Kombucha Starting - Summer gut health

First - I have to mention that I’m TOTALLY NOT the expert here at all. I tend to take advice from my dear friend and Auntie to Soph - Sara over at FishEyeKombucha (really check out their Facebook and Instagram) as well as a ton of information from Kombucha Kamp (and this is where we got our first Scoby).

Since Sara makes some of the best Kombucha around, I tend to get some from her each year and enjoy her hard work 😜😜This Summer though we’ve decided to up our game and cut out processed soda (and before you ask - no that doesn’t mean we are cutting out allllllllll of the stuff, just mostly what we purchase to have on hand at the house - baby steps people. Baby steps!), so we are going to be trying our hand at making our own…and we thought, well we are already going to be fermenting some…let’s just try the Kombucha again too! 🤣🤣 

So getting started - 

Get a good scoby. Like I mentioned - Kombucha Kamp sells a good one, or we are trying a dehydrated one we got as a freebie off Thrive.

Find a good tea. I really like to stick to what I know and tend to find a really simple black tea (it varies where I get it). I’ve tried a couple different ones and haven’t landed on one I love - another reason I tend to let Sara make it and then I can try all the different types of tea! 😜

Good sugar! We favor using organic cane sugar but we have used organic coconut sugar as well. 

Good water. I know this sounds like a broken record after all I’ve written about good water lately but this is key. If you are using bad water then you are going to damage your scoby and then the fermentation process does get messed up and it’s a struggle to save it. 

Have a great glass container. I tend to be a little extra sometimes and found a really cool drink dispenser (it’s shaped like a bee hive!!) that we’ve used in the past and I plan to use again. It does have a glass lid but in order for the scoby to breathe as much as it needs I use cheese cloth or an older tea towel and a rubber band. 

Pick a spot. The way our kitchen is set up we have an edge of a counter that seems to work well as a beverage dispensing location - so we are going to use that again too.

Some extras - I found it’s helpful for me to have a 4 cup glass measuring cup - this allows ample room for the scoby and liquid when I’m doing container clean up or when I’m brewing tea to get the correct temperature when “feeding” the scoby. I also would recommend you use a non metallic spoon when dealing directly with the scoby, it’s mostly just an extra precaution I’ve been doing. 

Okay - so now that you have your kombucha brewing… I’d love to talk more about making your own soda…

We are planning on making our own ginger bug as a base, but I was recently sent a video where they used a fermented apple as the grape juice base… both sound really interesting and I’m kinda excited to try both(??) and see which one we like the best!! With that being said - most of the same things apply to making your soda bug. You want a great glass container (large mouth flip top seems to be the preferred way but you can really use anything glass with a lid), and you want to make sure your jar stays in a good place - you’ll want to make sure you burp it so don’t forget!!

This is what we are planning to use for the ginger bug from Zero-waste chef and here’s the Video that showed the apples fermentation. I’m not really sure which one I’m more excited to try out!! 

Okay - with that, there’s always the flavoring part of it… I do enjoy using fresh fruit but depending on the prices you may need to use a good juice - this is who we tend to use since we can find it at our local Walmart - RW Knudsen or Lakewood. I know for kombucha you can use a flavored tea as well - I think the key is really to play with it and see what you like the best, for what will work best for your family. 

As you work with all this fermented drink you do want to make sure you aren’t overdoing it. Really pay attention to how your body is responding to everything - start off slowly and increase as your stomach can handle it - you do NOT want to start drinking massive amounts, end up in the bathroom for days, and then never try it again! And whatever you do… don’t cut back on your water intake!! None of this replaces your water!! 

If you are still struggling with your gut health don’t forget that there are some really good supplements out there. We really do love the PB Restore ProBiome Complex and TerraZyme from dōTERRA. In fact I sometimes forget how much stuff helps and get lazy about taking it… and then I ran out of TerraZyme….and I’m counting the moments until I get my order in for it!! It works with your body to help you absorb the nutrients from your food and process the rest. The PB Restore has so much goodness to it that I could go on and on, but essentially it’s a pre and probiotic to really help your gut out. It’s amazing!! 

The big thing to really be watching for in your gut health - again, how are you processing all the things? Are you noticing that you run to the bathroom 20 min after eating ice cream? Make sure that the ice cream you are eating doesn’t have too much junk in it or take a TerraZyme (or 2) after eating it, or see if it’s just that or other milk products that are bothering you. The big thing that we tell people to do is to make sure you aren't just doing what you’ve always been doing. Things HAVE changed. Processing has changed. Food isn’t made from the exact same thing it was made from while we were growing up. Watch behaviors in the others around you. It might be time to do something for your gut health. Your gut IS your second brain, and when it hurts it affects your entire body.