đˇ Kombucha is made with SCOBY (dooby doo)
What's the hype behind this overpriced drink, and why is it made with a creepy piece of jello? Also, any Spirited Away fans here?
First things first, hereâs one of my favourite playlists on Spotify to ease you into the weekends. Any other Spirited Away fans here?
If you were me two months back, youâd be wondering why this overpriced drink is receiving so much hype. Youâd then magically chance upon a discounted kombucha tea at the supermarket and decide to give it a (literal) whirl.
Youâd read the fun facts taped to the bottle, experience a sudden pining for Snapple caps, and learn that kombucha makes your intestinal microbiota happy.
Kombucha is a fermented, fizzy and sweetened drink that isnât new. It has already been around for thousands of years. But hey, we all run out of ideas, and retro is the new in.
So, I bought the drink excitedly, and it was meh. Then, I forgot all about kombuchas until one fateful day while browsing through Instastories.
I saw someone transfer red liquid from one large glass jar to the other. He was pouring the contents carefully and delicately, until what I thought was a piece of lung fell out.
I replayed the video a couple of times.
Turns out, he was making homemade kombucha.
Whew.
So that slab of lung is apparently a jelly-like block of bacteria and yeast. Itâs adorably termed âSCOBYâ â Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast.
Now imagine that rubbery slate above, but with brown stringy bits, slipping out from a jar of red liquid. It looks like a piece of lung, no?! Okay, perhaps it was the hospital-themed drama that I was watching a couple of months earlier. (Shout-out to Hospital Playlist on Netflix!)
What does SCOBY doo?
SCOBY doesnât actually do much, it simply grows and then helps you make kombucha tangy and fizzy.
As a SCOBY grows in the tea that it sits in, it eats up all the sugar, which makes the tea fizzy and slightly sour as well as relatively low in calories and sugar.
Interestingly, SCOBYs hate decaffeinated tea and canât grow as well in it. It also prefers black tea over green or fruity teas. But then again, if the SCOBY is big and strong enough, you can apparently switch to green tea.
You also canât use any honey in the tea in the beginning because it contains botulism bacteria that, when grown exponentially as bacteria and yeast tend to do in kombucha, can be dangerous.
SCOBYs can be quite a diva with it's list of nos, so tread carefully around it.
Can you eat SCOBY?
Yes, and theyâre actually pretty good for you.
Youâll be eating a white solid mass of mainly cellulose thatâs housing a concentration of bacteria and some yeasts. However, SCOBYs can be a tad too tough to chew on, especially the older ones.
Some people like to blend and incorporate it into their smoothie, others dice it up and throw it into salads. Some even make SCOBY jerky.
How do you grow a SCOBY?
The process of growing a SCOBY is quite easy. You kind of just leave it alone in the tea mixture. In the first few days, thereâll be some bubbles here and there. Then, white snowflake-like clusters and dots of SCOBY may start to pop up. On one fine day, a thin translucent layer will form, and itâll keep thickening.
SCOBYs can apparently float about or even sink during the growing process, which is kind of cute. So do not micromanage the cute piece of SCOBY. Let it be on its own, and give it space. You may want to listen to some chill tunes while youâre at it. Iâd recommend the playlist earlier.
After one to four weeks, youâll get your very own SCOBY pet! Itâs actually a great alternative if you canât commit to live pets. If anything fails, you can simply throw it out and restart.
How long is the whole process?
It takes one to four weeks to make the âmotherâ SCOBY, another six to 10 days of fermentation to make the actual kombucha, and a final three to 10 days of final fermentation to carbonate the kombucha.
I doubt Iâll be going through the hassle of making this, primarily because I donât have a large glass jar and am afraid of producing something deadly for some unknown reason.
But hey, let me know if youâre planning to make your own kombucha after further research of course. I am clearly not remotely knowledgeable about this subject matter.
If youâve already a masterchef, do share your tips!
Pssst
Amidst the pandemic, a bunch of food and beverage hypes have bloomed. Weâve got the popular dalgona coffee that many have made while staying home, and also the basque burnt cheesecake which Iâve personally baked with a friend at a cooking studio. Itâs absolutely easy to make, and insanely delicious chilled or piping hot. Also very fattening, but oh well.
Iâll be swearing off store-bought cheesecakes for a while.