As part of our preparations for this Sunday’s permaculture class we are making some Kombucha Kits. We grow our own Green Tea Leaves and the Kombucha and Jun love it. Last year we ran a class with Ella teaching us how to make Kombucha and amazing Sauerkraut with Old Kombucha mothers.

Our Jun and Kombucha love home-grown tea leaves. Taste our home-grown tea and home-grown sugarcane. The honey is from our neighour, we make Jun and Kombucha. Thanks to our previous workshop on Kombucha we have a recipe and starter SCOBY to share.  (take home own recipe and SCOBY). We add ginger and tumeric to our Kombucha 2nd ferment, see how Tumeric and Ginger grow in pots and in our garden.

FIRST FERMENT

Brew 1tspn dried Tea leaf from garden [or 1 green and 1 black tea bag] with ½ cup sugar (use honey for Jun) in a glass jar with 1 lt of boiling water. Steep the sweetened tea overnight before feeding to SCOBY [Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast.] Store away from direct light with a secured cloth over the top.

SECOND FERMENT

After 8-10 days pour most of liquid into a decanter. Keep a cupful of the mix with the SCOBY for the next brew. Using a decanter allows the ferment to gas-off. Add spices and 300ml pear juice. Ensure the juice has no preservative added. We also add fresh ginger pieces. Brew for 5 more days then bottle. Once you bottle the mix keep it in the fridge. Our spice mix includes: ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, all spice, Nutmeg and Cardamom. Tumeric loves growing in our garden. We will dig some up to dry.

Remember to sterilise everything you use and avoid using metal implements. (we sterilise our pretty pre-loved decanters with liquor). I prefer to use decanters because I have a vivid memory of the bottles of ginger-beer exploding when we were kids. Decanters will gas-off politely and the stoppers will fall back in place as if nothing has happened.

Join us on Sunday to build a full day’s fun and skills in the outdoor kitchen and garden. Permaculture Fundamentals