2 glass of kombucha drink and cover with a cotton or muslin cloth fixed tight with a rubber band.
Let it stand for a week or two - in this time you will notice a white film forming into a rubber-like culture on the top of the tea; this the scoby.
The larger the scoby, the more tea it can ferment, so if you’re starting from scratch it could take a couple of months to get it to the point where it’s fermenting 2L in one week. You can just start brewing smaller batches and work your way up as the scoby grows larger.