Kombucha Malaysia

2 weeks ago I had the chance to interview Mr Jamil at Mcdonalds Kota Damansara. He is a keen enthusiast for kombucha and had been consuming this drink since the year 2000. Me:           How did you get to know about kombucha? Mr Jamil: It was back in 2000. My wife was diagnosed with cancer at 3 areas. The doctor did not give her much chance for recovery and recommended chemotherapy. I decided against chemotherapy after reading about the stress and how it affects the body.  Me:           So what did you do next? Jamil:       I decided to send her for traditional therapy. It is there that I learned about kombucha       because the healer incorporated kombucha as part of the healing regime. Fast forward 2 years in the future, a follow up to the doctor revealed that the cancer is now under control. I am not saying kombucha is the cure, but it was a part of the traditional therapy. Seeing how...

A few days ago I managed to gather some over brewed kombucha. It is more vinegarish with most of the sugar gone. So I decided to carry out a simple experiment by placing some grapes I had just bought from the supermarket in the kombucha and left it there for an hour. An hour later I was pretty surprised to see that most of the whitish coat is now easily washable thanks to the kombucha brew. Before  After

When I was a newbie in brewing; I never knew that the type of tea matters for brewing. For me as long as tea is introduced into the brew, you will get a good brew and a baby SCOBY. I was proven so wrong when my uncle tasked me to brew with Rooibos tea. My first batch with Rooibos was barely a success. The brew is can still be passed as kombucha but the baby SCOBY is remarkably thin and looks weak. When I swapped it with regular black Tea (Boh) the next brew was strong, bold in flavor and the baby SCOBY was thick and strong. Since then, I have tested with green tea, jasmine and even chrysanthemum. Results are recorded in the table below.  For beginners, its best to start of brewing with black tea; once you have several Scobies at hand, then you can start experimenting with the batches. My next kombucha brew? Lo Han Kuo kombucha. Type of Tea Strength of Brew Scoby Development Black Tea Bold and strong Very thic...

For the uninitiated, taking pure kombucha can be a daunting task.  The strong taste coupled with the burning sensation on the throat can be a deterrent to enjoy this wonderful drink. This is where secondary fermentation comes into the picture. Secondary fermentation allows flavors to be added into kombucha whilst maintaining the full benefits of the brew. To carry out secondary fermentation, first you will need to get a glass bottle with a strong cap. The most readily available bottle I can think of is the one found in Ikea. If I am not mistaken it is called Korken. Upon the c ompletion of the initial brew, remove the SCOBY and fill up 60% the first batch of kombucha into the glass bottle. Now it gets more interesting. Depending on the type of flavor you desire, fill up the remaining 30% of the bottle with fruit juices. You can infuse herbs into the brew at this point of time. My favourite recipe is a mix of pure apple juice with a few leaf of mint...

There are 2 well-known common enemies of SCOBY;  1. Mold 2. Fruit flies Both are equally harmful to any brew. Once a SCOBY had been infested with either one, it is best to dispose of the affected batch. On a macro level, fruit flies are the most harmful to any kombucha brew.  Fruit flies usually enter when the cover to your brewing case is not secured properly. Attracted by the fermented brew, fruit flies will usually lay their eggs on the culture itself and within a day or two you can see its larvae crawling on the SCOBY. It is not a pretty sight. To prevent this it is vital that the cloth covering the top of your brewing container has no holes/gaps and the sides are secured with strong bands allowing no gaps whatsoever for the adult fruit flies to enter the brew. On a micro level another equally harmful enemy to any SCOBY is the development of mold. There are many reasons why mold can develop. a. The Mother SCOBY is already old . b...

When I started to venture into kombucha brewing; it took me a while to find an ultimate guide book.  There was none in the bookshelf of major bookstores and when I surfed online I could not find a concise one-stop guide on kombucha. I finally found what I was looking for in a library. The book is titled, “Kombucha the Miracle Fungus, the essential handbook ”. Harald  who is a medical herbalist by profession , wrote this book back in 1994. It has everything you will ever need to know about kombucha from the origins, brewing methods and explanations on the health claims on kombucha. I highly recommend serious brewers to read this book.

There are Mother Scobys and there are virgin Scobys. What is the difference you ask? Mother Scobys are scobys that had been used at least once to brew kombucha while virgin Scobys are well, virgin in terms of kombucha brewing. Virgin Scoby will form when u brew kombucha using a Mother Scoby. It is the thin layer that slowly thickens until it forms a perfectly fresh layer of Scoby on top of the brew. The importance of virgin Scoby cannot be understated. Like every other living things, Scoby do age. After the sixth or seventh brew of with a Mother Scoby, the batch of kombucha made will start to taste flat. That means it is time to retire the Mother Scoby and start to brew using virgin scobies instead.  What does one do with a retired scoby? I usually return it to the soil in my garden. Some even feed their pets with retired Scobies.  So do remember to store your virgin Scobies as back up for each and every brew.