Susan W Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Clearly I have a problem. I played a little hookie from work this morning to go get plain Kombucha so I didn't have to wait until Saturday to start. I got some decaf black tea, too. I'm thinking I'll go half caf. Starting tonight! I've already decided on a name-can't wait to see Scooby begin to form! ######################### Meg..wait. Hannah Crumb from KombuchaKamp says in an article to never use store bought decaf tea because it has been treated with a chemical that is bad for Scooby. I can't link it from Tapatalk but as soon as I get back from my dog walk, I will fire up my laptop and link the article so you can read it and decide. Also, she states that Kombucha typically only contains 1/3 of the caffein that a cup of tea contains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megmac Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Then where do you get your tea? I bought organic decaf from WF. I did not drink Kombucha last night and slept finally. Is it possible that I'm THAT sensitive to the caffeine in Kombucha? Bad as in "won't grow"? Okay, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadia B Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 You can decaf it yourself, as I wrote it in my post Btw, you are such a funny bunch, giggled before bed about scoby names. KB, it feels a bit weird to type, but Nadia is beautiful Sophie, any news? First sip? Converted hubs? Susan, any freezing success? Btw - I put loose tea for flavoring, no tea bags. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derval Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 well I tasted my blueberry and it is a pretty pink colour, but no diff flavour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Derval, when I do blueberry, it's darker than pink and I definitely taste it. I would say I used 20 berries or so. I squish them in a bowl and then put them in the bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Meg I will link the info. As Nadia said, you can decaf it yourself. It's an easy process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derval Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Derval, when I do blueberry, it's darker than pink and I definitely taste it. I would say I used 20 berries or so. I squish them in a bowl and then put them in the bottle. Maybe pink was an understatement, still can't taste the berries though.... I took out another litre and did 500ml each of pear & mango using the purees. I'm having trouble with patience...waiting for +24hrs after topping up the CB, waiting 2 days for 2nd ferment....Too much waiting!! excuse the mess, as you can tell the house-cleaning part of my w30 has not panned out. but ha ha check out the black bannas in bowl, cos I'm not eating them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megmac Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 I must have missed the post on how to decaf your booch. I'll have to go back through... Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadia B Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Megmac, just steep it in a mug of boiling water for 30-60 seconds, discard this water and proceed as usual. Caffeine is released with the first steep. D, once you figure out the pattern you won't be out of booch I think. That's why I prefer to make a mess twice a week, bottling + flavoring weekly supply and straining the next day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Derval, like Nadia said, once you get into the flow, you will have plenty of booch. Also, when you have SCOBY babies, you can have your CB and batch brew which is what I have going right now. I like bottling 4-6 16 oz bottles at a time a couple of times a week or even less. The CB method is tidier because of nifty spigot but I still like both methods. Squish those blueberries next time. I find that waiting 2 days makes a big difference in the flavor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derval Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Ok I will wait another 24hrs and then try, I did squish em, individually as I popped them in. Good point about possiblity of having a batch brew too, though god knows where I'd put it. Supposedly in time you can draw off more than 1 litre at a time..1 litre doesn't last long her between me & the two kids. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Ok I will wait another 24hrs and then try, I did squish em, individually as I popped them in. Good point about possiblity of having a batch brew too, though god knows where I'd put it. Supposedly in time you can draw off more than 1 litre at a time..1 litre doesn't last long her between me & the two kids. So, how many litres is your container? 4? You can go all the way down to 25% left and it will still re-booch in 3-4 days. Maybe 5. I didn't know both kidlets were drinking it. You're in trouble if DH decided to like it. ETA: also, as your SCOBY grows and has babies, it all happens faster. Really..the process all speeds up with CB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Here is Hannah Crum's expose on caffeine and booch. Sorry it took so long. Daughter came over and hijacked my laptop to update her resume. http://www.kombuchakamp.com/2011/03/kombucha-and-caffeine-explained.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derval Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 It's 4 litres, so I could take off 3L and then wait 3 days or take off 1L and wait 24-36hrs, much of a muchness really. yeah the kids like it, husband hasn't/won't try it. There's a good strong looking film over the top now... this quote not working malarky is bloody annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Derval you are cracking me up on several levels. We probably will hold off on crowning you the Vice President of Patience. With 3 booch fans, you probably need to expand. Before I gave my trainer his own SCOBY, I was taking him 4 bottles a week and I felt like once in a while when daughter came over, I didn't want to share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derval Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 I want my V.P of patience crown NOW!!!! :lol: 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 I want my V.P of patience crown NOW!!!! :lol: ######################### ** |*****| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Well that didn't work. ** |******| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Ah well. Tapatalk not in the mood to play etch a sketch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megmac Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 So now I have 3 boxes of unusable, organic, expensive tea. Regular Earl Grey, Decaf Earl Grey, and Green Tea with lemongrass and spearmint. I thought I read that Earl Grey made good booch, but the article that I just read says otherwise. The article Susan sent me says the caffeine is minimal, but I think I'll take Nadia's suggestion and steep the bags for a minute first. I'm thinking that if I can't even buy the right tea, I may be in trouble. But I'm just chomping at the bit to start tonight. So what tea do I use? Do I just look for "organic black tea"? WF is making a mint on me this week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 You know..I was shocked when I heard Earl Grey wasn't okay. Isn't it just black tea? What does the ingredients list say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Okay, I just read FAQs on KombuchaKamp. Someone asked Hannah if using Earl Gray is okay. She said because of bergamot oil, they used to avoid it, but no longer. She uses Earl Gray and green tea because she said the green tea cuts the bitterness of that oil. I say just go for it. Not sure about the lemongrass green tea. Maybe save that for flavoring? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megmac Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 Oh yay! Thank you! It's on! There is SO much info in the forum. I do apologize for asking questions that have already been answered. It's just a lot to take in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 It's okay. There are over 500 posts in this thread. Very hard to pick out the answer you need without a table of contents. :0) We were all nervous nellys at first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb0426 Posted June 12, 2013 Author Share Posted June 12, 2013 If you have not opened the teas megmac I would take them back! You likely will be able to get a refund. My youngest son is returning home this weekend, and I know for a fact that if he witnesses the brewing process, there is no way he is going to want to try mu booch. Nadia will scare him off. Hee hee! Seriously, I am even having a hard time with the whole concept of the science experiment I am growing in my kitchen, and I love the stuff! Derval - I am going to try adding some ginger or lemon when I make my squished blueberry booch. I was planning up to 5 days for second ferment. Is that way too long? This is coming from someone that has yet to start their first batch mind you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now