Dilute Kombucha

[Owly055]

Having given up brewing beer permanently, and reducing my drinking to about 2 beers a week, (health reasons) I've been casting about for things to drink. I've made kombucha for about 4 years now, but I don't drink a great deal of it. I have a couple of those great 1.75 gallon corny kegs from Williams Brewing, and have been keeping one filled with water, and carbonated. Plain carbonated water gets a bit boring, and I never drink soft drinks or any other commercially made drinks, haven't since I was a child, and I'm 62 this year. They taste disgustingly sweet and offensive for the most part. Today I dumped two liters of kombucha that was flavored and run through secondary into the keg through a cloth to filter out the fruit pulp, adding it to about an equal amount of water that was already in the keg and carbonated. I force carbonated, and the result was a nice light tangy dilute kombucha that's very drinkable.

The only drinks I really like are coffee (decaf), water, and beer, and kombucha in moderation. I'm looking to experiment with other options. very light sweetness, I can live with, and even better if it's combined with some salt, which tones it down and adds richness to the flavor if kept light enough that it is not detectable as a flavor element. Salt also tempers sourness beautifully. I'll experiment with a touch of sea salt and potassium chloride.

H.W.

 

[Br3w4u]

Try kegging some cold brew. I drink a lot of coffee and love to have it on tap. It’s best to not carbonate it but just use enough CO2 to seal the keg and push the liquid. If you can get ahold of nitrogen it will make for delicious cold brew that will also satisfy your thirst for beer because it’s similar to a stout. Green tea cola is good too but I don’t know of any good recipes.

 

[Owly055]

Try kegging some cold brew. I drink a lot of coffee and love to have it on tap. It’s best to not carbonate it but just use enough CO2 to seal the keg and push the liquid. If you can get ahold of nitrogen it will make for delicious cold brew that will also satisfy your thirst for beer because it’s similar to a stout. Green tea cola is good too but I don’t know of any good recipes.

I've never cared for cold coffee. I might try the nitrogen thing anyway, as I keep a bottle of nitrogen around for refrigeration leak testing.... Cold coffee with cream and a hint of chocolate charged with nitrogen, just a bit of sugar, and a bit of salt............... The latter combination adds body and richness....The one cancels out the other just leaving a richness that enhances flavor. I learned this long ago making salsa.

H.W.

 

[Owly055]

Bought a bottle of pina colada concentrate yesterday, and discovered that a bit of that combined with my dilute kombucha makes a wonderful drink..... all it needs is come alcohol, but I'm through with alcohol.......... I'm leaving the kombucha water (50/50), which is blackberry flavor, under a LOT of carbonation pressure, so much that foam fills about half the glass. A couple Ts of mix in a 12 oz beer glass, topped up with this heavily carbonated booch is what seems to work. I won't buy a mix next time, but make my own.

H.W.

 

[Br3w4u]

I am trying to go N/A for a month. 3 weeks and 2 days to go....I have a batch of blackberry hibiscus kombucha going right now. I usually just pour the dregs from a bottle of commercial stuff in a big mason jar with some strong tea. Haven’t tried a kit or flavorings but it seems like you would get better results. The only real prominent flavor that I have been able to get in to a batch was raspberry but I had to use white tea.

 

[Owly055]

I am trying to go N/A for a month. 3 weeks and 2 days to go....I have a batch of blackberry hibiscus kombucha going right now. I usually just pour the dregs from a bottle of commercial stuff in a big mason jar with some strong tea. Haven’t tried a kit or flavorings but it seems like you would get better results. The only real prominent flavor that I have been able to get in to a batch was raspberry but I had to use white tea.

I've been making kombucha for years. I've never worried about the scoby........ which is just as pellicle, mostly microcellulose, not as some folks think, a living organism, or a "home" for the bacteria and yeasts that make up kombucha. The pellicle does however appear to serve some function, as the brew will be just a tiny bit faster with than without. I suspect that the bacteria that produce it use it as a protective cover of some sort, and go to town producing it if it is absent, rather than producing acetic acid and reproducing.
My procedure is ultra simple, and produces superb and consistent results. I've started with GTs two different times and guided others in the same process a number of times. I like to start out 50/50 with commercial or other active kombucha (no scoby), and sweet tea (1C sugar 4 tea bags per gallon). Takes about a week to come up to full sourness, then double it again, etc, until I reach full volume.
I use ONLY continuous brew, and wouldn't consider any other method. I use a glass ice tea dispenser(s) with a spigot, and once a week I draw off about 50% and dump in an equal amount of sweet tea...... RIGHT OVER THE SCOBY..... I'm not gentle or careful, it cascades over the scoby, sinking it and rolling it about, after which it refloats. This weekly bath keeps the PH low enough (acidic) that mold cannot develop. It's absolutely fool proof.
The only time I wash the jar is when the yeast trub buildup on the bottom gets excessive. The junk on the jar carries all the microbes we need and want. It may look ugly or "dirty", but for our purposes it's sterile as far as undesirable critters. A high population of desirable bacteria is insurance against pathogens. They keep the PH low, and kill off other microbes.
When the scoby gets too thick to be convenient, I simply fish it out and toss it in the compost, and allow a new one to develop. I consider all this silliness of reverently removing it to a plate with sterile hands, and separating the newest layer, and storing the remainder for sharing or future use utter nonsense. It's a silly ritual borne of ignorance, nothing more. Biology, by thte way was my major in college, so my procedures are based on knowledge, not tradition or mythology. I'm not inherently against traditional methods, when they make sense, but as in brewing, there are many that do not, and I'm more than a bit irreverent.

The kombucha I remove to "finish" in secondary goes into 1L EzCap bottles, after adding a bottling syrup that I make from whatever I have at hand. Currently it's blackberry, cooked down with water and no sugar (1 18oz package from Costco makes a quart of syrup). About 1/4C in the bottom of each bottle. I fill with kombucha, and let sit with the caps on but held down with a large rubber band (office depot size 64) through the bail with a half hitch and stretched under the bottom of the bottle, rather than being latched. This allows the pressure to build up and carbonate the booch, but relieve before over carbonating. These EzCap bottles WILL NOT GRENADE..... They will relieve (leak off) but not explode. They are rated at well in excess of 100 psi. This is NOT true of other brands, and especially NOT true of the ordinary Grolsch bottle, which WILL explode. You can leave these as long as you like. They will get increasingly sour.

I also make a bottling syrup using grated ginger cooked down with water and sugar, often with star anise and cinnamon.

You can use any fruit for flavoring, and in fact jams and jellies work. Put jam or jelly in a mason jar with a little kombucha and set it in a pan of hot water, to melt and make it pourable, then add to your bottle cool, and fill with kombucha. it's a simple readily available flavoring from the grocery store or from your own collection of home made jam............ if you can. I do.

There really are no rules to kombucha except to feed it, and avoid getting it hot and killing it................. The almost ubiquitous batch process is the worst possible procedure from a biological standpoint, with the greatest risk of contamination, as you use a tiny bit of starter in as clean (not sterile) jar, with a lot of sweet tea, and the PH is too high (basic) to discourage unwanted microbes. That it works (usually), is a testament to the aggressive nature of these microbes, but only people using this method ever suffer from mold problems, or experience failures. It's only ignorance that keeps this method alive.

H.W.

 

[Owly055]

I am trying to go N/A for a month. 3 weeks and 2 days to go....I have a batch of blackberry hibiscus kombucha going right now. I usually just pour the dregs from a bottle of commercial stuff in a big mason jar with some strong tea. Haven’t tried a kit or flavorings but it seems like you would get better results. The only real prominent flavor that I have been able to get in to a batch was raspberry but I had to use white tea.

I did a 3 month NA awhile back.............This time it's permanent but not absolute. Two beers a week approximately, in social situations, no alcohol at home at all. It's a health decision. I'm not trying to prove anything, and being "dry" is not an obsession. If someone offers me a glass of wine when I'm visiting or a shot of decent whiskey or a good beer, I'm not going to turn it down and say "I don't drink", but drinking will become a very very small part of my life, and I'm through brewing. I believe in moderation in all things, including the practice of moderation.......... too much moderation is not good for the soul ;-)

H.W.

 

[Owly055]

Try kegging some cold brew. I drink a lot of coffee and love to have it on tap. It’s best to not carbonate it but just use enough CO2 to seal the keg and push the liquid. If you can get ahold of nitrogen it will make for delicious cold brew that will also satisfy your thirst for beer because it’s similar to a stout. Green tea cola is good too but I don’t know of any good recipes.

I restocked my Decaf from Costco yesterday, as well as picking up some chocolate syrup and cream. I have a cold brew going as of this morning, and will filter and mix to taste and keg tomorrow. Dug out my nitrogen regulator, and found fittings to connect to the keg. I'll put about 50 psi on the keg, shake well, and add more, and repeat several times, then refrigerate and shake frequently for a few days to infuse it well with nitrogen and bring the pressure down. I'll then maintain serving pressure with CO2...........Does that make sense? It will basically be a nitrogenated cold mocha. It may take a few tries to get the mix where I want it.
.....................Thanks for the nitrogen idea!
H.W.

 

[Br3w4u]

I restocked my Decaf from Costco yesterday, as well as picking up some chocolate syrup and cream. I have a cold brew going as of this morning, and will filter and mix to taste and keg tomorrow. Dug out my nitrogen regulator, and found fittings to connect to the keg. I'll put about 50 psi on the keg, shake well, and add more, and repeat several times, then refrigerate and shake frequently for a few days to infuse it well with nitrogen and bring the pressure down. I'll then maintain serving pressure with CO2...........Does that make sense? It will basically be a nitrogenated cold mocha. It may take a few tries to get the mix where I want it.
.....................Thanks for the nitrogen idea!
H.W.

Sounds good, now I want some LOL. It’s good to know that I don’t have to be careful with the scoby anymore too because I was doing things exactly how you had described.

 

[Owly055]

I just googled nitrogen charged mocha and came up with these links:
https://www.califiafarms.com/products/nitro-cold-brew-mocha
https://www.today.com/food/5-things-know-trying-starbucks-nitro-coffee-t100315
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-cold-brew-coffee-nitrogen-bubbles-tastes-better-2015-8
https://theweekendedition.com.au/food-drink/nitrogen-cold-brew/

So it looks like you set me on the right track.............. My nitro rig is about built. All I have to do is use the heat gun to install the ends. I had everything I needed on hand.

H.W.

 

[Br3w4u]

I need to get a nitrogen set up now. It shouldn’t be hard to convince SWMBO since coffee is involved. There is a local coffee roaster here in Oklahoma City called coffee slingers and it’s the only place I know of that serves nitro coffee nearby. Nitro mocha would be awesome!

 

[Owly055]

I'm sampling the nitro mocha at the moment. I made one gallon of cold brew, filtered it through permanent filter, followed by double filtering through paper filters, using a total of 6 filters.... they plugged up fairly quickly. I poured it into a container and added a pint of whipping cream, and about half of a 3 pound bottle of Walmart chocolate syrup (uses hfcs, so I'll make my own from now on), mixed well and pressured it to 50 psi, shaking well. It of course has not absorbed the nitrogen yet, but it promises to be excellent. Next batch, I'll try to cut the sweetness with my home made syrup. It definitely has potential, rich and tasty.

H.W.

 

[Br3w4u]

I'm sampling the nitro mocha at the moment. I made one gallon of cold brew, filtered it through permanent filter, followed by double filtering through paper filters, using a total of 6 filters.... they plugged up fairly quickly. I poured it into a container and added a pint of whipping cream, and about half of a 3 pound bottle of Walmart chocolate syrup (uses hfcs, so I'll make my own from now on), mixed well and pressured it to 50 psi, shaking well. It of course has not absorbed the nitrogen yet, but it promises to be excellent. Next batch, I'll try to cut the sweetness with my home made syrup. It definitely has potential, rich and tasty.

H.W.

Sounds tasty!

 

[Br3w4u]

JW have you ever tried making kombucha with earl grey tea? I was thinking of trying it but not sure how it would turn out.

 

[Owly055]

JW have you ever tried making kombucha with earl grey tea? I was thinking of trying it but not sure how it would turn out.

I dislike tea in general, so I use the cheapest and the least amount of tea....... decaf. I've used Rooibos rather than actual tea, and I've used raspberry leaves from my own garden. The widespread idea that only actual tea provides the necessary nutrients for the microbes in kombucha is of course nonsense. I've used a number of other herbal teas also. It might be interesting also to try using mint tea or rosmary tea from fresh rosmary "leaves". I've always done my experiments using a side culture rather than the main one if they got very exotic. At one point I brewed an unhopped beer in a one gallon ice tea jug alongside a kombucha brew, and every four days, I racked a quart of kombucha and replaced it with a quart of beer, so that it transitioned from being 100% kombucha to mostly beer. The result was interesting, and quite drinkable at each stage.
If you live where the products are legal, and like the psychoactive effects...... I do not live where it is available, nor do I like the psychoactive effects.... It would be worth trying kombucha made from cannabis tea. Here is a link to an article on the 10 best such products: https://www.leafly.com/news/strains-products/best-marijuana-teas I have family on the "left coast", where it is legal and available all over the place, I just don't have the inclination.
Again, I'm not personally interested in this, nor am I advocating it........ Your mileage may vary, as will the local laws.
Note that simply steeping the leaves will not extract and convert the psychoactive ingredient from what I've read.


H.W.

 

[Br3w4u]

I like tea but the idea of herbal kombucha is interesting also. I might try that. I don’t care for the psychoactive effect of THC but I have wondered what an IPA dry hopped with some quality buds would taste like. I have had some IPA’s that were very reminiscent of that smell. It is illegal in Oklahoma. We were actually the very last U.S. state to legalize tattooing and finally this year in November our liquor stores will be able to refrigerate beer. The grocery stores will be able to sell “strong” beer too ( over 3.2 abv ). It is highly unlikely that they would legalize marijuana here even for medical use. I don’t really care though, just don’t mess with my beer.

 

[Owly055]

I'm a little surprise that my previous post was not deleted by the moderator........ While it is on topic, and the product is now legal in many states, moderation here has in my experience been a bit arbitrary and capricious........... I was once kicked off merely for stirring up a controversy over my use of the word decoction to describe a side boil with hops in a no boil no chill brewing procedure............ go figure ;-) You can get in trouble here for even mentioning the D word (dis____ation)

H.W.

 

[Owly055]

I've ordered a nitro faucet for my nitro mocha........... a bit silly perhaps, but I kind of like the stuff. My procedure has been to shake well before serving. I'm on batch two (1 gallon), and made my own chocolate syrup to keep the sweetness down to what I consider a decent level. I mixed 1 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder with some coffee, using a whisk to make a paste, gradually adding more to make it a liquid, then added a cup of sugar, some vanilla and some salt. I then boiled it over on the stove ;-(. This went in with the cold brew coffee (1 gallon), along with two cups of whole milk.

Next time I plan to use a percentage of buttermilk to give a slight sour tang to it....... doing it to taste. Sour goes well with chocolate (in moderation).

I charged lightly with CO2 , and tomorrow will bleed the pressure off and hit it with nitrogen.

H.W.

 

[Br3w4u]

I am still sans nitrogen . I thought it would be easier to convince the wife that it would be a good idea but she said no almost immediately LOL. Oh well, I can live my nitro coffee dreams vicariously through your thread and go buy some at the coffee shop.

 

[Br3w4u]

I am going to try your jam kombucha technique. If I use it as a priming solution for a 12 oz bottle how much would you suggest using per bottle? I was thinking like 1 Tbsp of liquefied jam per 12 oz of kombucha in a PET bottle. What do you think?

 

[djtkombi]

I am going to try your jam kombucha technique. If I use it as a priming solution for a 12 oz bottle how much would you suggest using per bottle? I was thinking like 1 Tbsp of liquefied jam per 12 oz of kombucha in a PET bottle. What do you think?

So did you give this a go? Curious to hear how your experiments went.
I found this thread very eye opening. Looking to understand the process and rules better. Seems a lot of misinformation on the requirements of brewing kombucha.

 

[Br3w4u]

So did you give this a go? Curious to hear how your experiments went.
I found this thread very eye opening. Looking to understand the process and rules better. Seems a lot of misinformation on the requirements of brewing kombucha.

I did. It worked great! I just made some more recently. I would suggest storing them cold and consuming within a few weeks. Open it over the sink too LOL. I used 1 tablespoon of puréed fresh strawberries per 12 oz bottle. I guess you could try using less but it is really good when it’s super carbonated. Kind of like champagne. The berries add some flavor too.

 

[Atalanta]

I am still sans nitrogen . I thought it would be easier to convince the wife that it would be a good idea but she said no almost immediately LOL. Oh well, I can live my nitro coffee dreams vicariously through your thread and go buy some at the coffee shop.

I have the same problem with my DH, he gives me a hard time with stuff that isn't beer (though who is loving my 5gal seltzer set-up! LOL). We have an extra tank that I'm gonna see if it can be filled with N2 at the local Airgas. I just bought a stout faucet (saying that we needed one because we didn't have one LOL).