Kombucha- it helps spur digestion, eliminated my acid reflux... making booch!

This summer I made a "bucket list", and put trying something called Komucha on it. Ended up finding it at Trader Joe's for around $3 a bottle. I fell in love with this stuff on the first sip, and bought enough to have a serving a day for me and the hubby. This stuff is a fermented sweet tea, and the fermentation knocks out the sugar and caffeine and adds some bubbly to it. Hence, one serving is 30 calories. This drinks kind of like soda, but with fantastic flavor. It is chock full of probiotics and has a list of things it is associated with helping our health. It helps "move things along"- as experienced by my hubby and he now swears by it. It can reduce acid reflux- I am now completely off of my acid reducer after 2 weeks. Maybe I could have dropped it sooner, but I didn't realize it until I forgot my meds one day and realized I was symptom free. Supposedly it helps blood sugar, but I have not been testing recently so cannot confirm. There are a slew of other benefits too. Not trying to sell it as a panacea, but it is just good stuff. 

Anyway, this stuff is pricey so I looked up how to make it. Turns out it is pretty easy and you need minimal equipment. Got my first batch starting today, and was wondering if anyone out there makes it?

I love Kombucha! I haven't drank any since I had the surgery, I wasn't sure if I should, but it does all of the things you said and it taste great! I am glad you like it!

I love it. Haven't tried making it yet, but that's always been a plan.

Did you get a starter from someone or order one?

I ordered it online from Amazon. There is a site that is dedicated to supplies that is more "trusted", but it was $8 compared to $30. You can also grow your own scoby if you can find raw and unpasturized brew locally. I was too impatient so ordered it.

Then my ADHD ass didn't realize that there are directions, and I just put together the first batch. Turns out I should have made a small first batch, not a 2 gallon first batch. Added in extra starter today once I realized, but not so sure this will work. Oops. I do see some scoby activity though, so hoping that perhaps it might just take a little longer. 

Once I get the brew up and running (I am doing continuos batch) and baby scobys start forming I would be happy to pass them along to anyone local. That might be a bit though until I get things rolling.

We haven't tried it but wanted to.  We have researched it.  Would like to try it but haven't run across any yet.  We are making kefir and fermented vegetables.  

Fermented veggies is in my future once I get the booch running smoothly. My hubby LOVES torshi, and especially the cabbage and turnips. I want to track down a recipe for that, and maybe try saurkraut and kimchi. Yum!

I love kombucha! But it does get pricey and to me, the idea of making it just seems so daunting! I am also curious about where you got your mother/starter from. Let us know how it goes!!

It is actually super easy. In a nutshell, you brew black tea using evaporated cane juice sugar or normal white table sugar. Bring it to room temperature. Put it in a gallon mason jar or other glass vessel, toss in the scoby and starter. Keep it out of sunlight. After 7 days check daily until it is the balance of tart and sweet you are looking for. If you want it flavored, bottle it with a little fruit or ginger, let it sit out up to 3 days. Easy peasy. The hardest part is in the beginning being patient and not trying to do 2 gallons off of a new scoby (oops).

There are plenty of claims about kombucha's health benefits... and ZERO clinical trials or other scientific evidence to back it up. This 2003 study found pretty much no benefit:

No clinical studies were found relating to the efficacy of this remedy. Several case reports and case series raise doubts about the safety of kombucha. They include suspected liver damage, metabolic acidosis and cutaneous anthrax infections. One fatality is on record... 

On the basis of these data it was concluded that the largely undetermined benefits do not outweigh the documented risks of kombucha. It can therefore not be recommended for therapeutic use.

The probiotics in it may give a boost, but you can just as well get that from other sources.

It's not terribly safe to make your own kombucha, mostly because you're dealing with fungus and bacteria. It's easy for that to get out of control and for you to end up sick.

We are brewers here (beer) already and know the importance of following guidelines. And as always, if in doubt throw it out. There is some more recent research pointing to some benefits, but again not trying to make it out like it is some panacea of health mojo. There are a few documented myths out there. The anthrax case was a farmer who brewed adjacent to a cow that had anthrax issues. Not planning on brewing next to cows.

There are two deaths also commonly connected to it, however, in both cases it is not confirmed the booch was the culprit. One person was an aids patient, and the other brewer was using scobys that many others in the community were- basically chalked up to coincidence that those two deaths happened to brew booch in other words.