Kavboocha!

[youngpretender13]

Just wondering if anyone has tried using Kava Tea as a base for a kombucha. I wouldnt want it to be the primary tea i used but adding a bit to the batch to give it a nice mello vibe. I am considering using the root itself but also there is a brand of kava which i really enjoy which has amongst its ingredients Natural Cinnamon bark Oil. I have read that the inclusion of any amount of oil even in teas which contain small amounts of citrus can be detrimental to the health of the scoby. The cinnamon oil is low on the list of ingredients (2nd to last) but i'm afraid it still might have an impact.

Any thoughts?

 

[kyt]

I've had kombucha that had cinnamon oil added to secondary, it was good , but you have to be careful with cinnamon oil. If you use too much, it makes the KT tastes like Red Hots.
You could probably get away with using that in an anaerobic secondary. Don't worry about the pellicle health, it is not a necessary component anyway. What you do need to worry about, is whether the oil you are using can turn rancid or mold if it floats. I don't know about cinnamon oil, because I won't use it. One really easy way to tell, is to make some of that tea in question. If you can see oil floating on the surface, then it could spoil, definitely don't use it in your primary.

Citrus is not bad for the kombucha. I add citric acid to my tea base. What you find in some teas, like Earl Grey, is oil of bergamot. It will turn rancid.

I have no experience with kava, but if you are going to use whole root, make sure it will sink in your fermentor. Anything that floats, can mold or spoil. You can put things in a muslin bag and tie a picking weight to it if needed.