The Kombucha Experiment

Kombucha, for those who don't know, is a fermented tea.  It tastes slightly like apple cider vinegar and is often flavored with juices.  It's been said to have amazing health benefits as it alkalizes the blood and brings the body to a healthy pH.  Acidic blood has been linked to many health conditions including cancer and inflammatory conditions like heart disease and arthritis.

I've been experimenting a lot with my pH lately, and learning to love kombucha has been part of it.  I'll admit, the first time I tried it years ago, it made me nauseous, but due to prompting by my colleague, Dr. Noah DeKoyer to try his father's home brew, I gave it another chance and realized that it actually COULD be tasty and refreshing!

Since I've been consuming it so frequently, I decided to try making my own at home... supposedly a pretty easy process.  You start with a "SCOBY" or "mother," add some of the reserve kombucha, some sweetened, room temperature tea, and let it sit for a week.  

I just started growing my culture last night by pouring this:

into a clean, gallon-sized pickle jar with a cup of fresh-brewed, room temperature black tea (plain old Lipton!) with a Tablespoon of sugar dissolved in it (food for the yeast that do the fermentation!).  I covered the jar with a towel, and now I have this:

Now, I just put it in a dark corner, and let it grow. Pretty simple, eh?  I'll keep you posted on "her" progress, but in the meantime, I kind of feel like I have a new pet.  So just for fun, let's have a contest... who can come up with the best name? Winner gets a prize!  Just leave your suggestions below or email them to me at doctorredmond@gmail.com.