kvass!
I first tasted kombucha (kom-boo-cha) at a dear friend’s house in Goshen, Indiana, a regular stopover on our Winnipeg -Syracuse jaunt. Our host possesses the kind of leisurely effervescence that makes our time together always feel too short. Last August while standing in her kitchen listening to the rain that had diligently journeyed with us across the Midwest, she burst in suddenly to ask, “have you guys heard of kombucha?”
The word sparked brief recognition – I’d heard it before, followed with praise at my local natural foods co-op. At first it had just seemed like health store hype, but after lifting a glass of my friend’s home-cultured tea and letting it fizz and bubble down my throat like some earthy hybrid of tea, beer and champagne, I was a quick convert. (But not without a moment of doubt, as deftly captured by man with camera 
I was pleasantly surprised to find that we actually had a picture of this moment
It took me about eight months to find a suitable “mother colony,” or SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast). I could have purchased one on the internet, but like a sourdough starter or friendship bread, buying locally (and relationally) seems part of the experience. I knew that if I was patient, someone in the Syracuse community would come through. And she did.
Yesterday I brought my baby home and poured some water to de-chlorinate for 24 hours. Today I started the process of culturing my first — well, anything. Cultured as I may be, now I’ve got nothing on the kombucha fermenting away in my study. All it needs from me now is a little patience. (Do I hear Axl crooning in the distance?)
I’ll keep the updates coming, but for now here’s the basic procedure:
the SCOBY, safely set aside
straining the strong tea into clean water
ready to go
adding the SCOBY and starter
and off she goes a-culturing
securing the cheesecloth
With some help from Wikipedia, I have patched together a briefer on kombucha for all parties, interested, incredulous, or somewhere in between. Kombucha culturing works in a similar way to the old world process of making vinegar: sweetened tea is fermented by a macroscopic (read: visible) solid mass of microorganisms called a “colony.”
The drink dates back to 250 BC China, where it was named the “Immortal Health Elixir,” for its ability to balance the spleen and stomach and aid in digestion. News of the beverage eventually reached Russia and Eastern Europe as tea became affordable for the average Joe (or Fyodor).
The process of brewing kombucha was introduced in Russia and Ukraine at the end of the 1800s and became popular in the early 1900s. The kombucha culture is known locally as chayniy grib, and the drink itself is referred to as “tea kvass” or simply “kvass.”
maybe “kvass” should be the “cheers” of kombucha drinking
WikiHow on Kombucha
A thorough article on the stuff
He wrote the book
The New Homemaker likes it too
Taste before you culture
Hey Jen I can’t wait to taste this! I am hoping to bring home a chunk of your starter to make my own! Cobie wants some too.
this sounds very interesting.. I’ve been reading a book you might like Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods by Sandor Ellix Katz and Sally Fallon