Baby Scobies

I haven't had time to do anything with my kombucha experiments until today. GTS finally formed a baby it is half the size of the Buddha's Brew and took twice as long to form. I was planning on pouring them out today, but got curious as to whether or not I could get the pancakes out without breaking them. They slide out with some help more easily than I thought they would. I went ahead and transfered them into wide mouth small mason jars and put them back into the waiting area to see what happens.

I also went by Austin Homebrew and looked at what they had to test PH and Alcohol content, but didn't buy anything.

Pictures... I thought about getting closeups of the scobies, but am still undecided as to what I want to do with them. These scobies are well formed, no sign of mold. The Buddha's brew scoby sank then floated in the mason jar. The GT's just sank to the bottom. Not that it matters if they sink or swim...

Best Kombucha to buy for Scoby

After less than a week of sitting out covered in a paper towel, the local Buddha's Brew Kombucha has a nice scoby pancake forming. GT's has a thin film at the top which I suspect will eventually develop a pancake. If I had thought this experiment through I would have poured these kombucha's into wide mouth jars since I really doubt there is a way to extricate gracefully the kombucha scoby that has formed in the Buddha's Brew bottle. On the other hand being someone almost incapable of labeling letting the plain kombucha sit in the original bottles is great for knowing which is which. Next time I make kombucha I am totally making it from a scoby developed from a store bought bottle of raw kombucha.

It has now been over two weeks since I started my kombucha from the mother given to me. I really want to taste it, but I'm resisting. I should probably look into giving it away...

No more Kombucha Experiment for Me

Well, after talking it over with my doctor. I'm sticking to drinking the kombucha from the store since I can be sure of what is in it since they are better able to test the kombucha and is unlikely that some stray microbe/yeast/mold has entered until I am done feeding my kiddo breastmilk. I'm not as worried about the alcohol factor because I participated in a couple of studies with Upspring the group that does the breastmilk alcohol test strips. Pump and dump is basically a myth when it comes to alcohol because everyone is different when it comes to when the milk may have alcohol in it. If the milk does have alcohol in it and it stays in your boob than your body just reabsorbs it so after a particular amount of time depending on how your body deals with chemicals it is no longer in your breastmilk. For extra safety sake, the Mother's Milk Bank says wait 12 hours for donations if you've had alcohol but the milk is also going to preemies and NICU babies. I will definitely try this again once my kiddo is done with breastmilk, though I think I will just do the continuous brewing which seems not only to have more health benefits but is easier and safer. It was fun while it lasted.

Yet another thing thrown by the wayside due to lactation. I'm glad I can feed my child so well, but can I say how much I hate being a food source especially since I get none of the good feedback from my child for it since she cannot breastfeed and we now know she will never breastfeed.

Must find some new easy food experiment to do or something else that doesn't take long that I can do in my very brief spare time. Sadly, sewing takes too long these days, so I can only do it when my husband is taking baby duty especially since I am using kiddo's naptime for pumping now and she is getting less dependable as she gets older about taking naps.

Safety of Kombucha for Lactation & Pregnancy

I am bummed after reading the happy herbalist site regarding the safety of homebrewed kombucha for nursing mom's. Apparently, I was not paying attention in my excitement over brewing my own kombucha.
Now I'm wondering if it is a good idea to make my own homebrew, though I've been tasting it and it hasn't so far affected my kiddo or me. I also somehow also missed that there is kombucha recipe in my Nourishing Traditions cookbook.

I'm wondering if I should give away my brew and kombucha mother and try again later or just go get some test kits from the Austin Homebrew Store...  I'm going to my alterna doctor today, so I'll ask her what she thinks.

the Twelfth day

My kombucha is forming a baby on top and is now tasting more like what my expectation of plain kombucha would taste like. I went out and bought 3 different brands of plain kombucha to try.  High Country Kombucha is supposed to be closest to what homebrewed kombucha tastes like. I didn't really like it at all, the sweetness was brewed out completely. On the other hand, I really like what my homebrewed kombucha tasted like after 10 days in comparison, I suspect though that the sugar content is high at that point and not sure it would be as healthy. Apparently, continuous brewed kombucha is the healthiest, but it doesn't form a baby scoby, though I guess I don't really need a baby scoby.

I've also tried the local Buddha's Brew plain kombucha. I usually only drink their ginger flavor. The plain was okay. They had peach last summer and it was really, really good but they didn't bottle it. You had to buy on tap and I never managed to get more than a little bit. I actually like my homebrew better. Same after trying the GT's plain. I usually drink mostly GT's because they have great flavors, I like the guava, multi-green, gingerade, and mango. I occasionally drink their other flavors, though when I feel the need to drink kombucha everyday I was buying the Buddha's Brew in bulk at the farmer's market because it was cheaper and I like their ginger flavor better than GT's.

Of the bottled plain, I think the Buddha's brew tastes best, then GT's, and for me the High Country just wasn't drinkable at all. I also got a flavored high county the Wild Root which is suppose to taste similar to root beer. I haven't cracked it open yet. As I've been tasting these kombucha's I've been rubber banding a paper towel on top to see if I can make my own scoby from the leftover kombucha. I'm really curious if I can brew kombucha using those leftovers. I need to get the materials to try it. I feel bad about wasting the pickles so I can have cheap brewing jar.

I was positive I was going to flavor my homebrewed kombucha because I didn't think I would like it plain, but now I'm thinking I should go ahead and bottle mine and drink it as is. I don't know what will happen if I disturb it at this point and I wanted it to be less sweet before I tried to flavor it. I wonder if part of the flavor difference is that I used white tea and I suspect that the plain kombucha I've tried so far uses black and the other part is the sweetness. I think the flavored kombucha's are just sweeter.

I'm also not sure how I'm going to get it from the big pickle jar to the smaller bottles. Since brewing my own is super cheap and unexpectedly is turning out to taste better, I'm planning on getting materials to do a continuous brew basically something with a spout at the bottom like a stainless steel or ceramic water bottle holder which will also make it easier to bottle.

This process reminds me how much I love experimenting with food and recipes. So much fun!

10 days of Brewing

Tasted my kombucha this morning. It is more fizzy, less sweet, and smells like apple cider vinegar.  In the back of my mind even though I know a kombucha coming out of dormancy does not form a baby, I was still wondering if I did it right. The changing sweetness level is very reassuring.

Since I am planning on adding flavor when I bottle it, I want most of the sweetness to go away. I think kombucha is one of those things that disproves that smell and taste go together all the time. I am not fond of the smell of vinegar, but really like kombucha.

I'm thinking for the next batch, I will use less sugar as outlined in the blog Kombucha Fuel. I also like the idea of in the blog of using jam to flavor in the secondary bottling process. I already have couple of jams to try once the main brewing is done.  I've been saving my GT's Mystic Mango bottles to use for the secondary bottling.

I'm really surprised at how easy this has been so far. It will also save me a lot of money. I can't wait to try the continuous brewing method which is supposed to be even easier and more nutritious.

Tasting my first Kombucha Brew

So I tasted my kombucha today. No baby scoby formed though. I found out from this cool blog that when you use a refrigerated mother that it takes a couple of brewings for it to come out of dormancy and form a baby. My brew is still too sweet, but it does taste like kombucha. I'm going to leave it for another few days and taste it again. I need to buy a bottle of plain kombucha since I don't think I have ever had any plain kombucha or if I had it has been so long ago I don't remember to do a taste comparison.

Making your own Kombucha

I got a scoby (also known as the great kombucha mother shroom) from a Mama off my local attachment parenting list. I followed the instructions off this website, but the measurements did not quite fit into the 1 gallon pickle jar I bought so I hope it turns out okay since at the end I had to pour some liquid off to fit the scoby in the jar. The happy-herbalist also has some tech talk on making kombucha since they sell kits. If this works out I may buy some type of receptacle with a spigot so I can do a continuous brew of kombucha.

In my search for info about kombucha making I ran across this forum where someone posted how to make kombucha from a bottle bought from the store.

Here is the recipe adjusted based on the herbalist brewing guide and another kombucha making guide recipe. The mad scientist in me plans on trying this... Apparently it does not matter if the store bought bottle of kombucha is flavored or not based on another blog/thread I read.

Making kombucha is apparently best done at temps between 68 to 84 degrees F.  Optimum temp per my reading is 78 degrees F. We keep our house around 72 to 75 degrees F because that seems to be the optimum temp for keeping breast milk out on the table for 6 to 12 hours which gives our kiddo plenty of time to eat it all.

On to the recipe that I plan on trying based on three other recipes... I will post my results eventually stay tuned.

Needs
1 gallon clear class container. In a basic grocery store check out the pickle jars. I got a Best Maid Pickle jar for $4.78 and my husband actually likes their pickles so he plans on eating them, so I don't have to feel guilty about put the pickles in the compost pile.

Organic sugar

Organic green, white, or black tea (I've read black tea is best, but I used white)

1 bottle of kombucha with stuff floating in it or any bottle of kombucha that you leave out at room temp that develops stuff on the top. (I got a dormant mother scobie and had no kombucha in my first brew attempt so ended up using 4 tbsp of distilled vinegar)

Distilled white vinegar for cleaning of pickle jar, pots, and utensils (apparently other cleaners can potential 'cause brewing problems)

Bring to a Boil 1 quart of distilled/filtered water. Add in 1.5 cups white sugar and 5-6 tea bags (white, black, or green organic tea, organic apparently is important for scoby health). Do not boil the sugar more than 5 minutes 'cause it may cararmelize. I basically turn off the boil and add tea & sugar, then stir until sugar is dissolved.

Let the tea bags steep in the water for 15 minutes. (The Manperson is really into white tea and apparently there is an optimum temperature for steeping that is not boiling, I'm using the white tea that he feels he can no longer tolerate now that he has developed a more refined organic white tea palate.) 

Put 2 quarts of water into the pickle jar. Pour your tea into it. Take a temp reading with a food thermometer. It should be around 73 degrees F with this method.

Then add unflavored and raw kombucha with scoby to it (I added the mother scoby and put 4 tbsp of distilled vinegar on top for my first brew), gently stir with wooden spoon. Cover your glass container with clean cloth, cheesecloth, coffee filter, and rubber band it (used cheesecloth and one of the ubiquitous rubber bands I end up with from Whole Foods). If you have flavored kombucha, apparently you let it sit out until scoby forms across top. I would put it in a wide mouth glass and cover with cloth, paper towel etc until the scoby forms. Take out the scoby and add it to the pickle jar just don't add the flavored kombucha. You can then add 4 tbsp of distilled vinegar instead of regular kombucha or if you have plain kombucha sitting around add 1 1/2 cups.

Leave it somewhere it won't be disturbed until you notice a thin (though hopefully thick if you got a good one) SCOBY has formed on the surface of your tea. It should be kinda creamy tan with not too many 'holes", if it is a nice and healthy SCOBY. This can take anywhere form 7 to 20 days. Make sure it is not somewhere it will be hit by direct sunlight and it has fresh air occasionally circulating. (If you used a great mother shroom, then you can just taste it because it may not form a baby under certain circumstances.)

The first brew from your new scoby is drinkable, but not as tasty as it could be if you used a great mother shroom so you may just want to take the mother scoby you made and make another brew.

Pattern Adjustment for the 2nd Pair of Trainers

I adjusted the wool soaker pattern for this 2nd set of trainers. I cut the pattern so that the leg opening was the medium size, but the bottom coverage was x-large.  When I did the green set of trainers I used the largest pattern size and just skipped adding the leg bands and made the waistband a third the size of the original wool soaker pattern. Here are some pictures showing what is inside the trainers, how they compare to the wool soaker, and how they fit my kiddo. I cut the top off these trainers made them one size smaller and sewed them back on as a waistband after seeing how far up my kiddo's back they went and how they gaped in the back.  I don't yet have a picture of the newest adjustment to these. I will put the final purple trainers in the next post  about sewing trainers along with my attempt at doing a picture step by step...

New Outfits

I made these two outfits for my kiddo from a pair of adult pants and a skirt that a friend of mine was getting rid of...

Wool Soaker Shorts & Cloth Trainers

I found this great pattern for wool soaker shorts. I bought some 100% wool sweaters from Thrift town and felted them. I just made one so I could get the sizing right because no matter how I measure it never works out, so I need to make one and put it on my kiddo. These grey ones look super cute on her. I also adjusted the wool soaker pattern to make this pair of light green trainers, basically underwear with extra wet protection. The fabric is from an old t-shirt that a friend of mine no longer wanted. I cut the pattern out twice and sewed the wrong sides together leaving a space to turn it back inside out. I also sewed onto the wrong side of one extra wetzone protection. I used an old prefold that I cut up. The trainer I made worked better than the little beetle learner  I bought from Mamawise. I planning on adjusting the next one I make to fit even better because I felt the green trainer was just a little bit bulky.