Going to try to convince my mother it's diet soda at Thanksgiving ... maybe

My mother is notorious for bringing crap to Thanksgiving even when we tell her not to.

My wife spends days baking from-scratch pies. My mom brings a grocery store (and likely at it's expiration date) pie.

I tell her we're avoiding soda due to our toddler and health reasons. My mom brings a case of Diet Cherry Coke and LEAVES it after she's gone.

It's infuriating!

This year, we're trying out a fully from-scratch traditional foods dinner. I just started a culture and hope to have a gallon or two ready by Thanksgiving (trying to find a mother on Craigslist to speed the process up a little).

I have a pretty good handle on the process. Two gallon jars with spigots on the way from Amazon.

I'd like to offer her a bottle of kombucha that's similar to what she's used to drinking. Does anyone have any suggestions for backsweetening (she's diabetic but eats so much sugared crap. I doubt the little bit in a backsweetened bottle would matter to her) and adding cherry flavor tokombucha?

TL;DR New to kombucha. Want to offer my Diet Cherry Coke-addicted mother something she'll like this Thanksgiving. Any tips?

I would say prepare some kombucha normally, not letting it ferment too much, then add many tablespoons of sugar to sweeten the *($@ out of it (it will be tough to do that to match a 'soda pop' sweet), and then let it sit warm for a couple days. Noting of course the possibility for explosion (a good container would be say a diet cherry coke bottle for a number of reasons here). When the bottle feels good and firm put it in the freezer to super chill it before dinner. The idea being make it look/feel as much as a diet coke withotu being a diet coke.

Do a short ferment with your kombucha, halting before it gets too sour and tangy. For me, I remove scoby around Day 5-7 but I make 4 cups at a time. Add frozen, thawed, dark red cherries, I use one cup for every 3-4 cups of kombucha and place on counter for 24 hours, then to refrig, sealed tight. The coke part, could try this http://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/824619/coca-cola-recipe-revealed- - -OR - - - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/06/dining/cola-syrup-recipe.html?_r=4&partner=rss&emc=rss&- - - OR buy a container of SodaStream Cola syrup (splenda/sugar blend) and experiment.

FWIW,if you do not find a scoby on CL just grab one off eBay or perhaps reach out to the forum...if I had an extra I would send your way, but I have a waiting list just locally.

It's not clear from your question if you intend to (1) deceive your mother about what she's drinking or (2) will explain to her what Kombucha is and are merely trying to make it more palatable.

If (1) it's a bad idea. Many people experience gastric distress if they drink too much Kombucha when they're not used to it. Even 3-4 oz seem to upset some stomaches. Even she'll drink it down & keep it down, imho it's unethical to lie about what someone is putting into their body.

If (2) then using crushed cherries sounds like a great idea. I'd also add crushed fresh ginger root and definitely secondary-ferment for more than just a day or two. About 3-4 days should give it a nice fizz. It will be a tart drink but you don't want to overload a diabetic with too much added sugar. I have a sweet tooth myself but enjoy Kombucha like I'd enjoy a dry wine or a straight Scotch or Bourbon - it's not soda-pop sweet but it's not supposed to be. And limit her to 4 oz at first, maybe twice a day, until you know it's well-tolerated.

Sure you want to do this at a high-stress event (family gatherings at the holidays)? Our prayers are with you

I did get two SCOBYs on craigslist. They came today. I made up my starter tea and plopped 'em in this afternoon. So I expect I'll have my first batch in about a week. I'll try some of those flavoring suggestions.

Zapped, I'm definitely not trying to deceive her. Just offer it as an alternative.

Ya know, you can lead a horse to water but.....
My wife has dealt with Breast Cancer for 2 yrs. 3 surgeries, 1 ovary removal, chemo and all that nasty stuff. Clean bill now. Does she still drink Diet soda, you bet. But I Love her so thats all that matters.
Just enjoy your time together this Thanksgiving, it'll be easier that way.