How to grow kombucha step by step. How to make kombucha

Quite a lot of people in Russia prefer to quench their thirst in the summer heat not only delicious drink but also healing. We are talking about kombucha and its infusion, which is prepared at home by almost all housewives. But there are also people for whom such a wellness program can become unattainable due to ignorance of where to get the actual tea mushroom. In fact, everything is as simple as shelling pears, kombucha is grown by hand with the help of certain instructions and conditions. To do this, you just need to be patient and after a successful experiment, the grown mushroom will begin to “bear fruit” with new mushrooms on its own.

Initially adherents healthy lifestyle life is interested in the question "is it possible and how to grow kombucha yourself." The answer is obvious - perhaps, in order to enjoy a healthy and tasty drink in the future, kombucha can be gradually recreated from ordinary tea brewing.

In addition, as start-up capital can serve not only black tea, but also rose hips. In order for kombucha to form quickly and retain its valuable qualities for as long as possible, it is necessary to strictly follow the preparation instructions and regularly care for it after its appearance.

Among the people, you will not surprise anyone with your own hand-made kombucha, as soon as it is not called, either “tea kvass”, or “tea jellyfish”. But the most correct name for kombucha is kombucha, this term is used on a global level.

Many European countries have already highlighted Kombucha in terms of benefits and taste before typical carbonated drinks and kvass. Visually, kombucha is a film on top of the liquid, consisting of many layers. For doctors and scientists, kombucha is a symbiosis of bacteria and yeast-like fungi of sweet tea.

Kombucha from black tea - grow at home

To grow kombucha at home from scratch, it is enough to stock up on props from tools and ingredients in advance and follow strict recommendations.

So, to prepare kombucha at home you will need:

three-liter glass jar;
teapot;
tea brew;
boiling water;
gauze bandage of several layers;
sugar (honey or fructose).

In order for the mushroom to form correctly and quickly, you should choose large-leaf tea leaves without impurities and additives. As practice shows, the cheaper the tea will cost, the better the kombucha will turn out. If dust is found in a pack of tea, it is better to give preference to another variety.

Instructions for making kombucha:

Pre-clean the dishes for growing the mushroom from dust and dirt. If the bottle is not kept clean, the kombucha will most likely die early in its formation. Do not wash the bottle chemicals for washing dishes, it is better to use the old way - a sponge and baking soda.
The next step is to prepare the tea leaves. About 5 tablespoons of tea leaves are poured into the kettle for such purposes, which are filled with half a liter of boiling water. In this state, the tea should be infused until it cools completely. No need to fill tea in spoons with a slide, 50 grams will be enough.
As soon as the tea leaves have cooled down, 70 grams of sugar is added to it, which must be stirred well until completely dissolved.
The broth is filtered with gauze or a metal strainer. The tea drink is placed in three-liter jar. After that, a dense layer (preferably several layers) of gauze is applied over the jar.

Such a tea drink is sent to a secluded place for 6-7 weeks. If after 1-2 weeks an unpleasant vinegar smell is felt, you should not simply worry. This phenomenon only signals the beginning of fermentation, during which a fungus is formed. After a few days, this smell will gradually disappear, and a thin film will form on the surface of the drink. And each new day will thicken this layer until a solid kombucha is formed.

Rosehip kombucha - grow at home

As practice shows, properly prepared kombucha from has a large list of useful properties. And if a tea-based mushroom is grown for a delicious thirst-quenching drink, then a rosehip-based mushroom will become a truly healing drink. Few people know how to properly prepare kombucha from wild rose, an indispensable tool in the off-season and cold. This drink will strengthen immune system, will fill the body with vitamins and nutrients. In fact, the cooking technology is almost identical, with the exception of a few points.

Prepare an infusion based on rose hips. It can be either freshly picked or dried for the winter bush berries. 4 tablespoons of wild rose are placed in a thermos, after which another half-liter of boiling water is sent there. A hermetically sealed thermos with rose hips should be set aside for 5 days.
After that, the infusion is poured into a glass jar, which must be washed accordingly. 2 tablespoons of large-leaf black tea are also sent there (10 grams of tea leaves per glass of boiling water).
Following the tea leaves, 50 grams of sugar is sent to the infusion, the liquid is thoroughly mixed until it dissolves. The infusion should be set aside for a day.
As soon as a day has passed, the liquid in the jar must be drained from the sediment. After that, the bottle must be washed again and a clean infusion without raw materials should be placed in it. After that, the jar is covered with several layers of gauze and placed in a secluded warm place for the same number of days as indicated in the previous recipe.

Usually, the process of the birth of kombucha on this basis does not differ from the previous version, after 1.5-2 months you can already find a large and useful kombucha.

Kombucha Care

Kombucha, as previously mentioned that this is the name of kombucha, needs not only the correct preparation process, but also regular care. If you do not follow the recommendations for caring for it, the mushroom will deteriorate, and the drink based on it will have an unpleasant vinegary taste. Sometimes, due to ignorance, inexperienced housewives simply ruin their mushroom.

A healthy kombucha will definitely be located on the very surface of the liquid, in no case falling below. If such an unpleasant incident nevertheless happened, the hostess should take care of the treatment of the fungus. To do this, he needs to create all conditions of purity and sterility.

So, experts suggest that you familiarize yourself with several recommendations on how to properly care for kombucha:

If initially kombucha occurs only in half a liter of water, after a while and in the process of its growth, the volume of liquid must be increased to 3 liters. To do this, you can take the already used tea leaves. It is again poured with boiling water and sweetened with sugar (up to 2 tablespoons per liter of tea), as indicated in the instructions above.
The decision of the hostess not to filter the infusion from tea leaves cannot be considered erroneous. The entire preparation technology will not suffer in any way, it’s just that such a drink will not be very convenient to drink later.
Direct contact of sugar with kombucha is unacceptable, because of this, the fungus will simply get burned and start to hurt, or even die. Therefore, the liquid with sugar must be thoroughly mixed in order to dissolve the grains and only after that pour it into the mushroom.
After the formation of the fungus, at least once a month it must be rinsed under running water. At the same time, it is very important to get the mushroom carefully so as not to damage its integrity and structure. It is placed in a flat dish to be rinsed under the tap. Then the mushroom must be dried for 2 minutes in the fresh air. The mushroom is placed back in the jar of infusion.

If chlorinated water comes from the tap, it is preferable to rinse the kombucha with filtered purchased water. If you do not follow such advice, after a while the fungus will begin to change its shade, exfoliate, demonstrating its illness to a person. A drink based on a diseased fungus is not only not useful to the human body, it can harm it.

Storage of kombucha

For the emergence of useful valuable kombucha, it needs specific conditions for keeping and subsequent storage.

The air temperature is not more than +25 degrees and a dark secluded place. If the temperature in the air drops below +17 degrees, the fungus will begin to lose its activity and begin to grow blue-green algae from above. Direct sunlight is completely detrimental to him.
To use the drink, you need to prepare two glass jars in advance. A mushroom is grown in one, and the finished drink will merge into the second. If it is summer outside, you need to drain the infusion every 3 days, and if it is winter, after 5 days. To store the finished drink, you need a refrigerator. If you do not replace the drink with fresh infusion in time, a film will be noticeable on its surface.
The thickness of a full-fledged kombucha should not exceed 4 cm. If the mushroom thickens, it is enough to peel off a piece from it and place it in another jar. Kombucha is spread in this way.
The most valuable and nutritious are the lower layers. To saturate the mushroom with "usefulness", it is enough to add herbs to the infusion, for example, nettle, birch, blackberry, plantain and more. As a base, you can take the brewing of green leaf tea.
The age of the drink should not be older than 1 month. After this border, the drink will begin to accumulate vinegar in itself. If the drink has become unfit for consumption, it can only be used externally for various purposes.

For car drivers, you need to be careful with the use of such a drink, as it contains ethyl alcohol.

Kombucha apple cider vinegar

To prepare this variation of kombucha, you need to put a bottle of apple cider vinegar in a secluded warm place and forget about its existence for 2-3 months. If a cloudy sediment is noticeable at the bottom of the vinegar, then you can start cooking kombucha. For this, a sweet brew of tea is prepared, where apple cider vinegar is added.

Once the ingredients are mixed, the liquid should be left for several weeks to infuse. After 1.5-2 weeks, the first film forming a fungus will be noticeable. The longer the liquid stays, the more this film will thicken, turning into a good-quality kombucha. It is very important at the same time to choose high-quality vinegar, which will not contain flavors, preservatives and other additives.

Such a drink will have a delicate spicy sweet and sour taste and a pleasant aroma. It is useful to use this infusion on kombucha during vitamin deficiency and lack of the body in minerals and trace elements.

A drink based on kombucha refreshes well on hot days and saturates the body with vitamins and nutrients. How to cook it yourself? Let's figure it out.

Kombucha: how to grow from scratch

How to grow kombucha at home?

There are several ways to prepare it. For the traditional version, you will need tea, sugar and apple cider vinegar.

Step-by-step instruction:

make a brew of 1 tbsp. l. tea and 0.5 liters of boiling water, let it brew;
add 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar and 100 g of sugar;
pour this infusion into a three-liter jar;
the jar does not need to be closed with a lid, it is enough to tie it with a piece of gauze;
a jar of infusion must be placed in a warm place where the temperature is maintained at + 23ºC- + 25ºC.

In a three-liter jar, the mushroom will have enough space to grow freely. It is important to choose the right place to store the infusion, since the jar cannot be moved during the ripening of the mushroom. It is also necessary to exclude the possibility of sunlight on the jar. This is the traditional way to grow kombucha from scratch.

After 3 weeks, a thin film is noticeable. An indicator of the full ripening of the fungus is the smell of vinegar. The film thickens up to 1–2 mm. The infusion can be drained, replacing it with sweet tea. It is important not to deform the fungus itself, it will compact only after a couple of months.

The surface of the fungus becomes porous over time. After six months, the mushroom reaches the required consistency. Every month it should be gently washed with warm water. With the help of such a mushroom, you can prepare a healthy tea drink daily.

Other recipes on how to quickly grow kombucha

For its preparation, not only tea is used, rose hips and apple juice are well suited.

A tea drink based on rose hips is a real storehouse of vitamins. It will help strengthen the immune system and will be a reliable prevention of seasonal colds. To prepare it you need:

in a thermos make an infusion of 4 tbsp. l. fresh or dried rose hips and 0.5 liters of boiling water;
close the thermos and let the drink brew for 5 days;
pour the infusion into a three-liter jar, add brewed black tea made from 2 tbsp. l. tea and 2 tbsp. steep boiling water;
add 5 tbsp. l. Sahara.

diets and healthy eating 21.02.2018

Dear readers, when it comes to kombucha, many people remember their childhood. There were times when this mushroom was present in almost every home. Both children and adults drank it with pleasure. But they didn’t really know how useful kombucha was - it was just so fashionable, or something. What house you don’t come to - on the table is a three-liter jar of fungus, covered with gauze. Now this is no longer the case.

But some people, especially middle-aged and elderly people, still continue to grow kombucha, and many also have milk kefir mushroom, and somehow such people do not complain about their health. Coincidence or is kombucha really that useful and we just forgot about it? Can this drink harm? The doctor of the highest category, Evgenia Nabrodova, will tell us about all this.

Hello readers of Irina's blog! Kombucha grew on me too. But I gave it to my friends. I will write about the reasons below when I turn to a discussion of contraindications and possible mistakes when growing this mushroom. The drink turns out to be similar to soda, but still more like kvass. Its taste depends on the strength of the infusion and the quality of the brew.

What is kombucha and can it be grown from scratch?

Kombucha is such an amazing "community" of yeast and acetic acid bacteria that process incoming sugar into carbon dioxide and alcohol. The solution contains many organic acids (lactic, acetic, gluconic). This explains the sour taste of the finished drink. In the infusion of Kombucha 3-4 days of exposure to 0.05% acetic acid.

It is known that in China they began to use kombucha in the Han era (250 years BC), and called it "the elixir of health and immortality." Even at that time it was believed that it helps to fight many diseases of the digestive tract and increases the overall tone of the body. As I wrote above, interest in kombucha has gradually faded, and today it is quite difficult to find it among friends. But is it possible to grow kombucha at home and how to do it?

Growing kombucha from scratch

So, how to grow kombucha from scratch and is it possible? I haven't tried it myself, but my friend did. She knew how to make kombucha from tea leaves and homemade apple cider vinegar. I will gladly share this information with you.

The easiest way to grow kombucha at home is from ordinary tea. To do this, take a glass jar, fill it with sweet tea by a third (brewed tea, not tea obtained from tea bags), cover with gauze and put in dark place for a month. A white film should appear on top - this is the vinegar uterus. Pour into a jar of sweet tea until the mushroom begins to grow.

My friend once accidentally managed to grow kombucha. She planned to make apple cider vinegar, rubbed the apples and poured them with water 1:1, added some sugar. They stood in a dark place for several weeks. After that, she strained them and again put the infusion in a dark place. After a while, a film appeared on top, resembling a jellyfish. From it it turned out to grow a full-fledged Kombucha.

Isn't it amazing? At such moments, you especially acutely feel that there are so many wonderful and inexplicable things around us! Kombucha is a living creature that is surprisingly adapted to even the most adverse conditions environment. It is necessary to "try hard" to harm the fungus and stop its vital activity.

If you are leaving for a long time, and you have no one to entrust Kombucha, just leave it in a jar of sweet tea and it will “fall asleep” for a while. I know cases when in this form the fungus remained viable for up to several years. After a long break, it must be washed with boiled water and poured with sweet tea, and again you will have the opportunity to drink this healthy refreshing drink every day. Let's talk about the health benefits of kombucha.

Useful properties of tea drink

Like milk mushroom, kombucha has many health benefits. I will list the main ones for you:

Increases acidity and is suitable for people with low secretory activity of the stomach;
has antimicrobial properties, especially when applied externally;
helps with chronic constipation, restores intestinal motility;
has the ability to stop excess cell growth;
differs in antioxidant and immunostimulating properties;
contributes to the protection and restoration of liver cells;
removes toxic compounds, poisons, drug residues;
helps to reduce blood sugar levels and normalize weight.

Many people believe that the benefits of kombucha have not been proven. But in fact, scientists have spent a lot research work in this area and received positive results use of tea.

It has been experimentally proven that kombucha solution has the ability to lower blood sugar levels in animals with artificially induced diabetes mellitus.

Kombucha infusion is useful for people who are prone to excess weight and diabetes. It is also believed that the drink has a good effect on the functioning of the liver and kidneys. The hepatoprotective beneficial properties of kombucha are explained by the presence of bacterial cellulose and other useful substances, including vitamin C and B vitamins that are good for skin and immunity.

There is an opinion that Kombucha inhibits the growth of tumors, but this theory has not yet been experimentally confirmed. Infusion can lubricate wounds and small cuts on the skin.

Despite the obvious beneficial properties of kombucha, there are many opponents of its use. I will explain to you why people's opinions are divided on this issue.

Possible harm to kombucha

By the nature of the profession, one often has to deal with attempts to find universal means for everyone. But this will never happen. Even kombucha behaves differently in different people, and they can use the same tea leaves and the same amount of sugar.

Kombucha is not for everyone. Someone does not like to wash it every week, although I do not consider this a problem. Before we talked about the benefits of kombucha, it's time to talk about its dangers. Adverse consequences when using a tea drink occur if a person uses it incorrectly.

Acetic acid accumulates in the infusion of the fungus, and it just can harm the gastrointestinal mucosa. Therefore, people with high acidity should refuse this drink. Or drink it in low concentration.

I recommend taking kombucha infusion with caution for some chronic gastrointestinal diseases. For example, with Crohn's disease, erosive gastritis. And with ulcers, the drink should not be consumed at all. Acetic acid can further injure the walls of the stomach, and permanent damage to the mucosa is dangerous by increasing the risk of tissue degeneration.

Another contraindication that many do not know about is HIV infection and other immunodeficiency conditions. In the infusion of kombucha, there are fungi of the genus Aspergillus, which, against the background of a pathological decrease in immunity, can cause aspergillosis. This severe disease develops predominantly in HMV-infected patients. Aspergillus fungi affect the respiratory tract, central nervous system, kidneys and other organs.

When studying the beneficial properties of kombucha, remember important contraindications. It is not recommended to abuse the drink even healthy people- 1-2 glasses a day will be enough. Remember that along with the infusion you get acetic acid and other acids, and their excess can harm your health.

I suggest watching this video about kombucha and learn a lot of interesting things about its beneficial properties.

Is it possible to drink kombucha during pregnancy

You can drink kombucha during pregnancy if the woman has normal stomach acidity and no chronic diseases of the digestive tract in the acute stage. Pregnant women often experience heartburn due to hormonal changes in the body and changes in position. internal organs under the influence of the growing uterus. Kombucha infusion is contraindicated in severe heartburn, as it can increase it.

Application in childhood

Contraindication to the use of Kombucha is the age of up to 1-2 years. The infusion contains alcohol that can change the immature enzymatic system of the child. In families where they have been drinking a healthy drink for generations, they often do not know about the possible harm of kombucha for the child's body. The mucous membrane of the stomach of children is very vulnerable and sensitive, so if you give the baby an infusion of the fungus, then only after 1-2 years and with a minimum acid content. To do this, simply rinse your fungus with water more often and don't let it stand for long without fresh tea with sugar.

Features of the preparation of infusion

So, how to care for and consume kombucha? How to brew it correctly? Everything is quite simple: focus on your own taste sensations. Kombucha can be prepared from tea leaves with sugar. To do this, simply brew black tea, dissolve sugar in it to taste, let it cool and you can pour it into a pre-washed fungus. To ensure the active life of the fungus, it is necessary to add up to 10 g of sugar per 100 ml of tea leaves.

Do not use hot brew! From this, the delicate surface of the fungus will get burns. Pour only cold tea.

The preparation of tea fungus infusion takes a little time. Don't make life difficult for yourself by boiling water for flushing. The boiled mushroom is washed after a period of "hibernation", when it stands for a long time in tea leaves, which have turned almost into vinegar.

How much to insist

The mushroom is usually infused for several days. As he grows, he will give " kids". They must be separated and used to obtain an additional amount of drink. Keep in mind that the older the mushroom, the faster it will acidify the tea leaves. Therefore, it is better to regularly replace the old mushroom with a young one. So you will always have a slightly acidic and safe drink, which, by the way, perfectly quenches thirst in the heat.

As soon as the drink is ready, it is drained for further consumption, and the mushroom is washed and again poured with cooled tea with sugar. Usually, 2-3 days are enough to prepare the infusion, but this depends not only on the age of the fungus, but also on the volume of the liquid. No one will tell you exactly how to drink kombucha correctly. I believe that due to the presence of acetic acid in the composition, several glasses of the drink are enough per day. Remember that it contains sugar, which in excess is contraindicated in overweight and diabetes.

You can insist the mushroom on herbs, but it will grow worse.

Important additions

Kombucha is rich not only in acids, but also in vitamin C. I often read in reviews from people that the drink can increase tooth sensitivity. If you have bare necks, there is a pain reaction to cold and hot drinks, it is better to drink the mushroom infusion through a straw or rinse your mouth thoroughly after drinking the infusion.

In summer, it is problematic to grow kombucha at room temperature - midges start up. Therefore, nothing terrible will happen if you put a jar of mushroom in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf. The fungus will simply start to “cook” the infusion longer.

How else to use kombucha?

We talked about the benefits of kombucha for the body. If you follow simple rules, this drink will help improve your health and will delight you with its unusual taste for a long time. How else can you use kombucha? It makes it easy to make vinegar. You no longer have to buy it in the store.

Kombucha is believed to be native to Ceylon. It was from there that it spread throughout the world. In Asian countries for a long time it was believed that if there is a means to prolong life and keep youth for a long time, then this is Kombucha. Making a drink from it is not difficult. Although it does not look very aesthetically pleasing, you need to be aware that this is a natural medicine, consisting of a whole complex of beneficial fungi and bacteria. All he needs for normal life is sugar and tea leaves. In a liquid with these ingredients, kombucha will grow just fine. The preparation of the drink turns out by itself, it is a by-product of the vital activity of this organism. When it grows up, it begins to strongly resemble a jellyfish or a pancake layer cake that floats on the surface of the water.

Beneficial features

Kombucha has many useful and healing properties. It contains many minerals and vitamins that are formed during fermentation. It also contains various acids and caffeine. Also in old times with the help of a drink from kombucha, gastritis and other diseases were treated digestive system. It stimulates the secretion of gastric juice and increases acidity. However, you need to take a drink not during an exacerbation of the disease, but during remission for prevention. Kombucha also helps with diarrhea and constipation. Preparing the drink and taking it inside has a general strengthening effect on the body. With hemorrhoids, compresses are made from it. It is also an excellent antiseptic for open wounds, helps with runny nose and sore throat, improves skin condition and strengthens hair.

cultivation

Growing this organism is very simple. However, before you make kombucha, you should be patient. It is only necessary to let the brewed tea in an ordinary glass container stand for a month. You can speed up the process by adding sugar to the liquid, which leads to the rapid reproduction of microorganisms. Kombucha begins with a thin film on the surface of the liquid, which becomes thicker over time. The moment will come when the mushroom will appear before its creator in the usual jellyfish form, the main thing here is patience. Then you will need to move it to a larger container with brewed tea, after rinsing it with apple cider vinegar. This will create a comfortable microclimate for the body. The container should not be closed - just cover it with gauze.

Care

Mushrooms need to be taken care of. Sometimes it is necessary to completely change the tea solution for him, after rinsing the body clean water. The container must be pre-treated with boiling water. You can add a little old solution to the new liquid to speed up fermentation.

Kombucha - drink preparation

To prepare the infusion, nothing supernatural is required. Before preparing kombucha, you need to decide which tea leaves to use. Various types of tea are suitable for the drink. It also allows you to diversify its taste. First, strong tea is brewed in a glass (3-4 teaspoons) and sugar is added (a third of a glass). Then you need to decant the solution, dilute it with chilled boiled water in a three-liter jar and place kombucha there. The preparation of the drink is very simple. The jar should be covered with gauze or paper towel, but not tightly. The infusion will be ready when a faint acetic smell appears, after about 3-4 days.

Kombucha is a natural source of health and longevity. Experts consider it a real miracle, since they still have not been able to establish the time and place of its origin, understand the features of development and explain its beneficial properties. With the help of this plant, people prepare a special drink that tastes like kvass, which can be consumed cold, warm and hot.

The body of Kombucha looks like a jellyfish, the color can be light yellow or dark brown. From above it is smooth and dense, and from the inside it is layered and heterogeneous. At the initial stage of formation, it is a thin mucous film floating on the surface of a liquid nutrient medium. Culture is growing and developing rapidly, filling all the free space. There are cases when kombucha was born in bulky barrels and reached a weight of one hundred kilograms.

Kombucha is a biological substrate that exists due to the mutual symbiosis of numerous colonies of yeast fungi and acetic acid bacteria.

The liquid surrounding the mushroom turns into a slightly carbonated sour drink - kombucha. They drink it in its pure form, adding lime or lemon, with honey and sugar, mixed with water or other drinks - tea, juice, milk, herbal infusions and decoctions. The substance has found application in home medicine, cosmetology and cooking. Their unique properties culture received due to the vital activity and excretion products of beneficial microorganisms. The mushroom is considered medicinal and is used to treat many diseases.

The benefits and harms of kombucha

Kombucha has an official scientific name - medusomycete, given to it in 1913 by mycologist G. Lindau. In the process of life, it releases many biologically active substances. These are organic acids, polysaccharides, vitamins, alcohols and esters, proteins, trace elements, antibiotics and enzymes. Together, these components have a positive effect on the well-being and health of a person.

The drink obtained with the help of kombucha does not contain caffeine, therefore it is allowed to be consumed at high and low pressure. It quenches thirst well, tones up and dulls the feeling of hunger.

Useful properties of kombucha:

normalization of metabolism;
rejuvenation and restoration of the body;
acceleration of regenerative processes;
improvement of microflora;
antibiotic effect;
strengthening immunity;
antioxidant effect;
promotes ;
mild diuretic;
replenishment of vitamins and minerals;
removal of harmful and toxic substances.

The benefits of kombucha allow it to be used as a safe natural remedy. It cleanses the body of toxins, protects against viruses and infections, lowers blood pressure, normalizes cholesterol, improves the functioning of the stomach and intestines, improves sleep, relieves nervous tension and relieves pain. The high therapeutic effect made it possible to use the mushroom not only in everyday life, but also on an industrial scale - pharmaceuticals, catering, cosmetology.

With numerous beneficial properties, kombucha has contraindications:

the presence of fungal diseases;
increased acidity, not allowed for use in erosions and stomach ulcers;
gout and;
allergic reaction and individual intolerance.

Growing technology

To breed kombucha, you will need the simplest items - a three-liter jar, preferably with a wide neck, a piece of gauze or a special food napkin, white or Brown sugar, tea - green or black, or rosehip broth or herbal collection. It is unacceptable to use sweeteners instead of sugar.

How to grow kombucha from scratch:

To grow from scratch, you will need freshly brewed tea of medium strength in the amount of a liter and a half.
About 100-120 grams of sugar should be dissolved in tea, the drink should be cooled and poured into a three-liter jar.
To prevent dirt and insects from getting inside the jar, the neck must be covered with gauze or a special breathable napkin. The fabric should be fixed with a rope or elastic band.
The jar is best placed in partial shade, where the air temperature is in the range from 22 to 26 °.

Kombucha does not like darkness and direct sunlight; in cool conditions, the growth process slows down slightly.

Over time, a thin darkish film forms on the surface of the tea - this is the beginning of the development of the fungus. In two or three months, it will grow enough, and it will be possible to use its infusion. The readiness of the liquid for consumption can be determined by the thickness of the fungus (at least 2-3 mm) and a pleasant sour-sweet smell.

Dividing and growing kombucha

When the mushroom reaches a thickness of 4-5 centimeters, you can safely begin to divide it and move it to another container with a nutrient medium. Taken for transplant upper layer, which is carefully separated, washed and transferred to a new three-liter jar.
On a fungus that is ready for division, layers are clearly visible, which, even with a slight impact, independently exfoliate from the parent base. The lower layers are considered the most productive and useful, they are darker in color, and looser in density.

The maximum concentration of useful and nutrients contained in the infusion, the age of which does not exceed one month. The infusion of a mature mushroom is unsuitable for consumption.

You can also grow a new mushroom on the basis of a ready-to-use infusion. The drink, which has been prepared for 5-6 days, is poured into a clean and dry container, covered with gauze and remains in this form for a week. After a few days, a new organism forms on the surface of the nutrient medium. To speed up the process, it is recommended to add 1-2 tablespoons to the base solution.

Care and disease of kombucha

Every 3-5 days, the finished tea kvass is drained, and sweetish boiled water is added instead room temperature. The amount of sugar is 100 grams per 1 liter of water. Water is boiled, sugar is dissolved in it, cooled and only then added to a container where kombucha lives. It is undesirable to use raw water, as it contains a lot of salts and impurities that worsen the taste of the drink and precipitate.

Too strong tea has a bad effect on the condition of the fungus. If sugar is added directly to the jar, it can get burned and die.

How to care for kombucha:

Every 3-5 days it is necessary to drain the infusion and fill the container with fresh nutrient medium.
In order for the mushroom to remain healthy and useful, it should be washed in water every 2-3 months.
Muddy infusion is bad sign, harmful impurities reduce the quality and medicinal properties drink.
The fungus should always remain on the surface. If the mushroom is very dark and sank to the bottom, it means that he got sick and may die.
The rules of treatment are simple - cleanliness and good care. The nutrient liquid in the jar can reach 2/3 of the total volume so that the fungus has the opportunity to further development and growth.

Knowing how to grow kombucha correctly, you can enjoy a natural drink every day that combines high health benefits, quality and taste!