How to make Kombucha Tea

Kombucha Tea has been around for hundreds of years and is still used by many people. It is believed to have been used in many countries such as Europe, Russia and Germany. People today still remember there great grandmothers brewing it in their homes.

It is still used today all over the world. I was told that Ronald Reagan received a culture from Japan which he tried and drank a liter a day to help cure an illness.

Many immigrants have brought it from Asia and Europe to Australia. My daughter brought me a culture while living in Kalgoorlie and we made and drank this tea for several years. Like everything we were busy working and stopped making it. Whether it did us any good health wise I cannot say, except that it certainly did not do us any harm.

It was just by chance that I heard someone mention it the other day and decided to write an article about it. On doing a bit of research on this tea I have seen articles where people have believed they benefited from drinking this tea, here are a few comments:

• People live a lot longer
• It helps with impotence
• Fungus is used to heal wounds and ulcers
• Helps with slimming
• Fungus can be used for a compress

Disclaimer: The above are only things that I have read and therefore have no proof as to whether it works or not.

Ingredients

160 grams sugar

3 tea bags (this can be green or black tea)

2 liters of boiling water

1 health Kombucha culture or starter fungus

100 ml Kombucha tea that comes with the culture

Method

It is very important to make sure all your equipment is thoroughly sterilized. Use glass jars rather than metal as this could cause contamination.

• Pour the boiling water over the sugar into prepared sterilized glass jar and stir until dissolved.
• Add the tea bags, leave for five minutes and then remove tea bags.
• Leave to cool until luke warm, then add the original kombucha tea and the original culture or fungus.
• Cover the container with a place of cloth that allows the air to flow through. Place an elastic band around the top. This will prevent insects from contaminating the fermenting container.
• The culture will often sink to the bottom but will soon rise to the top. Now store this in a dark and warm place in a cupboard. Leave for approx eight to ten days.
• Remove fungus with clean hands and strain the liquid into bottles. Store this tea in fridge until ready to drink.

Now you can make another batch and start all over again. If you want to make an extra batch you can divide the culture into two.

I hope you enjoy making and drinking this wonderful tea and it will also save you having to buy it.