Kombucha what?

Have you ever had Kombucha? I had never heard of it until I moved to Portland. Although there is little research to prove the health benefits of Kombucha, there are many claims that it provides a wealth of health benefits to your body. It can serve as a digestive aid, detoxifies, your body, increases energy, and so on. I really enjoy kombucha. It is a little funky at first, being that it is fermented tea, so you get a little fermented flavor plus a few bubbles. It i typically made with green or black tea but I assume you could use any tea you'd like. Anyways, Tom got my a Kombucha starter kit this Christmas a I thought I'd give it a shot. 

Below you can see the big jar, tea bag, kombucha starter (sometimes called the Mother, basically a piece of the bacteria that ferments the tea), and sugar for the bacteria to eat.

It is very simple to make. You first brew the tea and add the sugar, then you wait until it has cooled to room temperature and add the Mother. It is really gross looking but I got over it.

The tea itself has to sit and ferment for about 2 weeks and then it will be ready to drink. Below you can kinda see the shadow/outline of the mother that had grown larger to cove the top of the jar.

After the tea was done, I was still pretty cautious of drinking it. I tasted it and it seemed normal but I was still worried that I had done something wrong and the growing mother was actually bad bacteria. I kinda freaked myself out.....So, I dumped the tea and kept the mother so I could try again. Although I never drank the tea, it was a fun experience and I am super stoked to try it again.