Bursting with ways to downshift, simplify, preserve resources and honor the planet, Lemons and Lavender (Viva Editions, 2012) will give you tools to reclaim a purer, tastier, healthier and less expensive way of life. Billee Sharp shares her “freeconomics” approach to budgeting in this step-by-step guide to the good life. Learn how to make kombucha tea in the following excerpt from chapter 2, “Health Is Wealth.” For information on other helpful remedies, visit 25 Inexpensive Kitchen Remedies That Really Work.
You can purchase this book from the Mother Earth Living store: Lemons and Lavender.
Some people love the taste of kombucha tea; others don’t relish it at all. It has been credited with miraculous properties and is a probiotic, making it very curative for digestive issues. Kombucha also comes recommended for acne, constipation, arthritis, depression, and fatigue, and is hailed as a protection against cancer. I regard it as a tasty tonic, and my family drinks it daily. My sons were the first to taste kombucha, and they loved the fizziness and flavor.
This healthful drink is easy to make so long as you have a “ferment” (some people call it a “mushroom” because of the way it looks). To procure your ferment, try to find somebody who brews kombucha already. They should have plenty of ferments to share, as every batch of tea grows an extra ferment on top of the original.
How to Make Kombucha
• A large wide-necked glass jar, cloth or paper towel to cover jar, rubber band to secure cover
• 7 tea bags, black or green (preferably organic)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 quarts water
• Kombucha ferment
1. Boil the water and add it to the tea bags in the jar. Let it steep for 20 minutes.
2. Remove the tea bags and add the sugar, stirring to dissolve.
3. When the tea has cooled, add the kombucha ferment with some of the liquor that it came in, roughly 10 percent of the total tea in your jar.
4. Cover the jar with the cloth or paper towel, and secure with the rubber band. The lid will serve to keep dust and flies out while allowing the tea to breathe. Let the jar sit in one place (moving can disturb the fermentation process), out of the direct sunlight, and at room temperature.
The fermentation process will take seven to 12 days, depending on the room temperature. Your batch of kombucha will ferment more quickly if the room is warm. You have to check to see when it is ready, and you’ll be able to tell by the taste. When fermented, the tea can be decanted into glass bottles with screw lids and kept in the fridge. Remember to keep a little of the kombucha tea to add with your ferment for your next batch.
This excerpt has been reprinted with permission from Lemons and Lavender: The Eco Guide to Better Homekeeping, by Billee Sharp, published by Viva Editions, 2012. Buy this book from our store: Lemons and Lavender.
