The following photos are testament to just a few things that have been happening around here. Let me know what you think. (Truthfully, it is a lesson in the making of the delicious, probiotic filled drink called kombucha. Better than soda, and, even better for you.)
First, you have my one, and, only two gallon container of my kombucha, complete with its SCOBY “mother”, resting on top. The bubbles are produced as a byproduct of the SCOBY, feeding on the tea and sugar, in the container, which is fermenting. The SCOBY will, in essence, completely seal the top of the fermenting tea, and, produce another layer of SCOBY.
What is a SCOBY, you ask? Well, let me help educate you; it is an acronym, (yes, I had to look that up, ok?) for the following: Symbiotic Colony Of Yeast and Bacteria. It is the “mother”, just like the mother in a bottle of unfiltered vinegar- see Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar. It is the thing that, if you contain it, and, feed it, you are able to make more from whatever you took it.
I have (finally) discovered that, in this altitude, it takes less than a week for the kombucha to ferment, and, equally as fast, three, to four, days, max, for the second ferment. The second ferment is simply the process of decanting the kombucha from the large container, into individual bottles that contain whatever flavors of fruit you have decided to try in that batch. You also need to be aware of what fruits contain sugar, because you need the sugar, in the fruit chosen, to continue to feed the tea, to continue this second fermentation process.
Once the second ferment is decanted into flip top bottles, it needs to sit on the countertop for a few days, then, goes into the fridge to relax a bit. Yes, it is still carbonated, (see photo above), but is less carbonated than when it was still on the counter. The amount of carbonation decreases significantly, once refrigerated, because the fermentation process is retarded with the cold temperature of the refrigerator.
Let me say, here, and now, that the first batch was awful! Did we drink it? Of course we did. Probiotics are probiotics. However, now that we only have one large container of kombucha, I do not need to worry about us drinking up all of the bottled kombucha before we need to bottle the next batch.
That said, it also gives us the freedom to try several, different, flavors of this amazing drink. We did not appreciate the combination of blackberries with mango, but, really, did like the pineapple, with just about anything!
We are, soon, going to make another batch, but, while we wait to do that, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and, protect your loved ones.