Kombucha made easy

NO MOTHER? NO WORRIES!

It’s been buzzing at Govinda as we’ve hosted Nick, Adam and the team from Milkwood for their Permaculture Design Retreat. Many people from various walks of life joined this eye opening retreat. When I heard they were teaching about Kombucha, I was a quite excited. Adam’s session about Fermented Foods was fun and enlightening. I’m going to share with you some of what I learnt about this delightful fermented beverage.

Kombucha is sugar sweetened tea that is fermented by a SKOBY (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast) and results in a delicious probiotic drink.

Boom! - Both delicious AND great for your gut health. Winning!

Most of us consume fermented foods in our daily diet. Foods such as olives, tempeh, miso, tofu, chocolat, wine, yogurt and many more common foods are all fermented.

Every culture in the world uses fermentation. Pre-industrial revolution, When crops were abundant fermentation was used for preservation and storage of foods. There is evidence of cultures fermenting foods as far back as 7000bc.

Fun Fact:

There is evidence that workers were eating fermented vegetables when building the great wall.

These days though we eat more processed foods, take more medications and often function under ongoing stress, all of which can put our gut bacteria out of balance.

There is evidence to suggest fermented foods are a vessel for good gut bacteria, which helps break down the food in your gut and keeps your skin in good condition (and who doesn’t want good skin right?). Some bacteria can also increase vitamin B levels available in the food we eat.

For me Kombucha was love at first taste. I adore the combination of tang and effervescent fizz. Sadly I haven’t yet had the opportunity to make my own. Plus the process seemed a little foreign to me. And when I first saw a picture of a SKOBY, I was a little taken aback by its unusual appearance, how delicate and alive (and perhaps a little ugly?) it was.

Adam from Milkwood team has helped me see the SKOBY in a whole new light. For starters he calls it the “Mother”, which immediately sounds much more friendly, wholesome and nurturing to me. Adam’s simple, no stress recipe and instructions made the process feel less daunting and more approachable. Why not give it a try yourself.

In our next blog post we will share with you Adam’s stress free Kombucha recipe and instructions.

… and don’t worry, even if you don’t have a mother, you can harvest your own.

Written by: Allahna Cosgriff