Bottling the Homemade Kombucha
Hi friends!
Happy Wednesday – hope the first half of your week has been great! If not, now’s your chance to turn it around for the second half of the week, right? 
Look what’s in the stores now:
Tiny pumpkins!!! I love these! So I had a get a few to ‘autumn up’ my table:
Well, today’s the big day. Time to bottle my first successful batch of the kombucha homebrew. I may have let the culture grow longer than it needed to, but I’d read that it can take up to a month when you are starting a batch without the culture. I wanted to be sure mine was GOOD and READY. Judging from the size of my culture, I’d say it was beyond ready!
I removed the culture and placed it in a ceramic bowl:
Boiled my ‘recycled’ bottles for 20 minutes (no directions I read said to do that but I remember when my mom would can things, the glass jars were sterilized by boiling, and I figured it couldn’t hurt!)
Juice for two of the bottles that I plan on flavoring (using açai):
I’m adding 1 oz of juice to a 16 oz bottle of the tea – these funnels I picked up shopping with MSP’s mom this weekend came in handy today!
Stir up the ‘sediment’ in the tea before pouring in a bottle.
The finished product:
I left a little room at the top of the bottles because I’m not sure how much it expands (if any) while it continues to ferment. The non-flavored bottle in the middle is a little short because I needed some of the remainder to add to my next batch.
I’ll let them sit at room temperature for 2 days, then I can refrigerate from there for up to 30 days. Hoping to try my first one on Friday!
But I did sneak a little sip before bottling. I won’t lie – I was a little scared. BOTTOMS UP!
It had a pretty strong vinegar taste – we’ll see if that goes away a little as the fizz builds. But I did like it! And I’m so excited!
So now I have my next batch getting ready (the tea has to cool to room temperature before I can add the culture). But since this last batch only made 2.5 bottles I’m graduating to a gallon jar this time.
I’ll be up to my eyeballs in the ‘booch soon! Wahoo!
Are any of you going to join me in the homemade kombucha endeavor?
***
Did you know that September is National YOGA month? Click here for more info on getting a free week of yoga at 1,500+ participating locations. Or you can try some yoga at home. My three favorite yoga DVDs are:
- Iron Yoga by Anthony Carillo
- Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga with Bob Harper
- Power Yoga with Rodney Yee
(BTW: These are not affiliate links – I just really like and recommend these DVDs.)
I really want to try Bethenny Frankel’s yoga DVD. I’m on the waiting list at the library, because I’d prefer to try before I buy. If I love it, I’ll let you know!
I don’t practice yoga daily because I also like to lift weights, run, hike and walk. I’d love to do it daily, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do it all, since I still want to do those other things I love. I’ve read of people who say they have reshaped their bodies with only yoga. But for me personally, I add it in for flexibility, stress reduction and core/balance work. Weight training and cardio are where I find the most change to my body.
OK, friends – I’m off to get the next batch of kombucha moved into its new jar! Have a GREAT day! FEED you body with nourishing foods and MOVE it a little as well!
– Shari B. =)