Kombucha: Ancient Fermented Tea

Kombucha has been a super trendy drink the past few years, and you would be hard pressed to walk into a health store without finding bottles upon bottles of the overpriced fermented tea. A 16 oz. bottle of kombucha produced by GT's Kombucha costs approximately $3.50, however you can make an entire gallon (or more) at home for a fraction of the cost. There are pretty extravagant health claims surrounding kombucha and it's often toted as an all-around "cure all" for everything from cancer to fatigue to arthritis. According to the American Cancer Society, however, none of these health claims have been proven. One thing we know for sure is that Kombucha is a carbonated alternative to soda that has way less processed sugar and is easy to make at home.

This ancient fermented tea originated in Northeast China at about 200 BC. With the extension of trade routes the recipe traveled to India and Russia. You can now find every new age hippie and health fanatic from Maine to L.A. slugging the drink. (For a pretty great spoof on Kombucha and our current foodie trends in general, click here.)

In order to make kombucha you have to start with a kombucha culture, which is a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). The scoby (also called the "Mother") looks like a slimy, flat mushroom and it feasts on the sugars within sweet tea and poops out lots of probiotics. Or something like that... Kombucha does contain a tiny amount of alcohol, about 1%, due to the fermentation process. You could try to get drunk off kombucha if you were 15 years old and really desperate, but good luck with that, really. Here's a photo of Banjo hanging out with my black market kidney transplant kombucha scoby.

Kombucha Recipe (Makes about 1 gallon)

3 1/2 quarts distilled water
1 cup raw sugar
8 tea bags - I use a mix of black and green. (Or 2 tbsp of loose-leaf tea)
1 kombucha scoby (or a bottle of GT's Kombucha if you need to start your own scoby)
2 cups starter tea (already-made kombucha from a friend or the store)
2 cups organic fruit juice

Equipment

1 large stockpot
1-gallon glass jar
6 16 oz. glass bottles (ball jars or swing-top)
1 clean dish towel

1.  Make the tea base - Bring the water to a boil and then remove from heat. Add tea bags and sugar and let steep until the sweet tea has completely cooled to room temperature.

1. Add starters - Pour the cooled sweet tea into the gallon glass jar. Add your starter tea and kombucha scoby. Your scoby might float at the top, sink to the bottom or plaster itself to one side of your jar. It's all good in Scoby Land, just let the sucker get comfortable. A new scoby should form on the top of your jar in a few days, and that's how you know the magic is working. 

1. Cover and wait - Cover your  glass jar with a clean kitchen towel or cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band or twine. Try to keep your kombucha out or direct sunlight while it ferments. Allow the scoby to work its magic for 7 to 14 days depending on how strong you like your drink. Also keep in mind that fermentation happens faster in warm weather. Because I was making this batch in my cold apartment during a Kansas winter, I let it ferment for a solid 14 days. At this point I recommend labeling your jar with the start and finish date so you know when your batch is done. 
2. Second fermentation - You can technically drink your kombucha as soon as it reaches a level of sweetness and tartness that you like, but it won't be fizzy. To get a carbonated beverage you need to do a second fermentation - this is also when you add juice, fruit or herbs for additional flavor. For the second fermentation you will need to pull out your bottling jars and make sure they're nice and clean. I pour a ratio of about 1/4 juice to 3/4 kombucha into my clean jars. There will be little scoby "floaters" in there, so if that bothers you then pour your kombucha through a cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer first. Leave about 1/2 inch of head room at the top of each jar, seal and let sit in room temperature, out of direct sunlight for another 2 or 3 days. 

You can buy flip-top bottles such as the these from a homebrew and wine-making supplier. Midwest Supplies offers them in blue, brown or clear, at approximately $30 for a case of 12. 

1. Drink or refrigerate - After a few days of the second fermentation your kombucha will be ready to drink! Any bottles that you don't open should be placed into your fridge immediately so that the fermentation process is slowed down. These suckers can make a lot of carbonation really quickly and if you don't stick them in your fridge then you risk them exploding sticky sugar drink all over your kitchen. 

Extra notes

• I was able to get a healthy, large scoby from my friend Kale. If you're reading this, and live in the Kansas City area, I'd be happy to hook you up with a scoby to get you started. You can also start a scoby from a bottle of GT's Kombucha; here are instructions because I've never actually tried that method myself. 
• Using a glass jar for the fermentation is actually really important. You want your kombucha to avoid prolonged contact with metal, which can give the drink a metallic flavor and weaken your scoby over time. 
•  On a medicinal note, the acid and weak alcohol content of kombucha make it better at extracting the medicinal properties from plants than plain water. Pretty much anything you would brew as a medicinal tea can be added to a batch of kombucha during its second fermentation. For example, a few tablespoons of dandelion root per bottle would make a wonderfully bitter live tonic. 

If fermentation sparks your curiosity, then you may want to consider buying or borrowing The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Katz, which delves into the history and how-to of various fermented drinks, kimchis, krauts and so, so much more. It's a really incredible book. 

Fire Cider: Recipe and Trademark Controversy

Fire Cider has been a hot topic lately due to the trademark controversy surrounding the vinegar- and honey-based medicinal drink. The term "Fire Cider" was coined by herbalist Rosemary Gladstar in the 70s and she has published variations of the recipe in a number of her books, including Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide, which I referenced for the recipe below.

Shire City Herbals, an small East Coast business, started selling Fire Cider in a number of small health food stores across the nation, including my local co-op, The Merc. This would be great news, except Shire City Herbals has now gone on a mission to shut down any other small business that's also selling Fire Cider; they recently contacted a number of small producers on Etsy. This is akin to trademarking the term "Lemonade"  and then bitterly shutting down every child's lemonade stand that you come across. The fact that this recipe is very common among herbalist and is taught nationwide makes this trademark case even more complicated.

 Learn more in this article from Examiner entitled Herbalists Fighting Trademark of Fire Cider.
To watch a YouTube video of Rosemary Gladstar making Fire Cider, click here.

As a homage to Rosemary and a fat finger to greedy corporatism, I've decided to make Fire Cider today and to share the recipe with you guys. Enjoy it, and share at will!

Fire Cider - Herbal Vinegar

1 medium onion - chopped
4 -5 garlic cloves
3 -4 Tbsp ginger root
3 - 4 Tbsp horseradish root
1 jalapeno pepper 
2 C. apple cider vinegar (unpasteurized)
1/2 C. honey

(I left my camera at the office this weekend, so all of these photos were taken with an iPhone.)

Combine chopped onion, garlic, ginger, horseradish and jalapeno in a widemouthed, glass quart jar. Add enough warmed vinegar to cover them (warming the vinegar allows it to more actively draw out the properties of the herbs). Place Fire Cider in a warm spot and let sit for 3 to 4 weeks. Strain out the herbs and add honey to taste.

Take 1 tablespoon of Fire Cider a day or add it to salad dressings and marinades. At the first sign of a cold, take 1 to 2 tablespoons every 3 to 4 hours until your symptoms subside.

Fire Cider is essentially a tincture that uses apple cider vinegar instead of vodka. This makes it great for children and for incorporating into cooking. This healthful cider is spicy and sweet, and is ideal for winter sinus infections.

Flu-Fighting Ginger Tea

For the past month I've listened to everyone in my office cough, sneeze and blow their noses. I stood my ground and proudly represented the "healthy few" with the aid of my echinacea tinctures, plenty of sleep and my good friend the neti pot. However, last Monday I finally succumbed and came down with one helluva head cold. My sinuses were totally blocked and my head was pounding with the pressure.

It was time to take action, and I remembered reading about Stephen Bunner's immune-boosting, sinus-clearing ginger tea in the Mother Earth News article Homemade Herbal Medicines for Common Ailments. The recipe below is a variation of Stephen's recipe.

Ingredients

2 pieces ginger rhizome

1/2 lemon

1 tbsp honey

2 c. hot water

sprinkle of cayenne pepper.

Put the ginger root through a juicer to extract the pure essence. If you don't have a juicer, cut the ginger into disks and simmer in 2 cups water for 15 minutes to make ginger tea. Remove from heat and strain out the ginger bits. 

When juiced, the 2 pieces of ginger root made almost exactly 1 oz. of pure ginger essence. This is wonderfully spicy stuff, so use with caution. 

Pour hot water over the ginger juice, then add fresh lemon juice, however much cayenne pepper you can stand, and a spoonful of honey. You can really feel this spicy tea working on your sinuses; it tingles up in your nose like wasabi. Because ginger is such a fantastic digestive aid, this ginger tea would also make a great after-dinner drink. 

Skullcap Headache Tea

Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) is a member of the mint family, and grows in shady areas near streams. It's a "nervine" herb, which means it acts as a tonic for the nervous system. Skullcap is a versatile nervine and it's useful for a whole range of disorders related to the nervous system including headaches, stress, menstrual tension and insomnia. To receive the full benefits of skullcap, it's recommended to use it over an extended period of time and in adequate dosages. Here's a recipe for Skullcap Headache Tea. The ingredients are pretty basic, which makes this an easy one to whip up when you feel a headache coming on.

Skullcap Tea for Headaches and Nervous Stress (Rosemary Gladstar's Recipe)

2 parts Skullcap
2 parts Lemon Balm
1/2 part Feverfew
4 parts Chamomile

Prepare as an infusion. Drink at least a quarter cup every half hour until the headache symptoms are gone.

I wrapped the ingredients in cheesecloth and secured the bundle with twine. I like this reusable teabag method. 

I chose to make my skullcap tea as a solar infusion. I let it steep in a nearby garden for about 4 hours in the sunlight.

The color difference before and after the infusion was made. It's not a very dark infusion. This tea was very mild and easy to drink. 

And this little guy just got to hang out and watch. 

Creating an Herbal Medicine Cabinet

Herbal medicine cabinet has arrived!

Lesson one in "The Science and Art of Herbology" course instructs you to take inventory of your current herbal medicine cabinet. Prior to this weekend, mine was seriously lacking. I had lots of dried chamomile that I had picked and dried from our office garden last year. I had about two cups of stevia powder that I had acquired through working on the Mother Earth News article, All About Growing the Stevia Plant. I had three supplements  - ginkgo, melatonin, and zinc - as well as some neem oil. My essential oils included cinnamon, sweet orange, peppermint, spearmint and marshmallow root. I'm not the type of person to collect products that I don't need only for them to gather dust around my house. I've decided, however, that in order to really take this herbal course the right way, I need to be able to whip up all sorts of elixirs, salves and teas with the blink of an eye. If my throat gets sore or my ear starts to ache, I want to be able to go experiment in the kitchen right away.

Stored in glass bottled with cork tops

So, with the help of my lovely mother who is also taking this course, my herbal medicine cabinet tripled this weekend. Saturday was like Christmas when my mom showed up with a trash bag full of dried herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs,  one of my favorite online herb shops. We spent the afternoon drinking tea, catching up, and sorting our herbs into newly labeled glass jars.

So now, in addition to my aforementioned medicine cabinet, the dried herbs that I have on hand are....

1. Peppermint (Mentha piperita)
2. Licorice Root (Glycyrrhiza glabra)
3. Lobelia (Lobelia infiata)
4. Catnip (Nepeta cataria)
5. Hops Flowers (Humulus lupulus)
6. Comfrey Root (Symphytum officinale)
7. Wood Betony (Stachys officinales)
8. Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)
9. Feverfew (Tanacetum Parthenium)
10. Lemon Balm (Melissa Officinalis)
11. St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum)
12. Scullcap (Scutellaria barbata)

With all these new herbs on hand I'm ready for less reading and more doing.

Herbal Home Study Course has Arrived!

The Science and Art of Herbalism 

Look what's here! I am soo excited to begin Rosemary Gladstar's home study course, The Science and Art of Herbalism.  It's up to me what time frame I finish this in, but my goal is to complete the 12 course packets within one year. I also just found out my enthusiasm is contagious and my mom will be joining me on this adventure! We're going to meet at our family's lake house every 3 weeks to experiment with making salves, tinctures and all the other herbal preparations waiting inside these pages.

This course includes materia medica, wild plant identification, tons of hands-on preparations and healing information on everything from pets and children to the nervous system. It will take us into kitchens, gardens, weedy lots, herb stores and apothecaries as well as the woodlands and fields to look for plant medicine. Enough writing, let the adventures begin!

Sourdough starter from Robin

Look what arrived today! Robin (our food editor) found out about this great family who has carefully nurtured the same sourdough starter for 150 years. The original starter was actually used on the Oregon Trail. Bringing this culture back to life is a bit Jurassic Park like...you find an old artifact with a bit of life in it an Voila! a part of history is brought back to life in our modern kitchens. I invested in a cast iron dutch oven this weekend to cook artisan bread right at home. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.