Kombucha

 

An ancient health drink originally from China. Very popular in Russia, Germany and Japan. It is made from a tea infusion ( black,green and some herbal teas are suitable), sugar or some other natural sweetener ( maple syrup, sugar cane sugar, sorghum syrup, honey) and the Kombucha culture. This culture is a symbiotic yeast/bacteria organisms which ferments the above mixture and thereby produces certain beneficial byproducts. The Kombucha culture has been shown to contain the following organisms: Bacterium xylinum, Bacterium xylinoides, Bacterium gluconicum, Saccharomyces ludwigii, Saccharomyces apiculatus varieties, Schizosaccaromyces pombe, Acetobacter ketogenum, Torula varieties, Pichia fermantans and other yeasts. Reports speak of its therapeutic effects based on various chemicals produced by its fermentation of the sweetened tea. Byproducts such as Usnic acid, Glucon- and Glucuron acid, Vitamin C and B group are said to have antibiotic and detoxifying properties. We are selling culture kits of the Kombucha fungus which can easily be used at home to produce a refreshing cider like drink over and over. The package you will get contains a piece of the jelly like fungus and some of he liquid from the previous batch. At home you can make the tea infusion and transfer the fungus into it. The drink is ready after about 8 days if it has been kept in a warm, calm place. The culture, if properly treated, will reproduce itself so you can easily produce a new batch of tea every week. You can also give the new cultures away to friends.

Full instructions will come with the package.

One Kombucha Culture Kit (includes shipping in North America)......... $ 30.00

Buy a Kombucha Culture and book  for CDN $35.00 Plus shipping

Kombucha Book: 

Gunther Frank: Kombucha. Healthy beverage and natural remedy.

A very thorough book on the preparation, history and folklore of the tea fungus.

 

                                    150 pages ..........$20.00   (Plus shipping)

Kombucha Information

Is a health drink which originated in China, it has worked its way through Russia, Europe and now North America. It has been called by several different names: "Fungus japonicus", "Fungo-japon Kombucha", "Cembuya orientalis", "Combuchu", "Tschambucco", "Volga Spring", "mo-Gu", "Champignon de longue vie", "Teekwass", "Kwassan", and "Kargasok Tea". The Kombucha fungus is built in membrane form and is a symbiosis of yeast cells and different bacteria. Among these are: Bacterium xylinum, Bacterium gluconicum, Acetobacter ketogenum and Pichia fermentans, Saccharomyces ludwigii, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and Torula varieties. The Kombucha fungus needs to live in a solution composed of tea (black, green and some herbal teas will work well) and sugar ( acceptable alternatives are maple syrup, Sucanat, honey will work but it has antibiotic properties which will slow the process down). The yeast culture transforms the sugar and tea into enzymes and polysaccharides useful for the body including glucuronic acid, lactic acid, acetic acid and several vitamins and about 0.5% alcohol. According to Gunther Frank in his book "Kombucha", these enzymes provide an antibiotic effect, are excellent for the colon, and help to stimulate our system. Rosina Fasching in her book "Tea Fungus" claims success with Kombucha against some forms of cancer.

How to prepare Kombucha tea:

Ingredients:

	1. One Kombucha culture
	2. Two liters (3 1/2 quarts) of fresh water (preferably natural mineral).
	3. 10 grams (two tablespoons) tea or 5 tea bags
	4. 200 ml maple syrup (140 grams refined white sugar)
	5. A stainless steel saucepan (do _not_ use aluminum)
	6. A clean glass or ceramic container with a wide mouth
	7. A piece of cheesecloth or coffee filter and a rubber band to close the jar

Starting the culture

	1. Boil the water, remove the saucepan from the heat
	2. Let it cool down for about 5 minutes
	3. Add the tea and let it steep for about 15 minutes, then remove the tea
	4. Add the sweetener and stir thoroughly
	5. Let the tea cool down to about 30 C or 90 F
	6. Pour tea into the glass container and add Kombucha culture including liquid.
	7. Close the top with the cloth and rubber band.
	8. Place the jar in a warm area 25-30 C

At this temperature the tea can be ready in about 5-7 days, lower temperatures will take longer. It will get progressively stronger until it finally becomes vinegar, if you like the stronger flavour let it ferment a little longer. After 10 to 14 days a new Kombucha symbiont will have grown on the whole surface of the tea.

This Kombucha tea should be strained, bottled, sealed with a clean lid and kept in the refrigerator. Keep some liquid (50 ml or 2 oz.) with the symbiont outside the fringe for the next batch.

New batches:

 You make the new batch of tea by making more new sweetened tea and adding in the liquid and symbiont from the previous batch. The new symbiont can be separated from the old one and given to a friend. The old mushroom can be reused a few time but should be disposed of eventually and can be used to fertilize plants, applied to wounds or used as cosmetic. It will pick up colour from the tea and can be washed in warm water. This favors the fermentations a result of which the new Kombucha tea will be ready in 8 to 10 days. Of course you have to put the Kombucha mushroom in the cool tea and proceed as in step A above.

Recommended dosage: 4 oz. every morning, on an empty stomach

Keep in mind that the Kombucha is a living organism and that we are dealing with a biological process. It is very important to wash one's hand well with soap and water before handling the culture so that foreign bacteria and mold won't contaminate the Kombucha or tea. Also be sure to thoroughly clean the equipment used in fermenting the culture. It is not recommended to set the fermentation container near plants since spores from the soil or plant could contaminate the Kombucha.