Getting to know Kombucha

In the past couple of months I have become acquainted with an ancient beverage that is a fermented tea that is alive with a symbiotic culture of bacteria and uncommon yeasts. Apparently people have been drinking this “sweetened tea or tisane that has been fermented using a macroscopic solid mass of microorganisms called a ‘kombucha colony’… since 250 B.C.”. A friend of mine, Johny Justice, has been brewing his own Kombucha using organic ingredients, food grade glass, and aim at making a great tasting tea (strawberry, raspberry, ginger, etc). I have been given several bottles during this time and I found that I enjoyed drinking the beverage and I had good energy after drinking it. I also have had much less heartburn. Other people have reported similar experiences.
I am now attempting to make my first batch. I will put up a post here shortly with how it is going for me and the S.C.O.B.Y. (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast).
For now I am posting a link to web site that I was told has some good information on this subject:
The Happy Herbalist
Anybody have other web site’s they would recommend?
Also I am working on making a “hot box” to put the kombucha fermenting jar in to get the fermenting liquid to 84 F in my house during the cold Colorado winter. I have a reptile heating pad and an old cooler and a vague idea of what I’m going to try. I know I need oxygen, so I won’t have the cooler fully closed during the fermenting process. Any ideas on how this should be done?

Day 2 on the half gallon Kombucha Brew. Has been under 64F (cold tiles) and the baby SCOBY has all in can deal with at this time. I am hoping on getting my SCOBY a good size before I go for a bigger batch.
Related posts:
- Brewing Kombucha in the Cold My SCOBY is slowwwwlllly growing larger. I still don’t have any heating system set up and the liquid has been...
- Kombucha 101 – Methods and Materials for starting your first batch! I produced and edited the following video featuring Johnny Justice teaching us the 101 about Kombucha brewing. I’ve started making...





