Yay yogurt! Not so yay, flame war.

Yay yogurt! (It bore repeating)

I'm considering making Kombucha. A good friend is making it, which is both entertaining and amazing.

I'd never have expected her to undertake such a thing (super busy life) BUT, she is a former biology teacher. Good training for this particular endeavor. It's super sciencey and intriguing...it being a living thing and all.

The end product, so far, is really quite yummy. Not what I expected there either.

Do any of us have experience making Kombucha?

Do any of us have experience making Kombucha?

Right here, lady. I've been making it continuously since 2 summers ago when I had multiple back-to-back courses of antibiotics for my dental saga.

Do any of us have experience making Kombucha?

I don't, but if you ever want to discuss making keifer, I'm your girl.

I've made kombucha. I'm not sure how well I did it, though. (Oh, wait, no. I just googled it, and I didn't make kombucha, I made rejuvelac. I'm still not sure how well I did it, though.)

Right here, lady. I've been making it continuously since 2 summers ago when I had multiple back-to-back courses of antibiotics for my dental saga.

I don't, but if you ever want to discuss making keifer, I'm your girl.

Oooohhh. I want to chat with you BOTH.

Steph, first question...or we could do it by email...up to you...What do I need to know about containers? And what sort of 'lid' do you use? My friend is using a paper towel, which I don't generally buy, but will if need be.

Calli, where do you buy your starter? And, same question about containers.

I would rather not invest in shmancy Ball jars if there is a more reasonable alternative.

Hil, did the rejuvelac taste nice?

I really enjoy the vinegary flavor of kombucha and kefir just tastes like tangy yogurt (which I like)

Oh, Oh, AND a friend suggested that I get a Stevia plan. I'm so doing that. It's like growing your own sugar! She eats the leaves as a snack, makes iced tea with them and dries/grinds them to add like sugar.

I just hope I can grow it indoors.

thekitchn.com had a small series of posts about making your own kambucha recently.

Bookmarked, lisah!

There is a segment on the 'fruit fly dilemma' (which sounds like a Sherlock Holmes story) that I definitely need to read.

What do I need to know about containers? And what sort of 'lid' do you use? My friend is using a paper towel, which I don't generally buy, but will if need be.

Glass or ceramic containers are recommended (metal is apparently Very Bad). I bought a 1-gallon glass Anchor Hocking cracker jar at Target for $5-6. As a "lid" I use a paper coffee filter (the basket shape, not the cone shape), just because we have them in abundance. I believe you can use cloth that doesn't have a super-tight weave.

This is the website I check first if I have questions (and the page linked is the "recipe" that I follow, with one exception: instead of 4-6 bags of black tea, I use 5 bags of black tea and 2 bags of a fruit tea [Celestial Seasonings berry zinger], because I like the slight fruit taste it imparts [but it makes my SCOBYs pink, which is hilarious): [link]

t edit I have never had a fruit fly problem, even when our indoor compost collector attracted fruit flies (or perhaps they were so drawn to the compost collector that that's the reason they avoided the kombucha). I did, however, have a SCOBY go moldy *while* it was brewing over the winter. But that's the first time I had a mold issue in literally 2 years.

Uh, I'm a kombucha dork and will talk about it a lot if prompted. So hit me up with any questions. I use the cheap store-brand sugar, and TJs brand Irish breakfast tea. Oh, and plain old tap water. And it all turns out pretty well despite my non-fancy ingredients.

When it's ready, I don't bottle mine in special bottles; I just dump it into a big glass pitcher and put it in the fridge (where it WILL begin to grow a wee jellyfish-like creature at the bottom of the pitcher if I don't drink it in less than a week; I just strain out the creature, throw it in the compost bin, and keep drinking it). I don't do secondary fermentation because I am lazy and impatient and want to drink it as soon as the first fermentation is finished.