KOMBUCHA
(as seen above in 2 of my A&W mugs I collect)
A Healthy Summertime Alternative to Soda Pop,
for that matter year round!
Summer temps are here, that’s for sure and so the sales of soda pop in the stores are on the rise with the temps. Not that they really ever slow down all that much but the heat makes the sales sky rocket even more. I am always amazed at how much pop people purchase weekly when I glance at shopping carts. I can’t begin to count on 2 hands how often I’ve see a families cart of groceries and half of the cart and sometimes more is soda pop. I’m sure you’ve seen this yourself or maybe your even one those families.
We use to buy pop occasionally and for the most part that time was only when it was someones birthday. We don’t do that anymore. And we also don’t drink it anywhere else if we can at all avoid it.
We drink Kombucha year round and when the summer temps hit our consumption goes up a lot. It’s the best thirst quencher on a hot summer day. And a healthy way to replace your electrolytes.
I’m not going to go into a full blown post on how to make Kombucha here because I have posted & reposted this in the past. I’ll just leave the links here for those articles that I’ve written. Each has additional info with in. And if you click on comments at the end you’ll find additional related posts.
Making Kombucha
This posting has my complete instructions.
Why switch to drinking Kombucha? One of the first reasons we don’t drink pops is for the fact that they rob our body of important minerals and vitamins leaching them out, especially from our bones making them weak. Secondly virtually every soda pop out there is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup / HFCS. Aspartame is another sweetener used that we avoid at all costs. Over at Natural News there is an excellent article on the ill effects that can take place from drinking soda pops….Please take the time to read it.
The Health Effects from drinking Soda – Quotes from the Experts
Over at
Cultures for Health
you can purchase the starter culture to make your own Kombucha.
Or ask around, there’s a community of Kombucha brewers out there that are always willing to share their excess scoby’s and some culture liquid to get you started. Talk to folks at your natural food store, farmers markets to find a person or persons that make Kombucha Tea or order from Cultures for Health.
Seen in the photo below I have a large batch of Kombucha going today. On the stove top are pots of black tea steeping. Later today after they have cooled down I will get the next batch going. My two large jars of scoby’s and Kombucha tea have been in the refrigerator for 2 weeks waiting for what was in the fridge to be caught up on drinking. It’s very close to caught up now that the weather has turned drippy hot. I make a lot each week. Most people make 1 or 2 jars. I started out making that much weekly then increased to 5 brewing jars. Now I am putting out 8 each week which equals out to Eleven 1/2 gallon jars once bottled after 12 -14 days of brewing time. Seems like a lot but between drinking our good well water and Kombucha in this heat and it’s not even July yet we have no trouble consuming that much. Oh there’s always an over lap of how many jars are in the fridge because we don’t necessarily finish off 11 jars in a week but we don’t run out in between brews either.
Make the switch to a healthier alternative.
Rid you home of all soda pops.
You’ll never regret it. I know we haven’t.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday’s blog carnival.
Hosted this week over at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
Seeds of the Word:
“As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”
Psalm 42:1-2
“And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life, He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”
John 6: 35
I don’t do Soda pop either…allergic to corn syrup!!! But now, I want to look up the recipe for Kombucha…going to follow your link…It sounds wonderful! Love you! Janine XO
Janine´s last blog ..Tame…
I haven’t made my own Kombucha yet, Pam, but after working for Organic Patures Dairy we certainly drank a lot of Mark’s. I would like to try my own. I have a blogging friend who is making water kefir. Doesn’t that sound interesting? I’m wanting to try her recipe, too. I think she may be coming by to visit you.
Robynn’s Ravings´s last blog ..He Calls Me Auntie Robynn
Just wanted to stop by to wish you a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend, dear Pamela!!! Love you! Janine XOXO
Janine´s last blog ..Oopsie…
What a wonderful post on Kombucha! As a long time user and maker of this amazing health elixir, I honor your commitment and skill! I love your site and grabbed your rss feed. I just wanted to personally invite you to the launch, this coming Tuesday, of the Two for Tuesdays Recipe Carnival this coming Tuesday at A Moderate Life. You can share two recipes, a recipe with variations or any info on real foods preparation. Please see the basic information at http://amoderatelife.com/two-for-tuesdays-blog-carnival/.
I would so appreciate it if you would join me in sharing the real food love!
alex@amoderatelife´s last blog ..Friday Thoughts from the Middle of the Road…
Thanks Alex! Monday I’ll be bottling up more kombucha and getting another batch going. And, set aside some scoby’s and brew for a friend who asked me for some. I’ve lost track of how many scoby’s I’ve shared now.
Take care and I’ll be over to your blog before long. Have an extremely busy week ahead with the garden harvest, medical appts., etc….
Wow! That’s a lot of kombucha. Have you seen any concerns about drinking too much? I love the stuff (much better than my water kefir thus far), but was wondering if there were any concerns about overdosing.
Laurie N´s last blog ..Bottling the Dandelion Wine
Laurie – I have never seen anything about drinking to much. Only thing ever is just starting out slowly with it when you first begin…at about 2 oz. per day working your way up because of the first initial detox that can take place.I personally don’t think anyone could ever overdose with it…it’s nothing but a cultured tea with health benefits.
We’ve never had any trouble whatsoever. It’s been the best thirst quencher especially in the summer. We drink lots of water ( our own well water ) and water with lemon juice in it. That basically sums up what all we drink along with grass fed raw milk.
Boy, I wish I could remember where I saw that. They were claiming that it is a medicinal drink and you should moderate your intake. It wasn’t clearly justified as to why this was so, something about introducing too much beneficial bacteria? (Could that be a bad thing?) I’ve suffered no ill effects from drinking larger amounts.
Laurie N´s last blog ..Bottling the Dandelion Wine
We’ve suffered no ill effects either Laurie. Actually we’ve benefited far more from drinking lots of it.
Only negative’s I have ever read about kombucha are from those that say you’ll die from drinking it – and it was all based on reports from people that improperly prepared and used containers that were cracked and had lead in them. It never was the the kombucha it’s self.
If you ever remember where you read it, let me know.
Hello, Pamela…Just stopping by to give you my love!!! I know you are very busy! Just wanted to cheer your blogspace a little while you were missing
Love you!! Janine XO
Janine´s last blog ..Scattered Pieces
Just back to see if the button works now…Love you!!! Janine XO
Janine´s last blog ..Rite Colors
Janine – I just messed around with the code for the button. And then did a test run. It worked fine for me.
So if your still interested in it for you blog it should work now. If not, I’ll just have to be waiting for my son to work on it and it may be till summer is over with his busy schedule.
Hi Pamela.
Have you by any chance come across a list of medications that kombucha may interact with? i know there are some that can’t e taken with grapefruit, etc? Just wondering.
Laurie
Laurie N´s last blog ..Why Use Worm Castings?
None at all Laurie. My husband was leery of kombucha for the longest time and I did a ton of research and could not find a thing on it, nor anyone else that blogged about kombucha mentioning anything in regards to it. He eventually started drinking it and has had absolutely no interaction troubles.
I’m going to write you more separately to your email address on this.