Tosca Reno

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Friday, March 30, 2012

Making Kombucha


Making what?

Making kombucha! It's a fermented drink with a variety of healing powers, and detoxifying properties. My daughter and student at the Canadian Naturopathic College in Toronto, Rachel Ecd, introduced me to this fizzy liquid when she lived in Portland, Oregon.

Being as adventurous and experimental as we are in the kitchen these days - with our meatless meals from The Eat-Clean Diet® Vegetarian Cookbook and my grain free breakfasts - we decided to make our own! It's the perfect complement to any type of lifestyle - vegetarian, grain free, or not.

We used these steps from Wikihow. We used Brown Rice Green Tea and Coconut Sugar from Raw Elements. Our SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) was a gift from Lili-Huston-Herterich.

Every utensil used and our hands were frequently washed with apple cider vinegar - you cannot use soap as it introduces potentially harmful chemicals and bacteria to the SCOBY.

CAUTION!!! You have to be extremely careful when making Kombucha. Contamination of the the SCOBY can lead to life threatening circumstances. Take all precautions!!

Our first batch is going to be ready on Tuesday, I will let you know how it goes. If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of drinking Kombucha please leave a comment, or a question and I will answer you.

Happy Friday!

12 comments:

  1. Tosca, I love all your books, ahve your ever thought of making a "DAIRY FREE" cookbook? Last year I was diagnosed with a DIARY ALLERGY and have since cut out ALL DAIRY. I am having touble finding a good DAIRY FREE recipe book. Please please please! All us allergy suffers will be forever greateful. If Oxygen and Clean Eating magazines (which I both subscribe to) can do the same thing, you will make a lot of yoru readers very happy!

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  2. I would love to know more about the benefits of drinking Kombucha. I've read great things from other healthy living writers but also read words of warning in Oprah magazine last year. So, what are the benefits? Are there any draw backs? What is the shelf life? Is it going to send me running for the bathroom? Should I be afraid of the goopy stuff at the bottom of the bottle? Can you tell I have been eyeing this in the grocery store for a while now?

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  3. Tosca,
    I'm a huge fan of yours and of Oxygen magazine. Have you ever considered having your own Clean Eating show on Food Network? I would definately tune in!

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  4. http://www.kombuchakamp.com/what-is-kombucha

    best site for all of your questions! ive been brewing my own for years (way too expensive to buy every day!) and i drink it daily. you will definitely notice a difference, and it is a great replacement for caffeine if you need an energy boost! but it wont keep you up like caffeine if you take it at night. read read read! if anyone needs a SCOBY i have several i will mail you.

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    Replies
    1. I am looking for a SCOBY if you can mail to Alberta.

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    2. I'd like a SCOBY as well, please!

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  5. i make my own kombucha too! i've been doing it for about a year now. two wooden barrels with my constant heating pad in my designated area :) love kombucha and its benefits. my family and i really feel amazing with drinking it, and noone has gotten sick. i've blogged about it a few times, and it really is something you need to be careful with and really read about before you give it a go because it can be harmful. cheers tosca!

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  6. You can purchase a Kombucha kit in oregon at Main Brew or from on their website at www.mainbrew.com.

    Just love Kombucha!

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  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. Check this out Kombucha Lovers!

    http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/157983110/kombucha-kulture

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