This ensures that all the ingredients are sterilised Having to dangle the bag on a thread until they saw their desired ‘strength’ in their mug was an inconvenience, a waste of time. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Check out this post about exotic teas: Yerba Mate, Rooibos, Pu-erh (the secret “5th tea” type to some) and the wonderful world of Tea Tasting. But not every brew should taste the same, and there are so many great tea options we always recommend mixing it up! SCOBY or symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeastis used for fermentation in kombucha. Some Herbal Teas: “Herbal tea” is a catch-all term that includes any tea not made from tea plant leaves. Perhaps any plant that we soak in hot water to create a beverage is tea? Choosing Starter Tea and Vinegar for Making Kombucha. Benefits of drinking kombucha Good question! Use once and toss, or better yet add to your compost along with extra SCOBYs. We are having a fun adventure brewing Kombucha ourselves, the only problem is keeping our little people out of it until it is ready (a problem I am happy to live with).”, “The kit was great… the scobys where very thick and healthy looking. When people are talking about tea, however, they’re usually talking about the tea plant known as camellia sinensis. Traditionally, Kombucha has been brewed with black tea (known as “red tea” in China, named for the color of the resulting brewed liquid rather than the color of the leaves themselves). This is all so interesting! The most common recipe for brewing Kombucha includes a combination of green and black teas. No problem finding Chaga around in Alaska and the berries are abundant. This means it’s vital that you use good quality, proper ingredients when starting your fermentation. And which teas should you avoid? As they detailed in their application, the bag needed to hold the tea leaves together so that they didn’t float into the drinker’s mouth, but not so tightly that the water could not circulate through them to be infused. Research has shown that green tea produces the healthiest looking culture. Differing regions will ferment the teas more or less, from only 10% all the way to nearly 100%, based on their long traditions for tea processing. Green tea has a mild flavor creating a magnificent fermentation and brew. I think it’s okay – it smells fine, very genmaicha-ish. How much easier than the old method! Oh that’s good to know! 2. Examples of tea with added ingredients include: You can use loose leaf tea to make kombucha! Hi Emmy! Green tea is unfermented and delicately processed using sunlight, heating & rolling, which releases its essence. The SCOBYtakes these nutrients from the tea along with sugar or honey and converts beverage into a fizzy, flavorful slightly alcoholic drink. For a smooth, delicately flavored brew, a mix of white and oolong tea covers both sides of your personality, hence the name. Use lower caffeinated teas, like rooibos, hibiscus, white, or green. While they won’t technically damage the Kombucha, the flavor is a poor match in most cases. You can check it out here! The Latin name for the tea plant is Camellia sinensis. I don’t think it can get any easier.Also everyone loves my kombucha better than the store bought kind.”, “When I first started continuous brewing I was very nervous…but after getting the hang of it..I LOVE IT!!! Tea contains several nutrients and compounds that feed the Kombucha culture including nitrogen, caffeine and theanine to name a few. Of course, now that we said don’t use these teas, everyone will want to use these teas and our inbox will fill with emails from people who have used them successfully. My first batch was really simple, mostly due to really simply laid forth instructions.”, “I love this continuous kombucha brewer.