What kombucha is, not many know. Kombucha is a carbonated drink made from mushroom grown from tea, enriched with many useful elements and possessing amazing properties that are beneficial to our body.
Nowadays, healthy food and proper nutrition are very popular, so kombucha again prevails over store soda. Few people know, but thanks to the kombucha, you can lose weight quite well, in addition, it is a charge of vigor and energy for the whole day, power engineers are not suitable for her too.
So what is kombucha? Where to get this mushroom? And how is this drink made? Let's find out.
What is kombucha?
Kombucha is called fermented tea, which is saturated with probiotics, in particular enzymes, beneficial bacteria and yeast, as well as acids.
Where did this Kombucha come from - the main components in the preparation of a fragrant wholesome drink, mushroom kvass? The answer is simple: from Asia. In fact, the appearance of this fungus is shrouded in many myths, and it is not known exactly how they began to cook it and even more so use it for food. But it is known that in the CIS, mushroom and drink appeared with the arrival of sugar and tea from China.
Incidentally, such a drink is especially popular in Japan and Tibet, where the kombucha drink is called “kombuta”, which, literally translated, means “sea kale tea”.
Kombucha is, to put it simply, kvass, not only from bread (as we used to), but from tea. The mushroom itself resembles a slippery yellow-brown jellyfish with a dense upper part and a loose base.
The benefits of the drink
As we already said, a drink called kombucha is popular because it is rich in probiotics, which are very useful for good digestion. People who are on PP and lead a healthy lifestyle, go in for sports or want to lose weight often use kombucha as a good restorative drink after heavy physical exertion. It perfectly quenches thirst and fills a person with energy.
The benefits of kombuchi are electrolytes, which are lost during training, leaving with sweat. So the body needs their recovery. That is why sweet sports drinks are so popular , and a pleasant drink - kombucha tea - surpasses all the options in the supermarket.
Kombucha perfectly supplies the body with electrolytes, especially such as potassium, magnesium, calcium, sodium and chlorine. This is one of the most necessary trace elements for the body of any person. The difference between kombuchi and other carbonated drinks and its advantage is the fact that it returns useful elements to our body during the fermentation process.
Drink sale
In the CIS countries, the sale of this drink is not common, but in some countries of Europe and America it is gaining special momentum. In the past 10 years, along with the growing popularity of healthy eating, Coca-Cola drinks have been relegated to the background, and refrigerators in stores, corresponding to demand, are filled with juices, water and kombucha.
Perhaps soon these natural tea drinks will appear on our shelves. But it doesn’t matter that they aren’t right now, because you can make such tea at home, using the excellent kombuchi recipe at home.
Kombucha cultivation
Having found out what kombucha is, we will begin to get acquainted with its preparation. If you found kombucha with friends - excellent, all that remains for you is to fill it with tea infusion. But if this was not found, you have to grow it yourself. For home growing you will need black tea or rose hip infusion. If you want a simple drink - use tea, the simplest one, without additives or flavors. And from a rose hip you get an excellent medicinal drink, especially during a cold.
In addition to tea, you will need a three-liter jar, gauze and sugar.
Rinse the three-liter jar thoroughly and dry it - it will serve as a residence for the mushroom. A clean can is a must; Kombucha develops cleanly. Otherwise, he will die before he has time to ripen. My jar, do not use detergents. Baking soda is suitable for this procedure.
Pour 5 tbsp into a small teapot. l black tea, pour half a liter of boiling water and leave to cool. In tea leaves add 7 tbsp. l sugar, mix it well until completely dissolved in the drink. Strain the drink through cheesecloth several times if the tea leaves are shallow.
Pour tea into a clean three-liter jar, then cover with gauze and place in a secluded dark place. Leave the jar for a month and a half.
Watch the cooking of the mushroom. After a week and a half, a saturated vinegar smell will appear - this is normal. After 5-6 days, the smell will disappear, and a thin film will appear on the surface - this is the beginning of Kombucha.
Every day the mushroom will be more and more, its growth does not stop all its life.
Leave the mushroom to grow for the specified time, and when it is ready, start preparing a delicious tonic drink kombucha.
Making a drink
Make tea first. You can use green tea, herbal or plain black in proportions: 1 liter of water, 1 teaspoon of tea leaves and 5 tablespoons of sugar. Brew tea, sprinkle sugar and leave for 15 minutes.
The infusion must be filtered. Use cheesecloth to get rid of tea leaves and insoluble sugar crystals. Cool the tea to room temperature.
Put the prepared mushroom in a jar, fill it with tea infusion, cover with gauze and hide in a warm dark place. If you are preparing a drink from a young fungus, add a little water from the previous infusion to the jar.
It takes 5-10 days to stand the drink. When the drink is ready, drain the liquid, gently rinse the mushroom and refill with tea tincture.
If you want to get an effervescent, spicy drink, pour it into a glass bottle, cover it tightly and hide in a cool place for 5 days.
Secrets of making a mushroom drink
When preparing this healthy drink, do not neglect some rules. There are several prescriptions, following which you will get an excellent drink for the whole family - cooling, soda, tonic and healthy.
First, do not use metal containers to make the drink. As an exception - stainless steel tanks, this is necessary to avoid a chemical reaction with the metal during the preparation of tea kvass.
Secondly, do not close the container with a lid, the “mushroom” must breathe during cooking, use a napkin or gauze if you are afraid that someone will get into the jar.
Store the jar at 25 degrees. This is an important aspect in the preparation of the drink, temperatures below 17 and direct sunlight inhibit the activity of the fungus and contribute to the development of algae.
Do not use strong tea to make kombucha mushrooms.
When preparing a drink, make sure that the sugar has completely dissolved, and only then place the mushroom. Sugar crystals often leave burns on it, the remains of the tea leaves can cause the same effect, so carefully filter the liquid.
Sometimes rinse the mushroom with clean water, for example, in the summer it should be done once every 1-2 weeks, and in winter 3-4 times.
If part of the mushroom in the jar begins to turn brown or brown, carefully separate the damaged part, rinse the mushroom and continue to use to make the drink.
How to drink kombucha?
Kombucha Kombucha should not be mixed with food, it’s a big mistake to drink it during a meal, because the drink only speeds up the digestion process, and soon you will feel hunger again. Take kombucha as an aperitif half an hour before a meal or 2-3 hours after a meal.
A cup of tea mushroom tones up and energizes in the morning, and a little in the evening will calm and provide a good healthy sleep.
How to store tea?
If you no longer want to cook kombucha, but it’s a pity to throw away the mushroom, it should be dried. Put the mushroom on a dry plate and place in a secluded corner. Turn the mushroom over every day. When it dries to a thin, dry plate, transfer it to a storage container. And if you want this wonderful drink again, just put the mushroom in tea, and within a week it will straighten out to its previous size and continue to grow.
Now you know what kombucha is and how to cook it. Enjoy a pleasant refreshment on a hot summer day or quench your thirst after hard training. It will enrich you with the most important useful elements and probiotics, give vigor and energy for the whole day.