Good for the Planet 🌍
Making food and drink products for yourself at home nearly always means that what you consume will be better for you, and better for the planet. You control the ingredients added, control the nasties not added, you can enjoy what you produce in its freshest, most natural state, & perhaps best of all; there’s no need for any packaging or shipping.
The wonderful SCOBY is a live culture which multiplies to make baby SCOBY’s each time it makes Kombucha out of a new batch of sweet tea, and it looks a bit like a jellyfish crossed with a pancake!
To get a look at one of these fascinating creatures, see the SCOBY gallery here!
Head to “What is Kombucha” to learn about why you cannot make Kombucha without one of those babies!
To find out about why its one of the most sustainable resources on the planet, please read on 🙂
The most miraculous thing about the SCOBY is the fact that it will multiply exponentially, for ever, given the right conditions. It’s basically your ticket to a lifetime supply of raw, natural, real Kombucha. The original Mother SCOBY you start with will begin to form babies that first appear as thin-film layers on the surface of the brewing liquid, and then gradually increase in thickness. They grow to fill the space of the fermentation vessel, forming a gentle seal around the edges of the vessel and the top of the liquid. This will allow a light and natural carbonation to form in the Kombucha below. It might take 3 – 4 brews to get your new SCOBY baby growing to this point, depending on the size of the fermentation vessel and the temperature of the environment.
So, for example, if you start with a mother SCOBY that has a 5cm diameter, and combine it in the right conditions with the correct ratio of sweet tea solution, in a vessel with a diameter of 10cm, the baby SCOBY will grow to a diameter of 10cm, to fill the space.
Fun drawing below to show you what I mean … hopefully …
The most common question that gets asked after or during Brew 1; “Is there supposed to be a thin film growing over the top surface of my Kombucha?” That new layer is actually a sign that the Kombucha brew is super healthy and strong, and after a few more days you’ll have a fully formed baby SCOBY. Most people think this layer is the first sign of mould, but mould is very very obvious!
Check the comparison of a healthy SCOBY and a not-so healthy SCOBY here in the SCOBY gallery, or head to our BooChaCha Kombucha FAQ’s, for more answers to common Kombucha related questions.
With the world focussed on becoming as sustainable as possible, heads are turning to the wonderful Kombucha SCOBY for answers. Kombucha is growing in popularity in many communities across the world, as we become more health conscious and curious. The Kombucha SCOBY is possibly one of the most underrated resources on this planet.
There are many health benefits associated with including SCOBY in your diet;
- SCOBY matter contains little or no calories
- It can aid in the removal of metabolic waste
- Packed with insoluble fibre
- Can absorb excess cholesterol from the bloodstream
- Slows the absorption of sugar and helps normalise blood sugar levels
- Can reduce inflammation on swollen joints / infections
No need to just chomp bite sized chunks out of a giant SCOBY though, here’s some fun recipes to try;
- Further boost the health benefits of smoothies, shakes or juices … no recipe needed here, just add a small handful of SCOBY to your blender
- Make up some little SCOBY gummy sweets (defo more sugary treat than healthy snack) … SCOBY candy recipe here
- Mix into protein balls, cookie dough or … SCOBY energy balls recipe here
- Dehydrate, season and then bake into savoury SCOBY crispy strips … SCOBY jerky recipe here
- Mix up into home made dog treats, feed chickens or goats, or use as soil fertiliser …
… and if you make something particularly special then share the love and tag us on a social post 🙂
Links here; Instagram , Facebook , Linkedin
I carry my Kombucha bible around with me a lot; a book by Alick Bartholomew called “Kombucha for your Health and Healing”, link to buy here! Seriously this book is full of Kombucha or SCOBY based hair masks, creams, foot soaks and more, to heal almost any ailment.
In America it was thought that Kombucha SCOBY’S cured baldness, here’s a fun article and podcast link about how a US company; Health-ade, started-off making hair loss products, and the Kombucha was merely a delicious “waste” product; Health-ade’s journey from hair-loss cream to huge scale Kombucha production.
They rubbed different concoctions of baldness-reversing cream onto mens heads for a period of several years before they realised that friends and family were fighting over the gallons of Kombucha they were producing. They started off selling it at local markets to finance the baldness cream venture, but eventually realised the Kombucha was the star of the show.
Step 1 – Get SCOBY, Step 2 – Put on bald head, Step 3 – Take pic … Step 4 – Send pic to Heebs 🙂
Perhaps the most exciting news for the sustainable world is that Kombucha SCOBY’s have been used to create an artificial wood material by a student in the US, he ended up winning the James Dyson 2021 Award, and you can read all about his amazing work here; Artificial wood made using Kombucha SCOBY’s wins 2021 James Dyson award.
Maybe we will be able to donate our spare SCOBY’s to causes helping to save the worlds forests soon 🙂
Another amazing use for spare SCOBY’s is a vegan style leather that can be used to make handbags or shoes, read all about it here; What is SCOBY leather?
Here at BooChaCha, every effort is made to get you making Kombucha in the most eco-friendly way possible! We aren’t perfect … yet … but all BooChaCha packaging is fully compostable, including the tape used on the outside of the boxes. The Tea and Sugar are sourced from local, reliable sources, small independent companies are used for manufacture where possible, and absolutely nothing goes to waste! We’re proud members of the Eco-Alliance at NoIssue co and have been featured as a brand ambassador; Read about what the Eco-Alliance at NoIssue had to say about us here, and we intend on improving any processes we can, as soon as we can.
So far, we’ve nailed;
- Efficient packing for small shipping footprint
- Stock bought in small amounts to prevent wastage
- Shower caps handmade to order by a fellow Dorset based small business
- Eco-only packaging inside cardboard boxes
- Sealed with compostable fragile-water-based-tape … shoutout noissue
- Compostable craft bundle and brew bags stamped with soy based ink
- Compostable tea-bags
- Compostable mailer bags for top-ups & subscriptions
All packed up in a nice box, covered in the worlds most confusing tape – at least it’s 100% compostable though …
Pushing one step at a time to make BooChaCha Kombucha the most planet friendly resource here on earth 🌍
