Kombucha is a drink which is said to originate in China, back in 220 B.C, and was supposedly prized for its healing properties. Legend has it, that a physician called Dr Kombu treated the Japanese Emperor with this magical potion, hence the name – Kombu - Cha (tea in Japanese)! …. others claim that it originated in Japan, and was carried in battle by samurai warriors as a vital source of energy and vitamins!
Kombucha is made by simply fermenting sweetened tea, using a starter culture called a SCOBY. You can read all about this magnificent live culture here.
Kombucha doesn’t taste anything like tea, it is quite a difficult thing to describe (think apple cider vinegar mixed with cloudy lemonade), and in its authentic, raw, fresh state, it probably isn't like one you'd typically buy in the shop! If you're interested in trying an authentic Kombucha, then check out our "Try before you buy or brew" here, to find out what you're working with ... and be pleasantly surprised!
At BooChaCha, we're obsessed with fresh, raw, totally natural Kombucha. We make it easy, cheap & fun to brew Kombucha at home, and we deliver fresh Kombucha around Bournemouth and the surrounding areas.
The SCOBY is kind of like a little jelly / pancake, which is stored within an acidic starter liquid to put it in a dormant state, before it is used to turn tea into Kombucha.
This liquid stops any contamination, and stores nutrients which the SCOBY needs to stay alive, and once your SCOBY is mixed with the sweet tea, it uses the sugar as a fuel to wake up and get to work making your Kombucha!
The sweet tea is added to a fermentation vessel with the SCOBY, then you simply wait for a time period for the fermentation to take place. The speed of this is effected by various factors such as temperature and amount of starter liquid compared to sweet tea mixture, but is normally 7-10 days once the continuous brew system is up and running!
This is real, pure, raw Kombucha, so its important to introduce it to your diet slowly, and take advice from your GP if you have any concerns about it being a suitable drink for you.
Personally I find drinking around 150ml – 200ml first thing every day works wonders, and it really gets me set-up for the day!
One of the huge benefits of brewing Kombucha at home is that your Kombucha will always taste good, because you’ve made it, & you have full control over when you want to drain it for storage in the fridge. This controls the "tartness" of the Kombucha, and fermentation will be pretty much paused once it is drained away from the SCOBY, and put in the fridge. Another benefit is that you’ve seen exactly what you have added to it, it’s totally natural, and in this live state, it is thought to have many associated health benefits, and can also be a healthy substitute for energy drinks, sugary sodas and processed juices!
When you have drained a bottle of Kombucha for the fridge, its easy to get your next batch on the way. All you need to do is top-up the fermenting vessel with sweet tea.
There is no need to faff about with emptying anything else / cleaning it out when you use the continuous brew method. You just have to make sure you leave enough of the previous batch in the jar with the SCOBY, to make sure you have some acidic starter liquid to balance the sweet tea being added to make the next batch. If you decide to brew your own, we run online, private and in-person brewing workshops, we offer full brewing support for every stage of your Kombucha journey, and of course all kits come with fun-style-instructions with links to video instructions too 🙂
After you complete the first month of brewing, firstly you’ll be an expert – CONGRATS, and secondly – can I recommend you check out the delicious and ever changing Kombucha brew-bags we stock!
These are giant, ready-to-brew tea-bags, which need to be used with your own sugar, and your BooChaCha home-brew station to make Kombucha!
The brew-bags come in different flavours, with seasonal specials and limited editions popping up all the time, and they’re also AVAILABLE ON A MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION!
Keep an eye on the socials, and online for new releases, I’d hate you to miss out 😛
Obviously you can use all your new knowledge and BooChaCha setup to continue brewing with your own tea, I’d still love to hear about the brew-adventure, and hear about any special recipes you create! 🙂
I must say that everything here on BooChaCha is self taught, through experiments / rule-breaking but, if you head over to our story you can read about how our founders life was changed with the addition of home-brew Kombucha, and we think we've all finally found our purposes in life here, building this wonderful brew-crew 🙂
There’s Tons of fun ways to incorporate this healthy drink into your life, a shot straight from the fridge as soon as you wake up, over ice with a dash of soda for a Komboochy-mocktail, to soak your next batch of overnight oats perhaps, or to mix it with some ginger and turmeric powder for an extra immunity booster!
Keep an eye on the socials for new recipe ideas and inspirations, and if you experiment with something new make sure to let us know with a social tag 🙂
OK, over and out for now, final message – Kombucha can be a great addition to your daily diet, it's delicious, easy and cheap to make at home, and it’s a really fun & unique hobby which is sure to impress your friends!
We should all be health curious, old or young, perfectly healthy or looking for a fresh routine, learn something new today and see what Kombucha could do for you!
The Kombucha Engineer.