In my health and nutrition reading, I have come across a lot of sources spouting the benefits of fermented foods, ranging from improving digestion and restoring gut flora to protecting your body from colon cancer and inflammatory bowel disease. I’ve even heard that they can improve your skin tone. This is no scientific blog, so feel free to research this on the many informational websites out there! Kombucha tea is a fermented drink that has long been used for all these conditions and more.

Luke’s mom has been brewing this “mushroom juice” for about 15 years, and her kids always thought it was gross and made fun of her for it. She looks great though, so everyone figured she must be doing something right! When I told her I was interested in starting to brew Kombucha, she gave me the next “mommy” mushroom when she harvested her batch, along with instructions. Basically, you need a starter mushroom, distilled water, a cup of sugar, and 6 tea bags- either green tea or black tea but not herbal.

First, brew the tea in the distilled water and add sugar:

Once the tea has cooled completely (if it’s warm, it can kill your mushroom!) put the tea and the mushroom in a large glass bowl or jar, covered with cloth, or in this case, the bowl’s cover but not completely sealed:

Wait 7-10 days. A new “baby” mushroom will grow on top of the “mommy” and the tea is ready to harvest.

Strain the tea into a glass pitcher (there will be stringy goo from the mushroom that you want to strain out) and refrigerate, enjoy over the next week!

Separate the mommy and baby mushrooms, then start a new batch with the baby (or two batches with the mommy and baby!)- it’s kind of like friendship bread where you use a bit of the last batch to start the next.

I used green tea, and it turned out sweet, and a little bit lemony. Over the course of the week as I drank it, it seemed to become more carbonated. Also, it has negligible amounts of alcohol in it from the fermentation process.