Booch life

Dont tell my employer but im writing this while reimaging a machine

Anyway, a colleague gave me kombucha starter and i’m so excited! At the time of writing this i’m 6 days into my first brew. I just did an earl grey sweet tea for my first ferment because i couldnt find normal black tea.

fermentation is really, really cool. yeast eat the sugar in the sweet tea and convert it into alcohol and co2 . Then, bacteria eat that alcohol and release an acid (this is what makes the drink taste tangy).

That whole process can go on for as long as the yeast and bacteria have food, but the longer you let it go the more vinegar like the drink will be. People usually stop that part (called the first ferment) after about a week. Then they’ll bottle it with fruit and wait one more week. The fruit gives the yeast more sugar and gives the drink flavor. This bottled fermentation is called the second ferment.

Flavoringgggg

I’m unsure what to do for my second ferment. I have some strawberries that were forgotten and i have fresh basil in my garden. But i also have lychee and longan from another colleague that i’m eager to put into kombucha! I’ll probably do both.

I also want to experiment with herbal teas and coffee too. One other colleague made kombucha from Celsius (insane) and it worked! So really all you need is sugar and the yeast/bacteria. Although if you give it ONLY sugar the bacteria will freak out and die, so it can’t be all sugar. It seems to need some liquid medium.

Follow up

Canned Lychee with strawberry has been the overall best. everyone that tries it loves it and says it better than store bought! It's just like 5 lychee, the syrup from the can, and 2 strawberries. It really is lovely!! the only thing is that my brew goes too fast and honestly i cant fuckin keep up with the amount i brew lol.