Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Homemade Ambrosia

Well it's safe to say that brewing kombucha tea at home is very rewarding. Not only is KT simple to prepare, but it's quite inexpensive. Each bottle costs less than $.50 cents to make. I've also found kombucha brewed at home tastes better than store bought KT. I like to make my tea solution a little stronger to increase the residual tea taste in the final product.

My apartment, during the late Winter/early Spring months, is around 60-65 degrees Fahrenheit. I've found that 10 days of brewing accomplishes a nice cider flavor while leaving enough sugar in solution for bottling. After six days of being bottled, the yeast has had enough time to convert sugar into C02 and alcohol. There is some sugar left. I had been using around 1 and 1/4 cups sugar. The batch I started last week was cut to 1 cup to reduce final sugar content. I'm looking for that optimal range for my brewing conditions v.s. temperature.

My favorite cup. I drink KT and wine from this guy, sometimes aqua.
With a kombucha tea at about 16 days total, I'm well on my way to refining my techniques. I suspect a longer bottling phase would further convert sugar into C02 and alcohol... If only I was more patient. Nonetheless, this homemade ambrosia, from black, green and white tea, is simply delightful.

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