Kombucha

At the fermenting potluck I signed up for about a month ago I tried a lot of stuff I normally wouldn't. I tried kombucha once before and wasn't a fan, it had a vinegar taste. This time I tried my friend's blackberry kombucha and another friend's black cherry kombucha and was pleasantly surprised. So I thought I'd take the plunge and got a scoby from my friend. 

My new  SCOBY

I took it home, brewed up some Lipton tea with a cup of sugar, let it cool, and added it to the scoby. 

Fermenting with tea

I let it sit for a week, then heated a bag of blackberries with a cup of sugar, let it cool, then combined the the kombucha and blackberries in another jar, brewed some more tea of the scoby, and let the blackberry mix sit for 3 days. Then I put the whole thing in the fridge. I had already packed my strainer so I left the fruit in the liquid. This batch was delicious. It tasted a lot like a blackberry Izzi drink. A little tart, a little fizz, a little sweetness. I had my friend try it who swears she doesn't like kombucha. It converter her as well and she left with a scoby for herself. She has since finished her first batch and loves it too.

The black cherry version by another friend was made by just adding juice to the kombucha. I took that lead with my second batch. I made some blackberry kombucha the same way as the first time but this time it had quite a bite to it. To mellow it I cut it with some cran-raspberry juice. It helped a lot.

The last batch I made I didn't have time to do anything with it so it sat for 2 weeks and smelled like it went all the way to vinegar (or close to it). I bottled it for a cleaning solution and started a new batch. I haven't decided what I want to do with the next batch.

Blackberries added

For those that don't know kombucha has a TON of health benefits, for example: cancer treatment and prevention, detox, arthritis, digestion, mood, etc. There are many website that explain the benefits better than I can, here's one http://www.foodrenegade.com/kombucha-health-benefits/

UPDATE: I have tried 2 batches using green tea and didn't like the end product nearly as much. It was good on it's own but got a strange flavor after adding the blackberries. Drinkable but only once diluted by something. I think I'll use green tea for straight batches only and use black tea for any fruit batches.