Home made kombucha
We decided to try our hand at making healthy home-made drinks, in the first instance, kombucha. Kombucha, also known as mushroom tea, is a fermented drink that has similar properties to green tea, but is gentler on the stomach. It is a great source of probiotics and it is also rich in tea polyphenols and acetic acid, which have both shown to suppress the growth of undesirable bacteria and yeasts. Our first batch (second fermentation) was made with orange juice, and by just adding some sparkling water, we had a really satisfying, flavourful and healthy drink. We made it ourselves without any fancy equipment and let it ferment on the side. And even if that mushroom scoby (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast!) looks a bit odd - the resulting two litres of kombucha cost nothing more than four tea bags and some sugar. Penny followed the recipes offered by youbrewkombucha.com, which worked a treat and the whole family enjoyed it instead of wine at Sunday lunch, which was great for the drivers!