I have many stories on my previous experiences with Kombucha -- particularly the one the prolific cultures that got left behind. Initially my experience was to be expected -- brew the tea, strain the tea and after seperating the babies from the mommy, start a new batch.
There were mother's to throw away and the compost pile seemed like a good spot. I soon found out that once they have been outside in the weather for a few days, at least in Northern BC, that they toughen up -- like leather, and soon become indestructible.
We had a pot bellied pig at the time that seemed fond of chewing on almost anything (the beaded manure is another story) but even he turned his nose up at the leathery mushrooms. One of the articles I had mentioned that rubbing a small amount on the face was healthy for the skin but I soon discovered that rubbing a large amount was similar to an acid peel.
The other discovery was that I did not need to be quite so careful and fear killing a batch by starvation, improper heat or ventilation and the other little instructions. When the kids and I moved out of the studio we had several jars of tea in the fridge. I also had several jars and a new batch that had already been moved so we took the jars out of the fridge and sent them on the counter. Several months later we went back into the apartment at the back of the studio only to find the colonies had kept growing and growing... and growing. The original jars of tea had formed a mushroom, that had babies, that had babies -- and the towers of these babies raised above the jars several inches and were spread out. They had eventually dies off when the mother ran out of tea in the bottom of the jar but not before multiply many many times.
There are numerous claims to what the tea will fix and its often called the miracle drink. I know I was in great health while taking it and it was only a move and an inability to get the tea restarted (and a frozen culture does not work) that stopped me. I still cannot remember where it initially came from, only that it was a gift. Part of the power behind the miracle is that the culture has to be given -- not bought and sold. In light of that belief, while I was at the health food store today and bought a little booklet with recipes and information in it and they 'gave' me the culture. I'll overlook the fact that the price tag was actually on the kombucha.
But I have started a batch once more -- good health here I come.
What is Kombucha Tea and the kombucha mushroom:
"Kombucha tea
Kombucha is a pleasant tasting, powerfully effective health
drink / food supplement which you can make at home for next to nothing.
The taste can vary depending on how you make it but the basic recipe,
which most people use, will produce a slightly sparkling drink that tastes like
an apple cider or dry white wine.
Though there is alcohol in it, it is
normally so low that commercial producers can sell Kombucha as 'non-alcoholic'.
You can expect less than 1% by volume alcohol content.
Sugar is used as
part of the recipe but it is not used as a sweetener. The sugar is broken down
and converted into different components of the finished drink.
It has
been drunk for many generations. In fact, it has been around so long that we are
unable to tell where it was originally discovered or when.
Kombucha is a
fermented drink made from sweet tea and a Kombucha mushroom or Kombucha culture
as it should more properly be called. "
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