Kombucha Pt 2

During the last 3 weeks the Kombucha brew has been going on in my kitchen. Its no effort on my part, I periodically check the progress and then shoo away fruit flies. Today I bottled up one batch. The other batch looked like some mold grew on it, so I decided not to take a risk and threw it out.

I didn't have any juice to flavor it with, I don't drink juice anyway, so I squeezed from fresh oranges and plums, and blended some strawberries. I have read that you should try and just use the juice and not any pulp, but with the strawberries I couldn't separate it, so I don't care. I mixed some orange and plum juice, I think it will taste good (hopefully). Here is a picture of the SCOBY.

If you are going to brew your own you want to save 15-25% of the first tea batch and the SCOBY, you can either start a new batch immediately or put it in the fridge (which will halt bacteria growth). I just put another gallon of water on to boil, so another batch! Since the weather has been so hot here I think it will grow a lot better this time and faster.

Delischious

Mango Nectarines!!

I have never had them before, but they are so good. I did some googling and it seems they have a very short season, so grab them when you see 'em. They go for most of July, and then maybe the first week of August. I think I am going to go buy more and make some jelly out of them.

Finding the Perfect...

Yogurt. Yeah, I'm picky like that. The best yogurt I have ever had was in France--Paris if I want to be dramatic about it... Duh! However, that goodness is not available here in the US of A, besides for some Dannon la creme or something like that. So I made the switch to Greek yogurt and have been satisfied with it. However, I get the urge now and then for the French stuff so low and behold my excitement today at Whole Foods when I spied

"Saint Benoît, Artisanal, French-style yogurt"

At $2.89 for a small 7.5 oz container, I got strawberry and honey. It irked me that they didn't offer standard vanilla, I judge all yogurts by the quality of the vanilla flavor. Anyway, was cashing out and they also charge an additional $1.50 because the jars are reusable, what bullshit! Ok, I will pay out, but it better be worth it.

Woooomp, waaaah.

How disapointing! It tastes horrible! Its not even thick, EXCUSEZ-MOI I don't know what "France" you went to, but when I got yogurt there it was a thick, consistent texture throughout and delicious, this tastes like runny, grainy, collated milk and I am appalled that I spent $4.39 per container! I think I am going to return the other one.

Don't waste your money.

Kombucha Pt 1

So I brewed up some Bucha last week and its been in glass jars for 7 days now. The mushroom is forming, looks gross and its really annoying because the scent is attracting a plethora of fruit flies. After some googling I found that they can live off the gas that is evaporating from the containers. I'll never get rid of these fucks. I even put the containers in the oven and they got in there.

Oh well. Here are some pictures (and the recipe) of what's been done. I will take photos of the mushroom a bit later.

You need 1 gallon of purified or filtered water, 1.5 cups of sugar, and about 6-8 bags of black tea. Bring water to boil, add sugar, stir and add tea bags, turn heat source off.

Let steep for 10 minutes

Add mixture to large glass 1 gallon container and bring to room temperature. This takes a while. I added an ice water mix to the pot I boiled it in and set the tea mixture inside it, one at a time until it cooled.

Once the tea has cooled to room temperature, add a bottle of the 100% raw unprocessed GT's Kombucha. I used a Multi Green and a Gingerade. I used the already made stuff because I didn't have a Kombucha mother and I didn't want to buy one online when I could make one myself. Cover the top with a paper towel or cloth and seal around with a rubber band, this allows the tea to breath, as the bacteria will need oxygen to survive and breed. Store in an area that isn't in direct sunlight, I had it on the bottom of my kitchen cart then moved it over to the oven.