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How to grow kombucha, aka kombucha
Now it is called kombucha – a drink from the USSR has become super popular all over the world among fans of healthy lifestyles.
On the shelves of stores for healthy lifestyles, you can increasingly see bottles of kombucha – a sweet and sour fermented yellowish carbonated drink. Manufacturers call it the elixir of life, rich in probiotics, antioxidants and vitamins.
The kombucha fashion came from the West. However, our grandmothers and mothers tasted this superfood back in the last century, when it was not mainstream. Only then there was no fashionable word “kombucha”, but there was a kombucha. Even 20-30 years ago, a can of this drink was in almost every kitchen. And they brought him to Russia from Asia at the beginning of the twentieth century.
I remember the first time when visiting my grandmother I tried this drink with sourness. And then I went to the kitchen for an additive and saw it … Kombucha splashed in a three-liter jar, looking like a creepy jellyfish. I wish I hadn’t seen it. Drinking kombucha after that immediately got sick. But in vain. As it turned out, this is a very healthy drink, which has recently become fashionable.
Why is kombucha useful?
“The drink contains vitamins of group B, C, polyphenols, enzymes, amino acids, high concentrations of gluconic and lactic acids,” says Inna Kononenko, nutritionist and nutritionist… – It is useful for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, heartburn, due to the huge amount of antioxidants it helps to strengthen the immune system. It also contains a lot of polyphenols and acetic acid, which help with weight loss. “
How to grow kombucha at home
You can buy ready-made kombucha at the store – a half-liter bottle costs 150-300 rubles. And you can grow kombucha at home, as our mothers did.
Kombucha is a symbiosis of yeast and vinegar bacteria. Scientifically called Medusomyces gisevi, medusomycete. Yeast and bacteria process sugar, resulting in the same kombucha. There are ready-made kombucha kits in online stores. Approximate price – from 1000 rubles. and higher. The second option is to ask your friends for a piece of mushroom. The third option is to grow a kombucha at home from scratch.
You will need:
Glass jar 3 liters. Wash glass containers thoroughly without using modern detergents. Kombucha is a capricious organism, chemistry is not to his taste. Better to use baking soda and then – for reliability – sterilize the jar.
Steep boiling water – 0,5 liters.
Sugar – 7 st. l.
Large leaf black tea – 5 tbsp. l. The less additives in the tea, the better. Experienced kombucha breeders advise taking the cheapest tea leaves, not expensive varieties.
Gauze. It will protect the drink from midges and dust, but at the same time it will allow oxygen to pass through.
Preparation Scheme:
Pour boiling water over black tea, add sugar and mix thoroughly. The sugar must completely dissolve in the liquid. When the tea has cooled, strain it through a cheesecloth filter into a jar.
Cover the jar with several layers of cheesecloth, secure it to the neck with an elastic band, and place it in a warm and dark place. Choose a place where no one will touch the bank. A nascent mushroom is a thin matter, it is worth slightly disturbing its “cradle”, and the body may die.
After 5-7 days, the leaven will begin to give off with vinegar, and a thin transparent film will appear on the surface. This means that the mushroom has begun to form. The vinegar smell will disappear over time.
Be patient. Kombucha will gain mass only after 6-8 weeks. When the film is 3–4 mm thick, you can add some sweet black tea to the jar. Just don’t pour it directly on the mushroom. Repeat the procedure every 5-7 days.
When the mushroom becomes 1–1,5 cm thick, carefully drain the tea from the jar, transfer the mushroom to a deep bowl and rinse with cooled boiled water. Rinse the jar thoroughly, pour the prepared and strained black sweet tea into it, and then the mushroom. Cover the jar with cheesecloth. After a week, the drink will be ready.
Alternatively, you can make kombucha from rose hips or apple juice. Find detailed recipes HERE.