Kombucha
This recipe is brought to you with the idea of sharing… and encouraging you to get involved! I’m always keen to make the most of food, some of my favourite meals feature leftovers or bits of this and that. In 2017 I worked with the TBG Surplus Food Project to set up the Make a Meal of It Project and community fridge.
Community fridges have popped up across the country in the last few years. A simple concept; food is donated and everyone in the community is welcome to take what they want. The food comes from food businesses, allotment gluts or households. Volunteers monitor the stock daily and ensure it is all fit and safe to eat with any waste being responsibly disposed of. They ensure good food is shared and eaten with the happy side-effects of saving money and reducing waste.
The TBG community fridge in Fishguard and Goodwick was the first in Wales and we supported further community fridges to open across south and west Wales. If you’d like to find out more, inspirational environmental charity Hubbub runs the UK-wide Community Fridge Network.
Fruity Kombucha
Kombucha is fermented tea, it’s refreshing and can be lightly effervescent, especially if you flavour it in a second ferment (a great use for excess fruit or fruit peelings etc). The quantities given here are a guide, you can scale up or down to suit your use.
To make your own kombucha you’ll need a scoby (symbiotic culture of bacteria & yeast), aka a ‘mother’, to ferment the tea. I’ve been making kombucha for a while and often have scoby to share as more is created every time a new batch brews. If you live locally and you’d like a scoby to make your own kombucha get in touch.
You will need:
A large glass/ceramic jug with lid/tea towel to cover or Kilner-style drinks dispenser
4 x 750ml bottles (or other bottles with equivalent capacity)
Ingredients
Kombucha scoby and about 200ml of the previous batch of kombucha
4 regular tea bags/4 tablespoons loose tea
4 tablespoons sugar
1 litre boiling water + extra cold water
Optional flavourings: 200g fruit, finely diced/mashed (berries, apples, rhubarb, ginger, etc, you can mix and match) and/or 4 large elderflowers/rose petals/edible fragrant petals
Method
Brew the tea as you usually do and add the sugar.
When cool, remove the tea bags/loose tea and pour into your jug/drinks dispenser. Add the scoby and kombucha (from a previous batch), top up with cold water so your container is about three-quarters full, cover.
The kombucha will take 3-10 days to ferment, depending on the room temperature and dilution of the tea. A new SCOBY will form on the surface. Taste your kombucha every day until it is to your liking – it starts off quite sweet, becoming more acidic/vinegary over time (and very slightly increasing in alcohol, up to about 1%).
When it is to your taste pour the kombucha into clean bottles, you can drink it as it is. Refrigerate to preserve and slow further fermentation. Or,
Flavour it during a second fermentation. Add 50g fruit to each bottle, or flower petals, and top with kombucha then secure the lid. Leave to steep at room temperature for about 4 days. Refrigerate to preserve and slow further fermentation. Take care when opening as it can be lively!
To make your next batch, repeat the process with a fresh brew of sweet tea. Share your excess scoby or put on a compost heap/plants or dispose of with your food waste.