I am delighted to see Kambucha is once again getting notice and gaining popularity. An ancient elixir, the seminal book by Gunther W. Frank, Kombucha (Healthy beverage and natural remedy from the Far East) explains this apple cider tasting fermentation detoxifies and is an immune booster.
While very pricey in stores for small bottles, with a small
amount of start-up money, one can make the folk remedy cure inexpensively. My
first kombucha “mushroom” lasted 20 years because the amazing thing is that
with each brew, a new culture forms.
Frank relates the true story about cancer researchers in the
Soviet Union after WW11, when the disease had increased
dramatically. In the midst of these dire statistics, two districts stood out
because they had hardly any cases reported, although there was plenty of
industrial pollution there and, in fact, trees and fish in the area were dying.
Teams of investigators were set up to study this anomaly.
It happened that one of the scientists visited the home of a
family selected to be studied. Only the elderly grandmother, ”babushka” was at
home. The elderly woman offered the doctor a drink she called “tea kvass.”
All the people in the region drank it. Very interesting,
yes?
I’m on the band-wagon.
2 gallon glass jar
Target
sells them for under $15
1 mushroom
culture
amazon.com has a list of sellers from which to choose. Some come as
‘starter’ kits
which
means they enclose the culture with a little fermented tea. But you don’t
really
need it, just means the first time you make your tea, it will take a
few
more days to be ready to pour off and drink. For following batches, you’ll add
a cup
of the made tea to the pot.
3 ½ quarts
water
If you don’t have a water filter
attached to your sink faucet, such
as Brita,
use bottled water
5 black tea
bags (Twinings, Lipton, Trader Joe’s Breakfast Tea or black tea of your
choice)
1 cup sugar
I use
organic cane sugar
cheesecloth/rubber band
The
culture must breathe.
1.
Use a 6-quart pot to bring the
water and sugar to a boil. Boil 5 minutes.
2.
Turn off fire. Add 5 black tea
bags. Steep tea for 15 minutes. Remove
tea bags and cool to room temperature.
It’s important to cool as hot tea
will hurt the mushroom
3.
Pour the tea into the 2-gallon
glass container and add the mushroom.
4.
Cover the jar with with cheesecloth
and secure with a rubber band.
5.
Store in a warm, dark place for 10
days. Frank says the antibiotic
properties develop on the
7th or 8th
day. You will know the tea is done when you see the new culture on top of the
jar.
Most of the sweetness should be gone.
6.
Line a colander with the
cheesecloth and pour the liquid into a glass container. I use a 4-quart pyrex
measuring cup, then transfer the liquid into glass bottles.
Refrigerate.
During storage if “rat’s tails” appear, you may strain again
through cheesecloth.
The amount to drink daily will be
determined by how you feel. Start with 4-ounces daily. Some people drink
6-ounces, some 8.
Frank recommends 12--4 ounces
three times a day, but it’s too much for me. You should find out for yourself
what is the best dosage for you.
COSMETIC TIP
After I cold-cream my face, I use
a cotton ball dipped in Kambucha as a skin-freshener.
Hope you enjoy this elixir of
life as much as I do!
These are the cultures. One is older, the darker one, and I will probably use it a few more times before I switch to the young one. As the cultures multiply you can give them to friends who are interested.
The brew in the two gallon jar is ready to ferment.
Straining the tea.
In the bottle, ready to drink.
All photos by Carol Guilford.
.
