Kombucha Tea

Kombucha tea is essentially a fermented tea that is traditionally consumed for various health benefits. The medicinal properties connected with this tea make it a most favored health drink in many communities. It originated in East Asia and was later introduced to Germany as a health drink that boosts immunity and strengthens the body against many ailments. In the last decade it has gained popularity in many other countries including USA. Apart from unwell people, it is also consumed by old people as the drink promises slow aging. The credit for the popularity of this drink also goes to kombucha tea recipe as it is very easy to make at home.

How to Make Kombucha Tea?

To make Komucha tea at home, you will need the following:

A kombucha Mushroom aka Scoby aka Kombucha Culture, tea bags or loose tea, sugar, non latex hand gloves, a jar, water.

Once you are equipped with the above things start with the following procedure:

• First, wash your hands well before you start with the Kombucha recipe.
• Take a clean vessel and fill it with three liters of water.
• Keep the vessel on the stove and boil the water on a high flame for five minutes to purify it.
• Now dip the tea bags in the boiling water so that you get the black tea. Or you can add five teaspoon of loose tea and make the black tea.
• Once the mixture becomes warmer, add ½ or 1 cup of sugar. You can adjust the sugar as per your taste. Stir the mixture well with a long handle spoon so the sugar is mixed well in the tea.
• Now, cover the mixture with a lid and allow it to come to the usual room temperature.
• Meanwhile, you can prepare the jar for fermentation process. Wash the jar with extremely hot water to kill the impurities and micro organisms.
• Once the tea cools down, pour it in the sanitized jar and add the liquid first that you got with a culture. If you wish to make this drink again, retain some Kombucha drink (10% of the total drink) to add to the next mixture as a 'starter liquid'.
• Now, add the live culture to the jar and seal the jar with tightly woven fabric, such as, tea towel or paper towel etc. And keep the jar in a dry place for about 8-10 days for fermentation.
• Once it is fermented well, wear the clean gloves again and gently remove the culture from the jar and place them in a sanitized vessel along with little Kombucha on it and cover it with a lid.
• Keep the little tea for the next time and fill rest of the tea in the bottle with the help of sterilized strainer and close the bottles.
• Now, let the drink mature and for this you need to keep it at room temperature for three to five days and then refrigerate it. Cold Kombucha tea tastes best so you can also add extra ice cubes while serving it in glass.

From the above tips it's quite evident that making Kombucha tea at home is quite time-consuming and needs a lot of patience and precision. You can also buy it too.

Kombucha Tea Benefits

Given below is a list of Kombucha benefits that you may enjoy if you drink it everyday.

• Kombucha tea has detoxifying and immune enhancing qualities.
• It is an energetic drink and also a great stress buster.
• It improves blood circulation in the body.
• It regulates blood pressure.
• It is also known to improve eyesight.
• Promotes better hair growth.
• It prevents and controls bladder infections.
• It flushes out the toxins from the body.
• Reduces heat rash.
• Improves skin and reduces skin problems.
• It is beneficial for those suffering with respiratory diseases.
• It is also good for asthma patients.
• It can be used externally as well. It makes as a good hair rinse and soak for a pedicure and manicure.

But to enjoy the above benefits of kombucha tea you need to ferment it properly so that it causes no infections. Though there are no major side effects, for some it may lead to stomach problems. Apart from this, there are no scientific proven results of this drink and hence a few health practitioners do not recommend it. For you, it is advisable to consult a doctor before consuming this drink.