Review: The Country Grind and Kombucha

I've been in love with The Country Grind since the first issue and even funded their kickstarter. I love the concept behind this quarterly paper and the content is usually superb. (In fact I'll soon be writing a complete review for my other-other blog Farm Dreams.)  

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However, Issue #3 has a full page article on kombucha entitled "Kombucha A What, Why and How-To" that includes some information that is contrary to my personal kombucha brewing experience. (Browse the kombucha tag for more of my experiences) 

For example, the author states that one should "be sure not to use brown sugar or honey." However, it is my understanding that a jun is a kombucha that is fed entirely and solely on honey and green tea. All of my reading on kombucha states that you can use any type of sweetener including brown sugar, honey, molasses, maple syrup ect. 

Additionally, the author states that one should "never leave your mother out in the air. You want it to always be hydrated as it will die if it's dried out." Later on in the article she writes "Never allow your mother to sit dry; it can be in the air for short periods of time but leave it too long and the mother will die and you will have to get a new one." However, my experience with drying and then resuscitating a SCOBY opposes this viewpoint.

The actual brewing steps are presented in a clean, concise and easy to follow manner so I'm positive that a newbie brewer would have no problems brewing a basic batch of kombucha by following the directions presented. 

I really don't like the advice about mold as the author states "I have never experienced mold on my mother but it is known to happen. Just dunk the mother in some vinegar and rinse with water. Some molds can be dangerous, so using your judgement, decide if you should go get a new one or not." I always tell others to throw away a SCOBY if it presents with mold as I feel this is the safest and most responsible choice of action, especially given that SCOBY's are usually cheap/free.

Overall this is a good basic primer for a newbie kombucha brewer but I would suggest taking her points regarding drying and mold with a grain of salt. 

Issue #4 of Country Grind is now available for purchase!

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Eating the Web: Kombucha Cocktails

(Blood Orange Kombujito)

 

(Lemon Basil Kombucha)

 

(Strawberry Infused Ginger Kombucha Moscow Mules)

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Flavoring Kombucha: Working with the Strong Flavour of Kombucha

Kombucha is a fermented food so there are health benefits reaped from consuming it but kombucha has a strong vinegary taste that can be quite unpleasant for some people. The key to overcoming the strong flavor of kombucha is to work with it and not attempt to mask it. This means leaving delicate flavorings like grapefruit, lemon grass and mint to homemade soda recipes and focusing on stronger flavors like ginger and blueberries. Flavoring home brewed kombucha is as simple as combining brewed kombucha with flavor ingredients and letting it sit for a few days.

There are few other, slightly more interesting and complex ways to flavour kombucha that works with the vinegary taste of plain kombucha rather than fighting it.

Shrubs, or drinking vinegars, are flavoured vinegars used as ingredients in mixed drinks and cocktails. Shrubs are easily prepared at home as they merely are a combination of fruit, apple cider vinegar, and sugar. This mixture is shaken daily then stained after a week or so. As shrubs are frequently made with apple cider vinegar (a common descriptor of kombucha) they make an excellent addition to kombucha. I simply pour a little bit of shrub over ice, then top off with unflavoured kombucha.

If you brew your own kombucha you'll have two (or ten) extra SCOBYs floating around your kitchen. The next concept for working with the strong flavours of kombucha is coffee kombucha. Coffee kombucha is insanely easy to make (drop an extra SCOBY in cooled, sweetened coffee and wait) but it's flavour is very difficult to explain. It smells strongly of coffee but has a lessened coffee flavour. Its flavour is reminiscent of sweetened regular coffee while simultaneously being tart and having a slightly fermented flavour. Coffee kombucha definitely works with the flavour of kombucha to create an interesting drink but one that may not suite everyone's tastes.


Do you like the strong flavour of k

ombucha or do you prefer to mask it with complimentary strong flavours?

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Review: Delicious Probiotic Drinks by Julia Mueller

I was very excited to receive the PR email offering me a review copy of this book. As you might be aware from my kombucha posts, I'm kind of obsessed with experimenting with kombucha and other fermented drinks so I was delighted at the opportunity to review this book. It is a nice hard bound book with beautiful photographs and the occasional interesting flavor combination. 



I was really prepared to fall in love with this cookbook but the overall quality simply does not merit a glowing review. On her blog, Julia Mueller states that she began writing this cookbook in February 2013 and moved on to her second by June 2013. This cookbook really shows the rushed writing and recipe development that such a schedule must require. The yogurt section seems misplaced in a drinks book and the smoothies (while acceptable as a probiotic drink) seem like a page filler. The paragraphs and are short and choppy and information is presented in a sporadic and non-intuitive manner. The majority of this cookbook reads like a book proposal and could have benefited from a good edit.

Perhaps the most damning thing about this book is the recipe order. The recipes are not well ordered as after the basic information is presented the flavoring recipes (requiring additional fermentation) are mixed into cocktail style recipes (requiring a fully fermented product). I find this very bothersome and not fermenter friendly in the least.

Overall I recommend checking this one out of the local library if only for the few interesting flavor combinations but pick up a book like 'Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods' for serious fermentation action!

Small Print: I received a complimentary review copy.

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Kombucha: Beautiful SCOBY

(Source)

These pictures of SCOBY inspired me to create an all SCOBY Tumblr. Check it out at scobyland.tumblr.com. Submit your beautiful SCOBY photos! :)
 

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Kombucha: Vacation

It's the end of Vegan MoFo and you want to go on vacation! But what will you do with your SCOBY? Will it stay alive? Will you have to repurchase/regrow a new SCOBY when you return? 
There are three options for SCOBY storage while on vacation.

1. Drying - If you leave a SCOBY at room temperature for a week or so, flipping regularly it will dry out and you'll be about to resuscitate it into kombucha madness. Check out this early post about drying SCOBY for more information (and a fabulous gif!)

2. SCOBY Motel - Extraneous SCOBY can be stored in a jar in the fridge covered with a mixture of fermented and unfermented tea. These SCOBY will slowly ferment - getting larger and consuming the unfermented tea. I cannot seem to throw out a nice, white SCOBY so I have a few motel's in my fridge.

 
   3. Just leave 'em - The easiest option is to simply leave your kombucha fermenting. When you get back your tea might be vinegary (but there are uses for that!) but your SCOBY will be huge, healthy, and ready to start a new batch! After a one month vacation I cam home to these huge SCOBY!

 Check out my online kombucha brewing course (free access here) for more k-brewing advice! (That's the last time I'll mention it during MoFo I swear! ;) )

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Kombucha: Resources

Here's a list of Kombucha brewing resources to explore. 

1. My K-brewing course (free access)

2. Books by Sador Ellix Katz
3. This homebrew forum (primarily beer) sometimes has interesting kombucha discussions. 
4.  This Mother Earth article on Kombucha discusses the potential risks and benefits of kombucha in an unbiased manner.

5. The Kombucha Lady has a nice list of flavors and a comprehensive guide detailing her brewing routine.
6. Check out my Pinterest Board for all things Kombucha!    

What are your favorite kombucha resources?

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Kombucha: Trying new flavors (Part III)

I've really enjoyed tasting my flavor combinations over the last few days. (See Part 1 and Part II)

Blueberry: Lovely color. Not carbonated. (See Part II)
Blueberry Ginger: Need to up the ginger content.
Plain: Bottled in beer bottle style. Very nice carbonation.
Hops: Very pleasant flavor. Perfect for those poor preggo ladies!
Wasabi Peas: I like the concept of wasabi but the peas got soggy and it didn't really make the drink spicy.
Peppermint Tea: Nice tannins. Pleasant smell. Not pepperminty - just tea like.

The biggest thing I learned is that I don't like the screw cap bottles and prefer beer caps as a method of bottling and as a fledgling home-brewer I have that equipment! :)

What are your favorite kombucha flavors? 

  

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Kombucha: Continuous Brew Update

(The beginning) 

 (After the beginning) 

I've bottled some of the kombucha brewing my continuous brewing system. It seems like an easy, mess-free way of brewing kombucha. The SCOBY is getting huge!

Some of the benefits of continuous brewing are: 

- less cleaning  

- greater chance of success as the environment of a healthy kombucha batch is maintained continuously.  

- faster (both to brew and to bottle)

- consistent supply of fresh kombucha

Do you subscribe to the continuous brewing method? 

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Kombucha: Trying new flavors (Part II)

I cracked the blueberry kombucha two days after I bottled. The color is very nice but the flavor is too mild. It's also hardly carbonated at all (which I actually like). I drank it over ice as there was no room in the fridge to cool it down - and I was impatient! Gotta get the blueberry flavor vamped up! 
 

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Eating the Web: Kombucha Recipe Roundup

Even the most ardent kombucha super-fans can get a little tired of the same old - same old of simply drinking kombucha. And when pouring that bottle of kombucha over ice gets boring try some of these recipe ideas out! 

Kombucha Root Beer Float (Source)

Kombucha and Red Wine Cooler (Source)

Kombucha Mango Smoothie! (Source)

Tired of the act of drinking Kombucha!? The following links are for you!

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Black Bean Salsa (Source)

What is your favorite way to enjoy Kombucha?

Need information in order to brew your own kombucha? Click here for free access to my online kombuch brewing course!!

 

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Kombucha: A MOTHERFUCKING HOW-TO

TODAY'S FUCKING MO-FO POST IS IN THE STYLE OF MOTHERFUCKING RECIPES. HOPE YOU FUCKING LIKE IT YOU LITTLE FUCKS!

THIS IS A FUCKING HOW-TO ON MAKING KOMBUCHA. KOMBUCHA IS MOTHERFUCKING EASY - SO GET OFF YOUR ASSESS AND BREW SOME. STOP BEING ASS-FUCKED BY CORPORATIONS WHO CHARGE YOU FIVE FUCKING DOLLARS FOR A BOTTLE OF KOMBUCHA THAT YOU CAN MAKE FOR PENNIES!

KOMBUCHA IS SO EASY. ALL YOU NEED IS THESE FUCKING INGREDIENTS. SO GATHER YO'SELVES SOME:

SUGAR
WATER 
TEA
A MOTHERFUCKING SCOBY (WHICH STANDS FOR SYBIOTIC CULTURE OF BACTERIA AND YEAST - IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS, YOUR MOM, OR YOUR FRIEND'S MOM WITH THAT SHIT!)
SOME FUCKING PATIENCE

 HERE'S A PICTURE OF WHAT THAT SHIT WILL LOOK LIKE RIGHT AFTER YOU DROP THE FUCKING SCOBY IN.

BREW SOME FUCKING TEA. YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO. MAKE SURE YOU SWEETEN THAT SHIT WITH TEA AND YOUR FUCKING SWEET PRESENCE. LET THAT SHIT COOL DOWN THEN DROP THAT FUCKING SCOBY IN THE TEA. LEAVE THAT SHIT UN-FUCKING-DISTURBED FOR A MOTHER-FUCKING WEEK. 

THEN ENJOY YO'SELVES SOME FUCKING HOME-BREWED KOMBUCHA AND THINK YO'SELF BETTER THAN THOSE FUCKING CHUMPS THAT DRINK $5 A BOTTLE KOMBUCHA.

IF YOU WANT TO GET ALL SUPER ASS FANCY FLAVOR YOUR KOMBUCHA BY PUTTING SOME FRUIT OR FRUIT JUICE IN THE BOTTLE. THEN LET IT FERMENT FOR A FEW MORE DAYS AND YOU GOTS YOURSELF SOME FLAVORED KOMBUCHA. 

HOPE YOU FUCKS ENJOYED THIS POST. TELL ME EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR MOTHER FUCKING KOMBUCHA EXPERIMENTS IN THE MOTHER FUCKING COMMENTS! 

  
  
 
 

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Kombucha: Kombucha and Shrub

Shrub's, or drinking vinegars, are flavored vinegars used as ingredients in mixed drinks and cocktails. I mixed up a Mango Lime Shrub a few days ago because it's been on my to-do list for a long time and because the gals from AlphabetSoup Podcast would be proud of me, but primarly to use the finished shrub as fodder for my post Vegan MoFo slump. 

I wanted to try a non-alchohlic version today so I headed to my fridge but as we are NOT a juice family there was no mixer to be found. Well except for bottles and bottles of craft beer and kombucha. Kombucha it was to be!

This was fan-fucking-tastic! The lime was delicate and the mango was sweet and smooth. I do think my shrub is a tad on the sweet side - but that's fine when it's paired with the acidic nature of kombucha. 

There will be more shrubs in my future!  

 

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Beer and Kombucha: Kombeercha

As this interview states... "There's a lot of similarity between kombucha tea and beer. Fundamentally, as brewers, our job is to provide a suitable home for our yeast. We make sure the temperature is right, everything is clean, there's both the right type and quantity of food available and there aren't any waste products building up."

Due to this similarity some adventurous beer brewers have included kombucha as an ingredient in their beer. 

For example, this Lambrucha combines a lambic beer with an organic green tea Kombucha.

This Mava Roka sounds amazing! It's a Maple Vanilla Rooibos Kombucha ale which begins as vanilla roobios kombucha brewed in oak casks. Maple syrup is added at the second fermentation. All of the Kombucha brews at BeyondKombucha.com sound amazing!
 

 Commercial Kombucha brewed with beer is excellent but in the spirit of experimentation... try it yourself!!

This post on a homebrewing forum seems like it would result in some interesting things! 

 "Just bottled some kombucha today. I have been thinking about trying it to sour beer. I was going to use it to sour a small unhopped portion of wort, achieve nice sourness, halt the bacteria by either boiling or campden tablets. Then add that back to the main batch." 

This post on Flander's Red Beer is very interesting. 


If beer brewers can co-opt the principles of kombucha brewing us kombucha brewers can co-op their techniques and strategies as well!

This two part series on making malt kombucha is basic but very interesting. 

 

(Part One)

 

  (Part Two)

It's easy to flavor kombucha with hops in the secondary ferment. I used 2 tablespoons of hops for a 500 mL bottle which resulted in a pleasant lightly hopped flavor. Check out my posts on flavoring kombucha with hops here and the tasting notes here. 

I couldn't end this post without mentioning my previous experiment with kombucha wine! 

   Kombucha Wine

 
If all that experimentation simply sounds like too much work. Try mixing kombucha and beer as this blogger did.

 Her description (found here) of this beverage is beautiful! 

"[Mixing Kombucha and beer is] an especially good way to use kombucha that has fermented too long and gotten too sour. The malty body of the beer cuts the sourness of the kombucha. By the same token, it’s a great way to add something extra to a can of cheap beer left over after a party."

Would you ever mix the brewing techniques of beer and kombucha?

If you liked the experimental nature of this post you'll love my free kombucha brewing course!  

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