Re: Lea Ann / Kombucha CORRECTION

[Guest guest]

I read recently on The Healthy Home Economist that some states (NY?) are

requiring that Kombucha be pasteurized because it was developing an alcohol

content similar to beer! Obviously, you could not grow a SCOBY from pasteurized

Kombucha. Does anyone have more info about this?

Thanks, Joyce

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt; In a message dated 5/27/2010 11:12:50 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

> & gt; lsavage@ writes:

> & gt;

> & gt; To feed my cravings for carbonation I drink Kombucha - I LOVE it!

(but I

> & gt; am still interested in your SodaStream!)

> & gt;

> & gt; Blessings,

> & gt; Lea Ann Savage

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> & gt; Never heard of Kombucha....do you have a recipe or is this something

you

> & gt; purchase in a bottle?

> & gt;

> & gt; Thanks....

> & gt;

> & gt; Janice

> & gt;

>

[Guest guest]

GTs isn't pasteurizing; they ran into trouble because some bottles tested had more than the stated 0.5% alcohol content but they seem to have corrected the problem. Kombucha ALWAYS develops alcohol--"SCOBY" is an acronym for "symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast." The yeast eat the sugar in the sweet tea, which forms alcohol. Then the bacteria kick in and eat the alcohol which forms acetic acid, i.e., no alcohol = no kombucha. If there's too much alcohol, it's probably because the yeast-to-bacteria ratio is off.

Re: Lea Ann / Kombucha CORRECTION

I read recently on The Healthy Home Economist that some states (NY?) are requiring that Kombucha be pasteurized because it was developing an alcohol content similar to beer! Obviously, you could not grow a SCOBY from pasteurized Kombucha. Does anyone have more info about this?

Thanks, Joyce

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt; In a message dated 5/27/2010 11:12:50 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

> & gt; lsavage@ writes:

> & gt;

> & gt; To feed my cravings for carbonation I drink Kombucha - I LOVE it! (but I

> & gt; am still interested in your SodaStream!)

> & gt;

> & gt; Blessings,

> & gt; Lea Ann Savage

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> & gt; Never heard of Kombucha....do you have a recipe or is this something you

> & gt; purchase in a bottle?

> & gt;

> & gt; Thanks....

> & gt;

> & gt; Janice

> & gt;

[Guest guest]

Silly question. I bought a GT Original and it looked like it had one

big SCOBY in it, nice and large. During the drive home it got broken

up, its been in the fridge while we were gone this weekend (so I'm not

back yet). Will it form a nice SCOBY again? Or does it not matter?

I can't wait to have kombucha at my fingertips.

Do you flavor yours after its 'brewed'?

On 3/4/11, <kareningotham@...> wrote:

> GTs isn't pasteurizing; they ran into trouble because some bottles tested

> had more than the stated 0.5% alcohol content but they seem to have

> corrected the problem. Kombucha ALWAYS develops alcohol-- " SCOBY " is an

> acronym for " symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. " The yeast eat the

> sugar in the sweet tea, which forms alcohol. Then the bacteria kick in and

> eat the alcohol which forms acetic acid, i.e., no alcohol = no kombucha. If

> there's too much alcohol, it's probably because the yeast-to-bacteria ratio

> is off.

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Re: Lea Ann / Kombucha CORRECTION

>

> ? I read recently on The Healthy

> Home Economist that some states (NY?) are requiring that Kombucha be

> pasteurized because it was developing an alcohol content similar to beer!

> Obviously, you could not grow a SCOBY from pasteurized Kombucha. Does

> anyone have more info about this?

>

> Thanks, Joyce

>

>

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt; In a message dated 5/27/2010 11:12:50 P.M. Eastern Daylight

> Time,

> & gt; & gt; lsavage@ writes:

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt; To feed my cravings for carbonation I drink Kombucha - I LOVE

> it! (but I

> & gt; & gt; am still interested in your SodaStream!)

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt; Blessings,

> & gt; & gt; Lea Ann Savage

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> & gt; & gt; Never heard of Kombucha....do you have a recipe or is this

> something you

> & gt; & gt; purchase in a bottle?

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt; Thanks....

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt; Janice

> & gt; & gt;

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

--

Sent from my mobile device

[Guest guest]

ABSOLUTELY. You're going to need two bottles, though--one to grow a SCOBY and one to use as "seed" brew to take down the pH when you brew your first batch (you could also use white vinegar but I think you're probably better off using KT). However, SCOBYs are very tough and shouldn't break up--it's possible that what you saw was something else or maybe just the beginnings of a SCOBY that hadn't coalesced yet. Make sure to shake up the bottle before you use it (open carefully--it's fizzy). You should have a viable SCOBY in about a week or so--just try not to disturb it while it's forming.

Speaking of vinegar, you can use it in a pinch to substitute for KT when brewing a new batch, HOWEVER, use ONLY distilled vinegar, not brewed, e.g., cider vinegar containing "the mother." The vinegar's culture(s) will destroy the KT's cultures, and you'll just end up with some sub-par vinegar.

Re: Lea Ann / Kombucha CORRECTION

>

> ? I read recently on The Healthy

> Home Economist that some states (NY?) are requiring that Kombucha be

> pasteurized because it was developing an alcohol content similar to beer!

> Obviously, you could not grow a SCOBY from pasteurized Kombucha. Does

> anyone have more info about this?

>

> Thanks, Joyce

>

>

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt; In a message dated 5/27/2010 11:12:50 P.M. Eastern Daylight

> Time,

> & gt; & gt; lsavage@ writes:

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt; To feed my cravings for carbonation I drink Kombucha - I LOVE

> it! (but I

> & gt; & gt; am still interested in your SodaStream!)

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt; Blessings,

> & gt; & gt; Lea Ann Savage

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> & gt; & gt; Never heard of Kombucha....do you have a recipe or is this

> something you

> & gt; & gt; purchase in a bottle?

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt; Thanks....

> & gt; & gt;

> & gt; & gt; Janice

> & gt; & gt;

[Guest guest]

I just posted 's Kombucha Recipe in the files. , can you please

elaborate more on the very sour KT in your cupboard; how did it get that way,

etc? (Is it actually a store-bought bottle of KT's that you keep for that

purpose?) Also, when you leave your Kombucha on the counter for 3 days in the

KT's bottles are the bottles sealed with the caps or open? You probably told

us, but do you add flavorings afterwards or not?

Sorry, if this is repetitive; this is very long post and I didn't find the info

after about 10 mins of searching, so am asking again.

Thanks, Joyce

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt; In a message dated 5/27/2010 11:12:50 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

> & gt; lsavage@ writes:

> & gt;

> & gt; To feed my cravings for carbonation I drink Kombucha - I LOVE it!

(but I

> & gt; am still interested in your SodaStream!)

> & gt;

> & gt; Blessings,

> & gt; Lea Ann Savage

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> & gt; Never heard of Kombucha....do you have a recipe or is this something

you

> & gt; purchase in a bottle?

> & gt;

> & gt; Thanks....

> & gt;

> & gt; Janice

> & gt;

>

[Guest guest]

The REALLY sour KT occurred when I took the advice on the normally-helpful Happy Herbalist site and decided to try "the continuous brewing method." Maybe due to the fact that my brewing container only holds a gallon, this experiment resulted in abysmal KT, regardless of my best efforts. Being penurious (read: stingy), I'm loath to throw anything out and decided to put it up in Mason jars and leave it out on the counter ad infinitum for the purpose of "seed brew" (you need to add 10% of the capacity you're brewing of KT or white vinegar to keep the pH down). So that's how it happened--I gave some of it to a colleague who also brews his own (and was doing so before I started but he screwed up by using herbal "tea" and not enough sugar--KT isn't really forgiving of improvisation), and when I finally got near the end, I just stuck it in an empty GT's bottle and keep the level up by adding to it every week (if stays on the shelf, not in the fridge). I use 300 ml/week when I brew.

I have empty GT's bottles and I just screw on the tops. The results aren't professional (not airtight) but it does develop fizz and I really like how sturdy the bottles and caps are (I don't have to worry that they'll explode). I never add flavoring but if you choose to, the time to do it is when you're bottling, not in the vat.

Re: Lea Ann / Kombucha CORRECTION

I just posted 's Kombucha Recipe in the files. , can you please elaborate more on the very sour KT in your cupboard; how did it get that way, etc? (Is it actually a store-bought bottle of KT's that you keep for that purpose?) Also, when you leave your Kombucha on the counter for 3 days in the KT's bottles are the bottles sealed with the caps or open? You probably told us, but do you add flavorings afterwards or not?

Sorry, if this is repetitive; this is very long post and I didn't find the info after about 10 mins of searching, so am asking again.

Thanks, Joyce

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt; In a message dated 5/27/2010 11:12:50 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

> & gt; lsavage@ writes:

> & gt;

> & gt; To feed my cravings for carbonation I drink Kombucha - I LOVE it! (but I

> & gt; am still interested in your SodaStream!)

> & gt;

> & gt; Blessings,

> & gt; Lea Ann Savage

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt;

> & gt; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> & gt; Never heard of Kombucha....do you have a recipe or is this something you

> & gt; purchase in a bottle?

> & gt;

> & gt; Thanks....

> & gt;

> & gt; Janice

> & gt;

>