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Rawvegangirl · 06-04-2010, 10:11 PM

So do I understand this correctly?? When you bottle the Kombucha drink (mines made with organic black tea) Thats where the carbonation comes in?
Thanks
rawvegangirl <3

TipsyDragon · 06-04-2010, 11:29 PM

if its anything like beer yes. the yeast eat the extra sugar and carbonate the beer, or in this case Kombucha.

Emerald · 06-09-2010, 01:45 PM

Ok what I do to make a fizzy kombucha (like GTDaves )is to "harvest" what I need and then for each one of the bottles that I want to fill I add(they are 16 oz swing top bottles that can handle the pressure) about 2 tablespoons worth of fruit/ginger/or even that juice concentrate either frozen or the liquid type. Then I cap them and put them in a warm dark place for the secondary ferment for just a few days- even less in the heat of summer. Then I put them in the fridge and drink them.. Just watch out tho they can erupt under the pressure and if your bottles are not pressure safe (you could use beer bottles and cap them) you can make bottle bombs.
They look like this but only in brown
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/16-oz-ez-cap-bottle-clear-1-bottle.html
Now if you have an Ikea store near you they sell bigger ones for $2 of clear glass. You would then just add another tablespoon of sweet stuff.

Potter1 · 06-10-2010, 03:15 PM

I'd imagine that you could use a carbonation calc. (google em, or check out beer recipator) to get more consistant results than just adding some fruit or juice, removing some of the fear of bottle bombs

Emerald · 06-10-2010, 03:42 PM

I wonder how well that calculator will work with kombucha as it is no where near what beer is.?
And the only reason that I even mention pressure safe bottles is due to the fact that a friend who bottles kombucha used just mason jars and they exploded as they are no where near able to handle even a bit pressure like that.
I would not use plastic of any kind tho, due to the fact that the high acid in kombucha might leach chemicals from the plastic and give it a nasty flavor.
As far as I know (and that is really not as much as I like) kombucha is not meant for long storage and is best if you drink it fresh, normally I drank it within a couple of weeks of making it, usually even less-I was making and drinking about 2 gallons about every 2 to 3 weeks. I had two gallon jugs of mothers brewing and harvested one every other week in rotation.
Now if you don't like fizzy kombucha, do not add flavoring when you harvest and put directly into the fridge, then if you want you can add about 2 tablespoons of fresh juice to the kombucha when you drink it like a cocktail.

I can not stress this enuf- kombucha, while a fermented, brewed drink is nothing like wine or beer and can not really be treated like you would treat wine or beer.
This link tells you exactly how to grow them and bottle them and what is really going on much better than I can... Kombucha is more related to making vinegar than brewing beer or wine.
http://www.happyherbalist.com/kombucha_brewing_guide.htm
I had it growing for a few years and just got tired of making it every week and I was really busy with other things, but now I might start another one as I have been craving it and my tummy could use a boost of good stuff, and since I think yogurt is a bit gross for me to eat(flavor of rotten pudding), kombucha fits the bill.

wyzazz · 06-15-2010, 01:22 PM

Pick up some carb drops and try 1 per bottle. If that's too much then back off to 1/2 of a drop. I think you'll have to play with it a bit to get it right...

Emerald · 06-15-2010, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wyzazz

Pick up some carb drops and try 1 per bottle. If that's too much then back off to 1/2 of a drop. I think you'll have to play with it a bit to get it right...

You could use those but then you wouldn't be able to put any fruit/flavoring in. Which is the reason that I kinda do the secondary ferment in the bottle with fruit and or fruit syrup- sure I like the fizz but I really like the added flavoring more.

wyzazz · 06-15-2010, 02:08 PM

You could use Fruit Extracts from the LHBS if you wanted to, they don't have any sugars in them and you get pretty granular control over how much flavor you get. My LHBS has a whole shelf full of extracts.

Emerald · 06-15-2010, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wyzazz

You could use Fruit Extracts from the LHBS if you wanted to, they don't have any sugars in them and you get pretty granular control over how much flavor you get. My LHBS has a whole shelf full of extracts.

Once again, that would kinda defeat my purpose of a natural flavoring.(I will check out the fruit extracts tho to see what is in them) Not that I do strictly all natural, I prefer not to use anything that might not be totally fruit.
The brewing of kombucha is not as tight and regulated as beer or even wine is. You might be over thinking this a bit too much... Did you read about kombucha on the link, or even google it? Could just be that some folks are more-Strict/OCD about measuring and I am just a put a dab of this and a dash of that into things.. But most of my recipes do turn out.(except one dismal disaster-German potato salad-dog wouldn't even try it!

)

The best kombucha that I have made was just about 4 nice chunks of fresh pineapple and about 2 nice rounds of ginger(all cut to fit in the bottle and come out of the bottle)-no added sugar as the fruit provides it. Also fresh kombucha really does carb well without too much added sugar as that is just the nature of the beast(or should I say Mother

)
The closest I can compare to is say, bottling some of your wine while it is still actively fermenting so that it has almost no alcohol but plenty of flavor and fizz.. OR making real ginger ale, you bottle and drink before almost any of the yeast turns the sugars into alcohol. Gee, it is so much more complicated than I can get my little brain to type it out... I just can't get what I know in my head to come out on the post..

Or make it sound friendly and not snarky--AGHHHH there needs to be a class on how to post articulately.

wyzazz · 06-15-2010, 05:12 PM

I know what Kombucha is, I've read up on it and thought about making some but I'm really just a beer guy FWIW. I'm just offering up suggestions and trying to be as helpful as possible. That's what these forums are all about after all!

Cheers!