The World According to Cosmos

Tag: kefir

  • ode to Kombucha

    ode to Kombucha

    Ode to Kombucha

    We have finally mastered the art of brewing home Kombucha, and are enjoying a glass of this miracle drink every morning along with our home made kefir and our power smoothies.  If I keep this up I will live to be a hundred years old.  Only 45 more years to go….

    Ode to Kombucha

    Kombucha
    Only drink it in the morning
    Morning delight

    By the dawning sun
    Up at the morning dawn
    Can’t wait for my morning cup
    Have to have my kombucha
    At least once a day

    Ode to Kefir

    Kefir
    Everyday
    Food of the gods
    In every way
    Radiant health will follow

    Blue Berry Smoothie – Breakfast of Champions

    my daily breakfast
    includes blue berries
    in my smoothie

    blueberry,
    strawberry,
    oranges

    banana,
    pineapple,
    home made kefir

    kale
    spinach
    wheat grass
    macca root
    apple cider vinegar

    coconut oil
    stevia
    honey
    cinnamon

    all blended to perfection
    that is my daily breakfast
    fit for a champion

    THE SIMPLE GUIDE TO KICKASS KOMBUCHA

    It’s a big day everyone! The day your intestinal microbiota have been begging you for. The day you say goodbye to expensive store bought kombucha. The day you become a brewmaster as I impart on you the secrets of homemade kombucha!

    The goal of this guide is to be your one stop shop for homemade kombucha brewage, from SCOBY-less to fermented perfection. No hopping around the interwebs. No fuss. No confusion. Because making homemade kombucha is so simple (albeit a bit slow), and I hope after reading this you’ll give it a whirl! Let’s hop right to it.

    How to make homemade kombucha recipe with kombucha in a mason jar

    HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE KOMBUCHA: OVERVIEW

    This post will go into detail about each step in the process of making kombucha. For succinct instructions, scroll to the bottom where a recipe card lays out the basics of making homemade kombucha. The general order of things goes something like this (you can jump around this tutorial by clicking the links below):

    1. Make SCOBY (1 to 4 weeks) – to make the “mother”
    2. First Fermentation (6 to 10 days) – to make the actual kombucha
    3. Second Fermentation (3 to 10 days) – to carbonate the kombucha

    You can also click to jump to a few useful resources:

    HOW TO MAKE KOMBUCHA VIDEO

       How to Make Homemade Kombucha

    Before we start, here are some general notes that are consistent throughout the whole homemade kombucha process.

    • No metal or plastic containers. Metal can react with the acidic kombucha and hurt your SCOBY, while plastic can house nasty bacteria that you don’t want sneaking in.
    • Clean is key. A recurring theme in kombucha brewing is that EVERYTHING must be CLEAN! We’re creating the perfect environment for good bacterial growth, but if a bad bacteria slips in, it could ruin your batch (and make you pretty sick).
    • Temperature plays a role. Fermentation goes a bit quicker in warmer temperatures, and a bit slower in colder.
    • No mold zone. If you see any mold growing on your SCOBY or in the tea (which I understand can be difficult to discern from the hideous SCOBY, but will generally be green, white, or black), then toss your whole batch.

    Milk kefir is not only easy to make, it is a delicious, probiotic-rich, versatile beverage your whole family can enjoy. Whether you are just exploring how to make milk kefir at home or have cultured dairy before, this video and instructions are here to help make culturing milk kefir at home easy.

    BEFORE YOU BEGIN

    WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO MAKE MILK KEFIR

    To get started, first, gather your supplies and choose a variety of milk to use.

    Supplies for Making Milk Kefir

    You’ll need the following supplies to make milk kefir, most of which can be found in the Milk Kefir Starter Kit. For more information on what supplies work best (and what to avoid) read our tutorial: Choosing the Best Equipment for Making Milk Kefir.

      • A glass jar
      • A non-metal stirring utensil
      • A breathable cover for the jar such as a tight-weave towel, butter muslin, paper towel, or paper coffee filter
      • A band to secure the cover to the jar like a rubber band or canning jar ring
      • A fine mesh plastic strainer for removing the kefir grains from the finished kefir

    Ingredients for Making Milk Kefir

    Consult our article on choosing milk for making kefir to help you decide which milk is best for you!

    INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAKING MILK KEFIR

    1. Transfer the active kefir grains into up to 4 cups of fresh milk.
    2. Cover with a coffee filter or butter muslin secured by a rubber band or jar ring.
    3. Place in a warm spot, 68°-85°F, to culture.
    4. Culture until milk is slightly thickened and aroma is pleasant. This generally takes 24 hours, but can take less time in warmer temperatures, so keep an eye on your grains.
    5. After the milk changes texture and culturing is complete, separate the kefir grains from the finished kefir.
    6. Place the kefir grains in a new batch of milk.
    7. Store the finished kefir in the refrigerator.

    REMOVING GRAINS FROM FINISHED MILK KEFIR

    Use Your (Clean!) Fingers

    As your milk kefir grains grow in size, you may choose to remove the kefir grains by hand. Make sure your hands are very clean and well rinsed, but do not use anti-bacterial soap to avoid contaminating the culture.

    Use a Plastic Mesh Strainer

    Sometimes milk kefir can be a bit thick. If necessary, you can use a silicone spatula or plastic spoon (in a swirling motion) to help work the kefir through the strainer. Stainless steel can be used if necessary; just be sure it’s stainless steel and not a reactive metal.

    Pour Kefir Into A Shallow Bowl

    This will make the grains easier to see. Using a plastic or wooden spoon, scoop the grains out. Once the grains have been removed, pour the finished kefir into a container.

    OVER-THICKENED KEFIR

    While kefir sometimes turns out to be thin, it is also possible for kefir to over-thicken or turn into curds and whey. If this happens, you may need to strain your kefir grains with extra care. You can find tips in our Straining Over-Thickened Kefir tutorial.

    WHAT’S NEXT?

    Following the above process you can make milk kefir at home on a regular basis. If after making milk kefir for a while you decide you don’t need 4 cups every day, it is possible to make smaller batches. Just choose a method in our tutorial How to Slow Down Making Milk Kefir + Make Smaller Batches.

    Resting Your Milk Kefir Grains

    If you ever reach a point where you need to take a break from making milk kefir, there are a few ways you can put your kefir grains on pause. This includes refrigerating them for shorter breaksor drying them for longer breaks.

    In either case, it’s important that your grains have been activated and culturing kefir regularly for 3 to 4 weeks before you attempt either of these resting methods.

    the End

  • Growing Kombucha and Kefir in Korea

    Growing Kombucha and Kefir in Korea

    Growing Kombucha and Kefir in Korea

     

     

    When we moved to Yeongjong island, near the Incheon Airport,we found that we would be deprived of two of our three favorite miracle foods, Kombucha and Kefir. But we were pleasantly surprised to find we could order our third favorite health food item, wheat grass for home delivery. Have not seen it in the stores but have seen it in some smoothie places as well as home delivery. best to mix it in a smoothie. Wheat grass juice does not taste that great!

    Growing Kombucha and Kefir in Korea

    Kombucha

    Living in Oregon was great. Kombucha is everywhere. Costco carries Kombucha everywhere except in Korea. The best brand we found was the gingerade. But I liked sampling the kombucha everywhere, a number of bars brew it on site and you can fill up a growler and take it home.

    What is Kombucha you ask? It is fermented tea, filled with powerful probiotics and it is so good for your health. It does contain 1 percent alcohol so that should not get you into trouble with the new draconian drunk driving laws here in Korea!

    Since neither the Commissary nor Costco or anyone else carried it, or even knew what it was, we decided that we had to brew it ourselves. The starter kit we brought with us had gone bad. So we bought kombucha from Amazon and used that and the left over starter kit to get started.

    We used green tea as the base. Straight black tea and jasmine tea will work but not earl grey due to the bergamot oil in the tea.

    We brewed up several gallons of tea, added sugar, the starter kit and the cans of kombucha. Then we put it in a sprouter warmer kit ordered from Amazon and wrapped another gallon in an electric blanket. You got to keep the kombucha at about 80 degrees F (26.67 Celsius).

    Then we waited for six weeks. Finally ready to go today and we bottled it and started our next batch!
    Here’s what it looks like with the scuzzy taken out of the kombucha.

    kombucha
    kombucha

    Kefir

    Making Kefir was easy, we’ve been making it for years. We had started kits we bought in Oregon before we left. Just got some organic milk and we were in business. If you have to use Korean milk, make sure it is full fat milk, 2 percent makes watery kefir. There are recipes for using almond milk, coconut milk, rice milk but we have not used them because we heard it would be pretty watery. Might want to try Goat milk sometime though. The Commissary’s organic full fat Milk is perfect. You can also buy Kefir at the Commissary just to see if you like it but their Kefir has extra sugar in it and I am not sure it would be a good starter mix. Best to order the starter kits from Amazon (they will deliver to a local address) and you should not have any problems. But with both be sure you sanitize your containers with hot boiling water before making either kombucha or kefir. Need to keep stray random non-cultured bacteria out of the mix.

    See below for articles on the health benefits of Kombucha and Kefir, articles on how to make it, and where to buy it locally.

    As a personal testimony a few years ago I noticed that I did not have hay fever in the Spring. I used to have to make a trip to the urgent care/ER because I got so inflamed that I could not even open my eyes and I was sneezing so bad. The medicine they gave me worked a bit but I mostly just suffered. Then I started eating kefir for breakfast and drinking Kombucha and my hay fever disappeared.!

    External Links

    Health benefits of Kefir

    health benefits of Kefir

    Health benefits of Kombucha

    health benefits of Kombucha

    How to make kombucha at home

    how to make kombucha at home

    How to Make Kefir

    how to make kefir

    Where to Buy Kombucha in Seoul

    where to buy kombucha in Seoul

    Note:

    Kombucha is now widely available in Korea.  My brother-in-law even has a side hustle, making Mama Kombucha.  You buy it in stores and some coffee shops. Endiya caries it, Star Bucks does not. The US commissaries carry it and larger Korean grocery chains carry Kombucha now.

    Bing AI provided some places where you can find Kombucha and Kefir in Korea.  The commissaries carry it, a few larger grocery chains now carry both.

    Kombucha is a fermented, lightly effervescent, sweetened black tea drink that is popular for its health benefits1. In Korea, you can find kombucha in various forms, such as:

    • CORE BIO is a company that produces organic kombucha with different flavors, such as lemon, ginger, and berry. You can order their products online from their website2 or find them in some health food stores.
    • TEAZEN is another company that offers kombucha in powder stick form, which you can mix with water or juice. They claim to be the world’s first to introduce this convenient way of consuming kombucha. You can also order their products online from their website3 or find them in some supermarkets and convenience stores.
    • Homebrewing is an option if you want to make your own kombucha at home. You will need a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast), tea, sugar, and a glass jar. You can buy a SCOBY online or get one from a friend who already brews kombucha. There are many online tutorials and recipes that can guide you through the process of making your own kombucha.

     

    Kefir is a fermented milk drink that contains probiotics, which are beneficial for your gut health1. In Korea, you can find kefir in different ways, such as:

    • Buying ready-made kefir drinks from some supermarkets, convenience stores, or online shops. Some brands that offer kefir drinks are CORE BIO, TEAZEN, and Lifeway. They have various flavors and types of kefir, such as organic, low fat, or powder stick234.
    • Making your own kefir at home with kefir grains and milk. Kefir grains are a mixture of bacteria and yeast that ferment the milk and produce kefir. You can buy kefir grains online or get them from someone who already makes kefir. You will also need a glass jar, a cloth, and a rubber band to cover the jar. There are many online guides and videos that can show you how to make kefir at home1 .
    • Visiting a kefir cafe where you can enjoy fresh kefir drinks and other products made with kefir, such as smoothies, ice cream, or cheese. Some examples of kefir cafes in Korea are Kefir Lab in Seoul, Kefir House in Busan, and Kefir Story in Daegu .

    I hope this helps you find kefir in Korea. Cheers!