benefits vs. fermentation time

[Guest guest]

List:

We recently had some questions about this, well I just came across this

item which I found to be enlightening and might be helpful for you when

deciding when to harvest your brew. From the Kombucha FAQ:

6.35 Are any components in Kombucha Tea lost during lengthy fermentation

times?

R. Roussin, author of the Research Paper " Analyses of Kombucha

Ferments: Report on Growers " says : " The common ferment will have

everything in balance at around 7 or 8 days, after that you lose many of

the benefits to excess oxidation and conversion. When it tastes good, it

is good. There are no less than 30 compounds produced by this ferment,

and many of those are transitory. You want to drink this ferment when

it's drinkable, otherwise several compounds have been fermented out. "

Luv, Sprite

" When you drink the water, remember the spring. "

 Chinese proverb

Check out my Kombucha Information page, it has links to all kinds of KT

info and more:

<A HREF= " http://www.geocities.com/ladyfangs.geo/Page5.html " >Sprite's

Kombucha Page</A>

[Guest guest]

The common ferment will have

everything in balance at around 7 or 8 days, after that you lose many of the

benefits to excess oxidation and conversion.

Okay, then this means that there is no Super race starter if left for 14 to 21

days like we have been taught? Many have said here that the longer you brew, the

stronger and more benificial it is. Why do so many brew longer? I am surely

confused now, LOL

Blessings to all, Myrna

[Guest guest]

I too am confused Myrna,

There seems to be conflicting reports..with all of the independent research the

experiments are not connected or standardized. So we get lots of different

perspectives on the matter.. What's in the tea and when...What in the tea is

helping our health..

We can go mad trying to research and find facts or we create an educated opinion

and realize that there are only so many things that we can control reagarding a

jar of fermenting kombucha. Water, Tea, Temp, Location, and Time. There are

other things too, like the size of the container, amount of light that reaches

the contents etc.

I feel good about my recipe and where I keep my kombucha, so it's easy to adjust

and vary how long it sits there before I decant it.

Sometimes I drink it after 10 days, sometimes 30 days, so I'm getting all of the

benifits more or less.

If you brew continuously, meaning that you only empty the brewing container by

50-75% and top off with fresh sweet tea, then wait another 7-8 days (or until

it's ready) before taking out more kombucha and continue this process. After 1

month, in theory there should be elements present from all stages of kombucha

fermentation. The " fresh " and newly produced " 8 day " acids etc. PLUS all of the

acids that only appear after 30 days or more.

I think it was the Lewtress site that claimed that a contolled 30 day ferment

is the most beneficial. But I also read what Roussin said about the

composition being most balanced after around 8 days and that beneficials are

lost due to " excess oxidation and conversion. " " GT's " Bottled Kombucha

available at many health stores also mentions a 30 day fermentation.

I wish there were more hard facts regarding this, but for now I'll trust that

by continuously brewing I am getting all of the goodies...

If you happend to have a batch that was very aged and sour, and say an 8 day old

batch, you could always blend them together for better palatability and maximum

benefit..

When I have KT that's too strong by itself, I often bottle it with some good

apple juice 25% juice to 75% kombucha or 50-50, then I let it sit at room temp

for about 5 days to carbonate. Everyone is always saying that K-T tastes like

apple cider, so why not make real K-Cider, huh? It is really really good.

As far as cultures go, once you have yours for about a month, it's essentially

" YOUR " strain, who know's how it has changed since you got it, you have it and

you care for it so be happy with it, trade scobys with someone if you think

something makes your strain better or worse. We should all just be consistent

with whatever we do so we can understand HOW our culture evolved into what it is

and be able to tell someone else how to keep it that way. If it's true that a

scoby acclimates and evolves to it's environment then maybe when a scoby leaves

town, it leaves some of it's abilities behind only to aquire new local

varieties, that's the part that is entirely out of our hands, or is it ON our

hands?

End Lecture..

Kombucha is...

Beau B.

Re: benefits vs. fermentation time

The common ferment will have

everything in balance at around 7 or 8 days, after that you lose many of the

benefits to excess oxidation and conversion.

Okay, then this means that there is no Super race starter if left for 14 to 21

days like we have been taught? Many have said here that the longer you brew, the

stronger and more benificial it is. Why do so many brew longer? I am surely

confused now, LOL

Blessings to all, Myrna

[Guest guest]

Some folks brew longer because they are diabetic and leaving it that long

ferments out all the sugar, turning it to vinegar. Vinegar has been used

since the beginning of time as a medicine; you just add a little vinegar to

water and maybe honey or stevia to make it palatable.

[Guest guest]

Myrna, It is my impression that people who wanted to be sure that all

the sugar was used up did the 14-21 day ferments to drink like diabetics

for instance. Altho I must admit that my diabetic friend drank a regular

seven day brew and had no problems with it and still says that while she

was on KT, her sugar levels were under the best control than ever before

or since, and her insulin dose was actually lowered by her doctor,she

was doing so well.

The Super Culture still is true, you do it to get a super culture that

you can then use to set up a regular brew knowing it should be totally

in balance and full of all it needs. But the KT you let it grow or super

size in is not for drinking, It is only good as a starter for your new

batch. But the new batch you make with it should be great. I hope I

stated it right. I know it sounds a little confusing.

Luv, Sprite

" When you drink the water, remember the spring. "

 Chinese proverb

Check out my Kombucha Information page, it has links to all kinds of KT

info and more:

<A HREF= " http://www.geocities.com/ladyfangs.geo/Page5.html " >Sprite's

Kombucha Page</A>

[Guest guest]

Let me see if I have this. If you want to make a super brew that you know for

sure will be in full balance, let it brew for 14 days. So if you are thinking

that your kombucha might be getting out of balance, you can do this to get it

back in balance?

Patty

Re: benefits vs. fermentation time

Myrna, It is my impression that people who wanted to be sure that all

the sugar was used up did the 14-21 day ferments to drink like diabetics

for instance. Altho I must admit that my diabetic friend drank a regular

seven day brew and had no problems with it and still says that while she

was on KT, her sugar levels were under the best control than ever before

or since, and her insulin dose was actually lowered by her doctor,she

was doing so well.

The Super Culture still is true, you do it to get a super culture that

you can then use to set up a regular brew knowing it should be totally

in balance and full of all it needs. But the KT you let it grow or super

size in is not for drinking, It is only good as a starter for your new

batch. But the new batch you make with it should be great. I hope I

stated it right. I know it sounds a little confusing.

Luv, Sprite

" When you drink the water, remember the spring. "

Chinese proverb

Check out my Kombucha Information page, it has links to all kinds of KT

info and more:

<A HREF= " http://www.geocities.com/ladyfangs.geo/Page5.html " >Sprite's

Kombucha Page</A>

[Guest guest]

Beau, thank you so much for all of your wonderful information. I agree that I

will just have to trust my brew by the way I feel. I have been feeling so

wonderful since starting Kt. My Immune systen has leveled out so fast that my

doctor is VERY interested in the KT also.

Bless you dear friend, Myrna

[Guest guest]

Patty, Sorry it took me a while to get this I really had to read it so I

could know it before trying to explain it. Okay, the answer is No.

First of all developing the Master Race Bacteria, or Super SCOBY if you

wish, is a separate procedure from the balancing act. It is two

different things.

To develop the super SCOBY, you use a clean jar like the one you ferment

in, and put 4 inches of KT in without a SCOBY and without Feeder Stock,

just KT. Cover it as you would if you were setting up a brew. Now let

that sit undisturbed for three weeks.

Then when the three weeks are up, take out the SCOBY that will have

formed on top and throw it away (Compost time).

Now take out the liquid and filter it, Len recommends a paper towel or

coffee filter. Also clean and rinse out the jar, Then return the

filtered liquid to the jar, again do not add anything else to it. Cover

again like you are setting up a brew. Then let this sit for two weeks or

until the new SCOBY is one half inch thick. This is your new super

SCOBY.

Now if your Brews are too yeasty,

Len suggests several things.

1) Use a more acidic starter

2) Ferment at a lower temperature (under 75°F)

3) use starter from the top of your brew not the bottom.

4) use a weaker solution of tea.

5) use green tea or green and black 3 green to two black regular size

tea bags.

6) use a small amount of glucose (corn syrup or light Karo Syrup)

slightly less than an ounce to 1 cup sugar. (1 part glucose to 7 parts

sugar)

And if you need to increase the yeast.

1) Ferment at a higher temp for the first two days,then back to your

normal temp.

2)use starter from the bottom of your brew.

3)increase the amount of starter for the next few brews.

4)use a stronger solution of tea.

I have given just a general outline of the balancing. To get more

details go to Len's article:

http://w3.trib.com/~kombu/KTBalance.shtml

Hope I haven't really confused you:)

Luv, Sprite

" When you drink the water, remember the spring. "

 Chinese proverb

Check out my Kombucha Information page, it has links to all kinds of KT

info and more:

<A HREF= " http://www.geocities.com/ladyfangs.geo/Page5.html " >Sprite's

Kombucha Page</A>