A little Kombucha at 俊’s Bar

Little Buch break

Now I know that not everybody can drink alcohol, so I thought I could make some alternative non-alcoholic drinks that people could enjoy at 俊’s Bar。

But I didn’t want to just give out juice or syrups that I made mixed with seltzer water. So I decided to make some Kombucha, like the good Californian I am. Once again, this is part of my secret plan to Americanize the town of Omori with one little drink at a time…

So what is kombucha?

I’m sure a lot of you already know what it is, but Kombucha is just essentially fermented tea with hella sugar. You stick this thing called a SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast), which essentially looks like a jellyfish into a jar with tear and sugar and let it ferment . The bacteria and yeast on this little floating nation take the sugars in the liquid, bring it to their little bacteria and yeast factories and the sugars into acid. What you get is this slightly sweet and sour drink that is super refreshing that is probiotic and is great for your gut health!

Usually it takes about about 7-10 days to ferment the tea depending on the temperature of where you have your jar. The ideal temperature is around room temperature or a little warmer so from 20C to 28C or 68F to 82F. As it ferments, the SCOBY grows in size and gains layers which you can peel back and share with your friends and expand your SCOBY nation!

I keep having to explain to my friends in town that I’m not making Konbu (seaweed) tea since everybody keeps expecting to see a jar with just a piece of Konbu being soaked in some liquid. Apparently konbucha became quite popular in the 80’s or something in Japan where it was known as 紅茶キノコ or Mushroom Tea. This is probably because the SCOBY looks like some giant mushroom floating in some liquid.

The Secondary fermentation

So the fun part I find is the secondary fermentation you do after you get that ideal balance of sour and sweet. This is when you get to add in all the flavors that you want, as well as the bubbles. For this step you need some glass bottles (ideal with rounded edges square bottles don’t hold pressure well) and whatever fruit/vegetables juice, spices, herbs, etc. After dividing the main konbucha up into the different bottles add the flavorings into the glass bottles. If whatever you mix into the kombucha doesn’t have sugar, add a little bit of sugar syrup of something. The bacteria and yeast in the kombucha are still alive and need food to create the natural carbonation for the secondary fermentation. After mixing the flavorings into the bottles leave them out at room temperature for another 2-4 days depending on the temperature. Some ingredients like ginger are super reactive so it might spray everywhere the first time you open it up.

This time, I did three different flavorings:

Grapefruit and Sage

Beets and Orange

Lacto Fermented Strawberry and Mint

The Grapefruit and Sage turned out to be the best, I think I pulled the kombucha a little early and it lacked a little sourness so the acid from the grapefruit juice balanced the Konbucha out well. The beets and orange kombucha has amazing color, and the sweet earthy flavor of beets. I didn’t filter the beet juice so it’s kinda like a kombucha that you can eat while drinking. The beets were actually from my friend Suzuki-san’s farm, not canned, so I would recommend using fresh beets if you’re planning to leave the shredded beets in the kombucha. The lacto strawberry and mint gives off the most ferment-y flavor and has a nice sweet flavor of the strawberry and the herbal notes of mint. Although I pulled the kombucha a little early, it continues to ferment in the bottles so if you leave it for a little bit the sourness develops.

How to enjoy kombucha

Kombucha can be used for a lot of things, from just drinking to using it for cooking.

I’m thinking I can use it as like a tonic and make beer cocktails and such or even to give a little pop to pickles or vinaigrettes.

Once it becomes better weather, I’m hoping to bring my kombucha to barbecues or even oceanside picnics!

If any of you are able to come visit me, I’ll be sure to have some fun seasonal kombucha’s for y’all to enjoy!