The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Do it Yourself Discussion! => Topic started by: wienerdog on July 17, 2015, 09:08:48 PM
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Picked up a dehydrated SCOBY yesterday and bringing it back to life to make my own tea. I use to drink diet soda most of the day during work. I have worked to reduce those costs and I am mostly off pop now replaced with water during the day. I can't drink hot caffeine like coffee or tea for some reason and I still need a shot in the morning so I have been doing a $0.96 fountain pop most work days. I like ice tea and I like vinegar so I figured I would try Kombucha. Anyone here brew their own? At $3.60 for a 16oz bottle no way I am buying the stuff.
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Yup, once your scoby gets really strong it's seriously the easiest thing ever. I buy loose black tea in bulk and use organic sugar and always have really strong SCOBY activity. If you like both tea and vinegar you're gonna love homemade kombucha. I resisted making booch for a long time because I really didn't care for the storebought ones I tried. As with most things, homemade made all the difference and now I love it. The kids like it fresh and just a bit puckery, I let mine get quite sour. Once it's too fermented even for me it's an excellent substitute for raw ACV, like dr. braggs.
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My wife likes Kombucha. I like water Keifer. Have some troubles keeping the cycles consistent. If we don't use it fast enough, take a vacation, etc. Then it starts coming out too sweet or too sour and takes a while to get back to the way we like it.
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I like making it more than I like drinking it. It was fine (slightly different than store-bought) but just not something I found myself having often. But I liked the weekly making of tea and feeding my squishy little pet until moving made me discard it. It was actually pretty soothing when I lived in an apartment that didn't have pets. I liked having something to take care of. Especially because it is ridiculously easy to make.
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I do.
BF likes the taste more than I do, but I'll happily swig it down. I prefer it quite sour to be honest.
Talking about brewing sour things, has anyone else had a go at making apple cider vinegar from scratch? Mother doesn't grow as quick, but she is much more tolerant of neglect. And the ACV tastes gorgeous.
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Just started making my own in September - now I always have a half-gallon jug or two on the counter (next to the water kefir and the german pickle crock...I need a bigger counter...)
I like mine sour, and also like doing a second fermentation with fresh ginger. I started using 1/2 black tea and 1/2 chai to make the tea, and the taste is really exotic.
I've given away two SCOBYs so far....
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Making your own or drinking it at all seems a risky proposition for minor health benefits:
http://examine.com/supplements/Kombucha/ (http://examine.com/supplements/Kombucha/)
I'd rather just stick to green tea.
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I'm sure there are documented risks published for all fermented foods. And eggs, produce, alcoholic beverages, baby formula, ground meats, etc. No one should consume anything that feels unsafe for them.
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I teach kombucha and other fermentation classes. It's a ton of fun, and is a good replacement for soda/ juice. Goodluck and feel free to message me with questions!
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I really love my kombucha brewing, especially after I do secondary fermentation with ginger. Have given away two scoby, have a scoby hotel and two batches going. Have been really interested to see the differences in length of fermentation, temp, kinds of tea and kinds of sugar (tried coconut palm sugar, maple syrup, honey, sugar in the raw, and of cane. Really fun! Kombuchakamp has been a good web source of info for me. I ferment a lot of other foods too with good success following Sandor Katz's book Wild Fermentation. Yep, there are risks. Small, but real. Kinda just life, in my book. Good luck and enjoy!
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Homehandymum makes her own kombucha, and recently published a book about making a book with sourdough.
Simple Kombucha Sourdough (http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Kombucha-Sourdough-sourdough-kombucha-ebook/dp/B013DKQVB0)
I have to ask, where does one get a scoby or how does one make a scoby?
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Homehandymum makes her own kombucha, and recently published a book about making a book with sourdough.
Simple Kombucha Sourdough (http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Kombucha-Sourdough-sourdough-kombucha-ebook/dp/B013DKQVB0)
I have to ask, where does one get a scoby or how does one make a scoby?
There were 10 hits for 'kombucha scoby' on Gumtree in the Adelaide region. I'd try there :)
Otherwise get one off a friend or there are people that will mail them to you.