Kombucha

4 quarts filtered water
1 cup cane sugar
5 tea bags organic black tea
½ cup finished kombucha
1 kombucha mushroom (s.c.o.b.y. Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast) Get one from a friend, buy a starter kit at Oryana, or buy one here.

1. Bring one quart of the water to a boil. Remove from heat and steep the tea bags for 15 minutes. Remove tea bags. Stir in sugar until dissolved. Pour this mixture and remaining water into a clean wide mouth, gallon size glass jar. Allow to cool completely.
2. Add ½ cup kombucha from a previous batch. Place the mushroom, dark-side down, in the liquid.
3. Cover with cheese cloth and place in a warm, well-ventilated place, out of direct sunlight.

The kombucha will be ready in 6-12 days depending on the temperature. It is ready to drink when the liquid is relatively translucent and a ‘baby’ kombucha mushroom has formed above the mother. Start tasting it daily after 1 week. As soon as you like the flavor, you can bottle it in smaller glass jars or glass bottles. Store finished kombucha in the fridge. Reserve the mother and about ½ – 1 cup of kombucha to make the next batch of kombucha. Give extra mothers away or compost them.

Here is one source online where you can buy a kombucha mushroom.

Kombucha with a big mother resting on the counter, doing its magic.