Kombucha Tea

With herbalist Deanna Gabriel CCH CN

What is kombucha tea?  

Kombucha tea is made from a colony of yeast and bacteria. Although the culture is often referred to as a mushroom it differs from familiar mushrooms in its form and replication.  Kombucha tea has been traced through recorded history for over 2000 years and has a variety of names such as Manchurian Tea, Fungus Japonicus, Volga-Spring, The Remedy for Immortality or The Divine Tsche . It seems to have its origins in the East, namely China, Japan, Manchuria, and Korea, and from these regions kombucha has spread throughout the world! The reason for kombucha’s longevity is the nourishing tea produced from this strange and wonderful culture. The kombucha tea is reported to contain a variety of acids such as glucuronic, acetic, and lactic, as well as a variety of live probiotic cultures.

 

What are some of the benefits to Kombucha?

Kombucha is a classic folk remedy. What that often means is that its benefits are widespread, offering relief from a number of ailments.  As with so many powerful folk remedies the knowledge of its healing power is best gained through experience.

It is thought that much of the healing power of Kombucha tea is gained from the presence of glucuronic acid. This acid assists the body in removing harmful or toxic substances. Glucuronic acid is found naturally in the liver of many animals, and it is reported that the additional dose of glucuronic acid found in Kombucha tea deepens the detoxification processes in the body.  Through this cleansing action many symptoms are relieved. Some examples are: arthritis, digestive complaints, edema, depressed immune function, skin irruptions, urinary tract inflammations, general fatigue, and many, many more!

 All of these nutrients play a variety of roles in maintaining optimal health in our bodies, such as detoxification, tissue regeneration, immune function and brain function. 

Kombucha also contains live bacteria and yeast that are beneficial to the digestive system. The varieties of bacteria and yeast found in kombucha can aide in digestion and assimilation of food. Harmful types of yeast and bacteria found in the gut begin to lose strength in the presence of the beneficial varieties allowing the digestive system to strengthen. A strong digestive system can lead to improved health throughout the body as the nutrients from food become more available to all systems.    

How much do I drink each day?

The answer to this question varies from source to source. The amount of tea that is appropriate for each person is dependant on the desired effect and on the needs of each individual’s body.  For a general health tonic 1-2 small glasses daily may be an effective dose. For those who desire and need deeper healing of digestion or other complaints drinking several glasses each day may be appropriate. It is a good idea to begin with smaller glasses of tea and increase to larger glasses as needed.  It is always important to check in with your body to see if the dose you are taking feels healthy and effective for you.

 

Is Kombucha safe for children? 

The general agreement is that there is little reason to hesitate when considering giving kombucha tea to children. It is suggested to give smaller doses to children, and possibly less frequent doses. Slow and cautious introduction is suggested to ensure the child is responding positively to the tea and more caution may be necessary with children under the age of 4.

How do I create my own Kombucha tea?

You can create your own Kombucha culture using a strong tea, this tea may or may not have a piece of the fleshy culture added. Your culture will form more quickly if you do have a piece of another culture in the jar, however this is not necessary.

Making a culture from Kombucha tea

1. Fill a jar with a strong Kombucha tea. The tea may have a piece of fleshy culture cut from another larger culture, or may just be tea with stringy membranes.
2. Cover the jar with cloth – cheese cloth or muslin cloth is ideal and fasten cloth with a rubber band.
3. Set jar in a space with low light (No Direct Sunlight Ever!) and relatively moderate, constant temperature 70-80 degrees. Allow mixture to sit undisturbed for about 2 weeks. You should observe a cloudy film growing on the surface of the tea at this point. Allow the tea to sit undisturbed until a thick white layer forms.
4. Once you have a white, not clear, layer of culture about ¼ inch thick follow tea brewing instructions below.

* A great commercial company to support is High Country Kombucha, www.hckombu.com  You can create a strong and healthy culture using a bottle of their Original Kombucha. Pour the tea into a jar and follow the above instructions!

Brewing Kombucha tea – follow these directions after your culture is formed

1. Begin with a starter culture. Place culture in a jar and fill jar about 15-25% full with already brewed kombucha tea. Jar sizes vary- quart, gallon or other, make sure you adjust the amount of tea to the jar size you are using. 

1. Make a strong black tea. To do this heat water to a boil and turn off stove, add 1-2 tablespoons of loose black tea per quart of water or use 1-2 teabags per quart, steep about 8-10 min.
2. Remove tea and add sugar to the tea, 3-4 oz by volume or about ½ cup per quart. Stir until sugar is dissolved and let the sweetened tea cool to room temperature, tea should not be warm to the touch.
3. Add this cool, sweet tea to the jar with your culture and brewed kombucha tea.
4.  Cover the lid of your container with cheese cloth or muslin cloth (cloth pie covers work great for many containers).  Allow mixture to stand for about 7 days in an area with low light and relatively moderate, constant temperature 70-80 degrees. The number of days for tea culturing will vary depending on the size of the culture, the temperature of the room and the desired strength of the tea (warmer temperatures cause tea to be created more quickly).
5. Once the tea is to the desired strength poor off tea, leave about 15% in the container. Bottle the tea in containers with secure lids. Place tea in refrigerator for storage.  Create the sweetened black tea, add to the culture and begin the process again!

Creative Kombucha Recipes

Culinary vinegar- use as a live vinegar for salad dressings, as a meat tenderizer, or in any recipe that calls for vinegar.

example – garden salad

1 tomato                             1/3 cup olive oil

1 small cucumber          rosemary leaves

1 bell pepper                                basil leaves

1/3 cup kombucha vinegar

Dice all veggies add herbs and cover with kombucha and olive oil.

 

As base for herbal preparations- cyclone cider, nourishing tinctures (try tincturing in the fridge to prevent culture growth.)

example – nourishing blend

alfalfa                  nettles

dandelion lf      comfrey lf

Place a heaping tbsp of each herb in a quart jar.  Fill jar with kombucha tea, leave a few inches of space for expansion, and cover with cloth. Leave the jar in a cool dark place for about 3 days, then remove cloth and secure jar lid. Put blend in fridge for 1-2 weeks. Strain and bottle. Store in fridge.

 

Create a facial toner

        1 part kombucha vinegar

1 part tea made from elder flower, rose, lavender – use equal parts of flowers

essential oils of rose, frankincense, lavender, carrot seed

Brew a strong tea of rose, elder flower and lavender. Add equal part of kombucha to cool herb tea, then add essential oil blend. Store in fridge to prevent culture growth or leave out and allow a new mother to form.

 

Sources:

www.ourbluemarble.us/Norbert/kombucha - great biology and chemistry research on kombucha.

http://www.kombu.de/english.htm

http://www.anahatabalance.com/index.html  - select about kombucha on left margin

http://www.seedsofhealth.co.uk/index.shtml - scroll down to the fermentation section and select kombucha.

http://www.happyherbalist.com/index.asp -  scroll down to library and select kombucha cautions and tips - great photos of cultures.