Fermented tea makes you feel good

Tag: spawn culture mushroom

Brody is the son of Chris Reed, who is known as the Kombucha Guruat Greenlife Grocery, where he works. Reed has experimented withbrewing this tea for about six years.

Its pronunciation is sometimes fumbled. Its origins are mysterious,and its health benefits are debatable. But one things for sure:This tea flies off grocery store shelves in Asheville.

Kombucha is a sweetened tea that has been fermented using amacroscopic mass of microorganisms called a kombucha culture orcolony, and to Graham McKinney, grocery manager of Greenlife, themother mushroom.

He refers to it as the mother because with each fermentationprocess, the culture spawns a baby colony that can be harvested forfuture brews. The process is similar to how vinegar used to bemade.

Some people say it tastes like vinegar, said Bill McBee, theGreenlife Grocery kitchen manager. To me, it tastes like a sweettea with a lot of lemon in it. It's more tart than sweet.

Kombucha packaged drinks are probably close to the No. 1 sellingsingle-serving drink at Greenlife, McKinney said. They offer abouta dozen varieties. The kombucha brew is often mixed with fruitjuices, such as strawberry.

The reason Reed and his family go through 10 gallons a month of thestuff is simple. It makes them feel good.

I found that by drinking it daily, it suppressed my need forcertain things like caffeine or alcohol,he said. I used to be acoffee hound, but I don't need it any more. It helps me sleep atnight and function during the day. I have had absolutely minimalhealth issues.

The medical value is not really recognized by the Western world,but it's not quite snake oil. Kombucha features various helpfulacetic, carbonic, folic, gluconic and glucuronic acids, as well asenzymes and vitamins B1, B2 and B3.

I'll be preaching about this stuff until the day I am no longer inthis world, Reed said. Because I drink that stuff, I think thatday is going to be a very long time from now. How to make kombucha

What you need:

A kombucha culture

Gallon of spring water

Stainless steel or glass pot (make sure you don't use a wood orplastic spoon which would harbor bacteria)

Gallon-sized glass containers

3/4-1 cup sugar

3/4-1 cup loose green or black tea (or 8-12 bags of tea)

Boil water and add sugar and tea. Steep covered for 10-15 minutes.Pour the tea into gallon-sized glass containers. Cover with rag toprevent dusts or bugs, tie with a rubber band and let cool for 24hours at room temperature. Next add your culture (store the culturein a few inches of kombucha tea before adding it to the brew andmake sure you also add the liquid you stored it in). Re-cover andstore in a place out of direct sunlight (but it doesn't need to bein a dark closet). You can age the tea from one week to two months,depending on how strong you want it to be. After it's harvested,you can also add fruit, such as peaches, to sweeten it further(store in the refrigerator for about a week). It's important toremember good sanitation before handling the culture. Make sureyour hands are clean (including your fingernails), and rub theculture in lukewarm water before adding it to the tea. It shouldlook really clean every time you add it to the tea.