D.I.Y. Delicious: Recipes and Ideas for Simple Food From Scratch (25 page)

Kombucha is made by fermenting black tea and sugar with a special culture. It is slightly fizzy, a little bit tart, and very refreshing—like a slightly sour apple cider. It contains beneficial bacteria that aid digestion and boost the immune system. The sugar and caffeine are consumed by the culture, so they do not end up in the final product. Many people consider kombucha to be a powerful cure-all. In recent years, several commercial brands have emerged, usually sold in health food stores and specialty groceries. It is much less expensive to make your own. Many of the commercial brands are flavored. You can flavor yours however you like (with crushed fresh berries or other fruit, or with a bit of grated ginger). Do this after the fermentation is complete. I prefer to flavor my kombucha subtly by brewing it with a mixture of black tea and herbal tea. Elderflower tea, which I call for here, makes a light kombucha with a Sauvignon Blanc–like character, but you should experiment on your own once you master the basic method
.

TIME REQUIRED:
15 minutes active; 10 to 15 days passive

YIELD:
1 gallon

6 black tea bags (I like to use organic oolong)

2 tablespoons loose elderflower tea (or other herbal flower tea), in a tea-infusing sack

1 cup sugar

1 kombucha culture (see
Sources
)

Wash a 1-gallon glass container (such as a sun tea jug) in hot soapy water and let it air-dry.

In a large pot, bring 1 gallon water to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes. Meanwhile, put the tea bags and tea sack in another large glass container, such as a 4-cup glass measuring pitcher.

Pour some of the boiling water over the tea bags and let them steep until the water cools completely. Add the sugar to the remaining hot water and stir to dissolve. Let the tea water and the sugar water cool to room temperature.

Put the kombucha culture in the empty glass container. Discard the tea bags and tea sack, and pour the steeped tea and the sugar water into the container with the kombucha culture. Cover the jar with a towel fastened tightly with a rubber band to keep bugs out. (Fruit flies love kombucha.) Do not use a tightly fastened lid, though, as the culture needs to breathe. Place the jar in a cool, dark place (such as a cupboard) for 7 to 10 days. The actual time will depend on your culture and the warmth of the room. Your kombucha will brew faster in hot weather. A film will form on the top of the liquid, which means the culture is working and reproducing. Try not to jostle it while it’s brewing because you’ll eventually want to use this new culture, so it’s best if it stays intact.

Every time you make kombucha, you will produce a new culture. These can be composted or given away to friends. The mother you started with will eventually weaken, so you should always hold back a few “babies” to keep your culture going. When the mother is very dark and rubbery, it should be discarded. After 5 days, begin tasting your kombucha daily. If your container doesn’t have a spigot, this can be done with a small spoon. The kombucha is done when it is no longer sweet. It should taste like tart apple cider. Decant it into glass bottles, so there is no headspace and seal tightly with lids, making sure to save a culture to start the process over. Give away or refrigerate extras. Leave in a cool, dark place, undisturbed, for 5 days. This will allow your kombucha to develop a desirable fizziness. Start another batch in your clean, empty container. After 5 days, the bottles of decanted kombucha can be transferred to the refrigerator and enjoyed.

Making your own soft drinks is simpler than you probably think. It requires nothing more than water, sugar (or other sweeteners), natural flavorings, and yeast to start the fermentation process. Once you get started, you can experiment with different flavors. These recipes call for a special yeast used by home beer brewers, which is easy to find online (see
Sources
) or at home-brewer shops. This yeast, like active dry yeast, should be kept refrigerated. Though I prefer glass to plastic, generally speaking, I use plastic 1½-liter bottles from bottled water on the off chance the soda over-ferments and explodes before I can refrigerate it. I’ve found it’s a good way to rotate through my supply of earthquake/disaster water, which shouldn’t be kept around for more than a year anyway. Don’t let the talk of explosions scare you, though. They are rare and never happen once the soda is refrigerated.

The powdered herbs called for are available in the bulk section of well-stocked health food stores and sarsaparilla can be found in home-brewing stores. Read
“About Homemade Soft Drinks”
before getting started
.

TIME REQUIRED:
15 minutes active; 2 to 3 days passive

YIELD:
1½ liters

2 tablespoons sarsaparilla bark

to ½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon powdered burdock root

1 teaspoon powdered licorice root

teaspoon brewing yeast

Pour 1½ liters water into a medium saucepan and add the sarsaparilla. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 minutes or so to infuse the water. Turn off the heat, and add
cup sugar, the burdock root, and the licorice root. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Taste, add extra sugar if desired, and then pour through a strainer lined with a coffee filter. Let cool to slightly warmer than body temperature. Stir in the yeast until it dissolves. Pour the strained mixture through a funnel into a plastic bottle, without leaving any head room. If the liquid doesn’t fill the bottle, you probably lost some to the strainer. Simply fill to the top with plain warm water. Fasten the cap and let it sit out in a warm place in your kitchen for 24 to 48 hours. When the bottle feels hard to the touch and begins to bulge, refrigerate it. The carbonation should last at least 1 week after opening.

Sweet, spicy, and really refreshing, adults really love this. And it makes an excellent cocktail mixer! You’ll probably find that the ginger beer ferments faster than the root beer
.

TIME REQUIRED:
15 minutes active; 1 to 2 days passive

YIELD:
1½ liters

to ½ cup sugar

1 tablespoon peeled and finely grated fresh ginger

teaspoon brewing yeast

Pour 1½ liters water into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 minutes or so. Turn off the heat and add
cup sugar and the ginger. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Taste, add extra sugar if desired, and then pour through a strainer lined with a coffee filter. Let cool to slightly warmer than body temperature. Stir in the yeast until it dissolves. Pour the strained mixture through a funnel into a plastic bottle, without leaving any head room. If the liquid doesn’t fill the bottle, you probably lost some to the strainer. Simply fill to the top with plain warm water. Fasten the cap and let it sit out in a warm place in your kitchen for 24 to 48 hours. When the bottle feels hard to the touch and begins to bulge, refrigerate it. The carbonation should last at least 1 week after opening.