Kombucha Question

[Guest guest]

If there are black spots on the mushroom, it is contaminated. You need to

get a new mushroom.

Laurel wrote:

Hello, all!

I have just finished my very first batch of Kombucha and am wondering

if I made it right. I made it in a pyrex bowl covered with a kitchen

towel. I followed the NT recipe. The mushroom grew to cover the

whole batch of tea and had a small back spot on the top. Did it turn

out right? It smells vinegery and tastes good like apple cider. Any

tips on brewing it would be helpful.

Thank you!

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[Guest guest]

>

> If there are black spots on the mushroom, it is contaminated.

Hold on! If there is mold, it is usually fuzzy and sitting on top of

the culture. The color varies from black to green to pink, so I'm

told. But what can happen is an air bubble can get trapped between

the underside of the culture and the liquid it's floating in, and this

air bubble can disrupt the formation of the baby culture, leaving a

spot that looks dark.

Here's a link that can help you identify mold. Specifically, look at

http://www.happyherbalist.com/pictures.htm and then you can go to the

main kombucha page at http://www.happyherbalist.com/kombucha_tea.htm

~Joe

[Guest guest]

I was thinking that it could also be a dead yeast cell if it is not round and

fuzzy,

especially if it is stringy. But if in doubt, throw it out!

Kathy

[Guest guest]

, depending upon where your headaches occur on your head (forehead and

frontal area

are often suggestive of liver/digestion) I'd say you are OVERDUE for a real

cleansing/detox.

The symptoms that your simple diet changes have given you definitely suggest

this.

You should, of course, work with a good holistic healer in all this, but my

money says you will

have some amazing things happen if you do a liver flush/GI cleanse. This is a

great time of

the year to do it because of all the fresh food out there and the body strength

of summer.

See the databases and files for details, also go to curezone.com. Do it now and

do it often.

This is a powerful gift to give yourself that will give you energy and health

like you won't

believe.

Will

[Guest guest]

>

> A few months ago, I started drinking DK Dave's Kombucha for the

> general health benefits.

Be aware that kombucha is pretty powerful stuff. I've been told and

have read that it should be used with care, just like any drug, and to

drink clear, plain water as a " chaser " in equal amounts.

~Joe

[Guest guest]

--some people have allergic reactions to Kombucha. Although I have

never heard what those reactions might entail, constipation may be a

possible one.

[Guest guest]

> Be aware that kombucha is pretty powerful stuff. I've been told and

> have read that it should be used with care, just like any drug, and to

> drink clear, plain water as a " chaser " in equal amounts.

> ~Joe

I usually mix my kombucha with other liquids (juice and fizzy water)--

makes a delicious drink. Just wanted to add too, that it's generally

wise to start off by drinking only very small amounts, and gradually

increase your intake. In a day, I normally don't drink more than a cup

or so. Just a small amount does wonders with my energy levels.

fina.

[Guest guest]

The bad news is that the clear substance floating on your Kombucha is actually a

GELATINOUS SLIME MOLD and, the really bad news (I hope it's not too late) is

that it's

DEADLY POISONOUS! It's been nice knowing you....

APRIL FOOL!

Actually, we all get this from time to time. It's either a super-active culture

or, more likely,

an incomplete fermentation in the brew tank. If your pH has sunk to 3 it's

complete. Since

you are brewing for two weeks, I'd say your conditions are probably too cold.

You should

be able to bang it out in a week to 10 days. It's also possible that you could

cut your sugar

volume down a bit. Adding fruit, even ginger, can cause more secondary

fermentation,

which is odd since ginger is supposed to kill or maim the scoby.

Some people on the KT sites drink the baby scoby's from the bottle like raw

oysters and

I've done that, however, I prefer to strain them out and drink my KT like fine

champagne.

2) I'm still using GT Dave bottles as well as E-Z Cap 32 oz bottles from the

brewing supply

stores (expensive). The well-sealed bottles make better KT than the leaky-cap GT

bottles.

3) All those sugars will work, but whatever you use try to use ORGANIC.

Conventional

sugar cane production (or conventional beet production) is abysmally toxic!

4) 99% of my KT is GINGER using peeled and shredded (food processor) raw yellow

organic

ginger from the coop. I've also used cherries, grapefruit, blueberries,

strawberries,

raspberries, cranberries, and the latest was root beer (still a

" work-in-progress " ). All fruit,

spices and flavoring goes into the bottle AFTER the mother has been removed.

Nothing

touches the mother but tea, water and sugar.

Let's have a KT TASTING at the FOOD SWAP! Bring your best shot!

Will Winter

[Guest guest]

Will,

My teenage daughter read your pre-APRIL 1 post. First she lost all

the color in her face, then finished reading, and then announced

that you were very evil,

But, thanks for the info and what a great idea to have a KT tasting

at the swap!

Looking forward to that.

Jan

>

> The bad news is that the clear substance floating on your Kombucha

is actually a

> GELATINOUS SLIME MOLD and, the really bad news (I hope it's not

too late) is that it's

> DEADLY POISONOUS! It's been nice knowing you....

>

> APRIL FOOL!

>

> Actually, we all get this from time to time. It's either a super-

active culture or, more likely,

> an incomplete fermentation in the brew tank. ...

>

> Let's have a KT TASTING at the FOOD SWAP! Bring your best shot!

>

> Will Winter

>

[Guest guest]

Will,

You sure gave me the heavy jevies!!! Yikes! My mind ever race over all the

things I have read on K and that I had never seen anything about a slime mold.

So of course I read on to see what the " expert " had to say on this.

Gurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Some days Will, I sure don't know about you!

I figured I was OK cuz if it was that bad I should have been gone by now, been

drinking it for weeks. I think you are right about things being cool in the

house causing the problem. I keep the house pretty cool. Need to find a good

place to store it for brewing.

I will put the ginger and such in next time after the brewing. Only did this for

one batch and it did turn out great. I have lots of extra Scooby's so I am safe

and don't need to worry if I loose one.

I still want to know how you are making the rootbeer. I love rootbeer. Plus

being diabetic I like the idea of a lower sugar one too. The store ones are

sooooo sweet I can not drink them. (I do not do the diet things) It is a rare

thing for me to drink soda but it sure would be nice to have it once in a while

on a hot summer's day.

~Kimi~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

www.Jremedies.com

2 , 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

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[Guest guest]

BlankBecause of the cooler winter temps in our house, I usually brew 14-16

days before I get that good bite. I've also decreased my sugar by about 1/4

c. I think Will is right about the brew not being 'finished' causing new

scoby growth. I accidentally bottled the wring batch once (after a week

instead of two) and every one of those grew new scobies. They were really

quite beautiful! It also seems to me that the weaker the seal on the jar,

the more apt we are to have new ones grow.

I know Will mentioned lots of flavors...but, our favorite is to add a 1/4 of

a very ripe pear (thinly sliced) per quart. The only problem is that after

it sits out for a few days, we can't get the bottle open without it fizzing

all over the place! Soooo good though!

~

[Guest guest]

The beneficial acids in the KT will protect the fruit. You don't need to add too

much either. I

found 5 cherries were perfect. When I added grapefruit it was 2 tablespoons,

same with the

mango. I use about 1 heaping tablespoon of shredded raw ginger.

Leave it out for several days at room temp and then refrigerate.

You may need to " burp " the bottles, at least open them carefully, you will have

tons of fizz.

That, of course, is only true if you have a good seal on your lids.

Make sure that you keep your mother culture and primary fermenting container

free of

anything but water, tea and sugar, no flavorings.

Enjoy!

Will

[Guest guest]

Yes, the KT needs to ferment until the sugars turn to nutritive acids. This

varies with the

activity of the mother culture and the temperature. Give it as long as it needs,

sometimes up

to 2 weeks (GT Dave's is brewed for a month I believe, and I know of others).

When our

kitchen is cool in the winter it took longer but when I was in Hawaii things

were done in 5

days.

When the brew is getting ready it will smell like vinegar and you can even smell

it when you

walk by. You can also tell by the pH of the brew using a pH meter or a test

strip. Good KT will

test around a pH of 3. Your taste buds can tell this pretty acurately.

You will also burn more sugar if you do a second fermentation and if this is in

a well-sealed

bottle you will have some major fizz. As you get more accomplished you can

experiment with

the sugar level and the amount of loose tea you begin with.

Will

[Guest guest]

For good FIZZ, you will need to do the following:

1) brew it in the bottle for a second fermentation. That means bottle it after

it's done (usually

about 7 days, but that varies) and let it set out at room temperature for

several more days.

2) Use bottles that have a good seal, the E-Z Caps or used Groelsh bottles seal

the best (they

also explode the most until you get the sugar right). The GT Dave bottles hold

the fizz but

won't explode as they will slowly leak gas out.

3) If you still get no fizz that means you have exchanged all your sugar in the

first

fermentation. You can then either add a bit more to your recipe, OR put a pinch

of sugar in

each bottle before capping. If you are adding fruit to the second fermentation

this sugar will

create some fizz. My fresh raw ground ginger root adds tons of fizz.

GT Will

[Guest guest]

So you only do the first brew for 7 days??? Maybe this is my problem, I let it

brew for 2 to 3 weeks and then bottle for a second brew.

Kimi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

www.Jremedies.com

" I do not ask that Thou should give me some high or noble task. Give me

little hands to fold in mine. Give me little children to point Thy way, over

the strange, sweet path that leads to You. Give me little voices to teach to

pray. Give me shining eyes Thy face to see. The only crown I ask to wear is

this, that I may teach my children. I do not ask that I may stand among the

wise, the worthy, or the great; I only ask that softly, hand in hand my

children and I may enter at the gate. "

-Anonymous

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[Guest guest]

Healthy active scobies are pretty tough and should be OK for a week or so,

especially if left in

some liquid KT. The only reason we refrigerate them is to slow the metabolism

down for

storage. When you start up again, throw plenty of apple cider vinegar (or good

unflavored KT)

into the batch. This will prevent MOLD. Mold is very easy to see and nothing

else looks like it.

It's dry, " hairy " and completely unlike the slick, smooth culture.

You forgot to mention the outcome of the LABOR!

Will

[Guest guest]

> You forgot to mention the outcome of the LABOR!

>

> Will

>

We had a beautiful, peaceful homebirth and welcomed our little boy on

Tuesday morning after 7 hours of labor and only 45 minutes of

pushing. He is gorgeous! He weighs 7 lbs 8 ozs and is 19 inches

long. This labor/delivery was so much different than my first and I

contribute it to being at home and following a WAP diet. We are very

blessed!

h

[Guest guest]

Your KT culture and tank might get some mold if you don't add some KT or apple

cider

vinegar. It's not too late to add it though, so put some in and it will keep

things under

control. KT creates such a low pH that it prevents the mold. The addition of the

previous

batch protects the fermentation tank until the culture makes the specific

medicinal acids and

compounds. Most microbes are extremely competitive, in fact most antibiotics,

such as

penicillin, came from mold. The mold makes it naturally to kill off competitors.

That's also

why taking probiotics protects one from E coli and other pathogens.

Will

[Guest guest]

Hi Frederick and EveryOne,

No one thing is right for everyone so there are probably a few people who should

not drink Kombucha. For example, some people with Diabetes cannot drink regular

KT and need to either let it ferment for a longer time to remove the sugar or

not drink it at all and use the Kombucha Drops. Others with Diabetes can drink

KT without any problems.

The only fermenting problem that happens occasionally is getting mold on top of

your Kombucha Colony as it ferments. The mold may be toxic or non toxic but

without the equipment to tell it is best to throw it out and start again if mold

appears on your Kombucha. You can see it, it looks just like mold on cheese or

bread. It happens relatively rarely. I have been brewing since 1994 and have

never had mold develop at all.

Anyone allergic to teas, or sugar, probably should not drink Kombucha. That's

about all I can think of except.....I wouldn't give it to children under two and

women who are pregnant or nursing should not begin to drink Kombucha for the

first time during that time, in my opinion.

Peace, Love and Harmony,

Bev

Kombucha Manna Drops and Manna Green and White Tea Extract

http://www.bestweb.net/~om/kmi

>

> Are there any health risks? I heard of a few test trials in the online

encyclopedia that had ill side effects.

>

>

[Guest guest]

I think you have to have a source of heat to keep something warm that doesn't

have it's own internal heat source- like a light bulb in the oven. Insulation,

such as a towel, serves to keep heat in, but not to increase heat. You could

also do something like enclose it in a small cooler with a hot water bottle.

Kathy

[Guest guest]

When I ran into that, I just put it close to the heat vent.

________________________________

From: Kathy <realfoodie2003@...>

Sent: Sun, December 12, 2010 7:41:22 PM

Subject: Re: Kombucha Question

I think you have to have a source of heat to keep something warm that doesn't

have it's own internal heat source- like a light bulb in the oven. Insulation,

such as a towel, serves to keep heat in, but not to increase heat. You could

also do something like enclose it in a small cooler with a hot water bottle.

Kathy

[Guest guest]

Yes, wrapping a towel can help, as can putting the whole jar etc in an

insulated box (picnic cooler), perhaps with another jar of hot water to

provide some heat. KL

On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 6:36 PM, jeziahan <jeziahan@...> wrote:

> Hi --

>

> Right now my husband and I are in a rental situation where we have no

> control over the temperature of our living space. Now that the weather has

> turned cold, I've been watching the indoor thermometer, and it seems to go

> down to about 56 during the night, and up to 62-63 degrees during the day.

> Needless to say, our Kombucha is maturing very slowly, and the baby scoby

> is weaker than when the weather was nicer. I was wondering if anyone has a

> cheap suggestion on how to make the Kombucha brewing space a little warmer?

> Would it help to perhaps wrap a towel underneath and up about 2/3 of the

> way over the glass jug?

>

> Thanks!

> Anita

>

>

>

> ------------------------------------

>

>

[Guest guest]

I've also heard of using a fish tank heater or low watt light bulb in the

cupboard where you store your brew. Maybe that and a towel around the jar, to

both block light and hold heat, would help. This may work well for any type of

ferment during the winter.

[Guest guest]

Do you have a little cupboard where you could put a light bulb in? I did

that for a while and it worked very nicely.

nne

On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 5:36 PM, jeziahan <jeziahan@...> wrote:

>

>

> Hi --

>

> Right now my husband and I are in a rental situation where we have no

> control over the temperature of our living space. Now that the weather has

> turned cold, I've been watching the indoor thermometer, and it seems to go

> down to about 56 during the night, and up to 62-63 degrees during the day.

> Needless to say, our Kombucha is maturing very slowly, and the baby scoby is

> weaker than when the weather was nicer. I was wondering if anyone has a

> cheap suggestion on how to make the Kombucha brewing space a little warmer?

> Would it help to perhaps wrap a towel underneath and up about 2/3 of the way

> over the glass jug?

>

> Thanks!

> Anita

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

When we put our vat of kombucha next to a heat vent it eventually started

molding because of the increased air supply blowing across or near the

scoby. At least that was the only thing we could contribute the mold to.

Even a cupboard over a refrigerator should have some extra warmth because

of the heat which the compressor gives off.

Our current kombucha has been doing well even though are temps are somewhat

below ideal, because we use a fireplace to heat much of our house. Our

batches usually take about 10 days with the cooler weather. Even getting

the kombucha closer to the ceiling should help it stay warmer.

Hope this helps,

Jeff