Kombucha

Kombucha jarI hope you are enjoying my cookbook Love in the Kitchen (click here to order). One of the recipes that have created quite a stir is my recipe on kombucha. Our entire family has grown to love kombucha. The verdict is still out whether kombucha does all it claims to do, but we have found considerable improvement in our health since consuming this ancient Asian drink.

Chris and I do not buy soft drinks or bottled juices for our family. While such drinks are consumed by most families, we have found the cost for them to be considerably expensive (especially with a family of 16). We make approximately 15 gallons of kombucha per week. The kids drink this as often as water, and Chris loves a cool glass of kombucha on ice when he gets home from work. It is hard to imagine life without kombucha!

The drink has roots from ancient China and is touted as a medical elixir. While the results are purely anecdotal, I have seen a significant reduction in the amount of sickness this year compared to previous years. The winter of 2006-2007, for instance, we suffered through whooping cough and Chris had the flu for an entire month. This year, other than a few sniffle and sneezes, we have enjoyed a sickness-free home. Like I said, there is nothing but anecdotal evidence on this, but the drink tastes great nonetheless.

Though there aren’t many critics of kombucha, there are a few. An interesting article from the Mayo Clinic refers to reports that kombucha created negative effects in people. Read the article for yourself here. The medical opinion sites improper preparation as the negative effects, not the kombucha itself. Though they lead you away from kombucha, they admit there is no imperial evidence to make the case. As with homemade anything, the risk of contamination exists, so make sure you do your research and make it right. An article giving a knowledgeable rebuttal can be read here.

There are several websites on the Internet that break down the steps to making kombucha. My recipe is unique in that it adds flavored tea. I have encouraged several of my friends to make kombucha, but sometimes they come back and admit that theirs “isn’t as good” as mine. This is usually because flavored tea is not part of the ingredients. Do the flavored tea in the instructions in my Love in the Kitchen cookbook. If anything, swapping out your favorite flavors gives your kombucha some variety.

We have gotten ourselves on a healthy routine of kombucha. My daughter Cynthia has passed the responsibility of kombucha processing to Lydia. We have one cupboard dedicated to all the jars. We make the routine weekly–no more and no less. We have also found friends fail at kombucha when they allow the jar to ferment for too long, getting too much of a vinegar taste. There are several kombucha recipes out there, but if you follow the recipe in my cookbook, and you shouldn’t go wrong.

I gathered the following links for my cookbook readers to do more adequate research…

Enjoy your kombucha!