Camp Recipes - Reflections Kombucha

Holidays are all about feeling good, recharging, and making the most of your time away. Brewing your own kombucha can be a simple way to boost that energy and add a refreshing, healthy twist to your break. Packed with probiotics and natural B vitamins, this tangy, sparkling tea is known for supporting gut health and giving you that light, revitalised feeling.

Keeping healthy whilst on holiday doesn't have to be as hard as it sounds, and we have some great tips on making your own Kombucha.

Why Kombucha?

The ancient Chinese called Kombucha the “Immortal Health Elixir'; it has been claimed that it can treat a wide variety of human illnesses, such as preventing and fighting cancer, arthritis and other degenerative diseases. It also provides other health benefits such as stimulation of the immune system, boosting the libido and most of all it aids in digestion and gut health.

Because it's naturally fermented with a living colony of bacteria and yeast, Kombucha is a probiotic beverage. Studies have proven that gut health has a direct link to mental health; a healthy gut = happy head they say. After drinking 'booch' every day for the last two months my husband and I do feel happier and healthier and we have stopped spending a small fortune on store-bought probiotics and guess what it tastes great!

We look forward to our weekly 'booch' making sessions - the process is actually quite calming and we have shared little Scoby babies with friends to set them up with their own 'booch' factories. So what's stopping you, give our recipe below a try and get your 'booch' on. You won't regret it!

Reflections Recipe - 3.8L Kombucha Booch Brew

Ingredients

• 1 Scoby
• 2 Cups Starter Liquid (booch from the previous batch, so keep two cups with the scoby)
• 8 Organic Black Tea Bags (if wanting to mix it up always use 4 black tea bags and then 4 flavoured bags like Roship hibiscus tea, green tea, white tea etc don’t use any teas with oils etc just basic organic tea)
• 1 Cup Raw Sugar
• Distilled Water

Steps

1. Sterilise all equipment with boiling water before using and wash your hands to avoid contamination.
2. Brew the tea bags in four or more cups of boiling water for at least five minutes.
3. While still hot remove tea bags, dissolve the raw sugar in your tea and allow to cool (if you don’t have time add ice or cold water to cool the mixture down).
4. Gently take the scoby out with your hands and place it on a plate.
5. Pour the brewed Kombucha through a strainer into a large ceramic bowl.
6. Using a glass jug and funnel pour the cooled sweetened tea into your brew jar, top up with room temperature water, add your two cups of starter booch and then top up with more water if needed so a few inches from the top of your jar.
7. Gently pick up your scoby and place it in your brew (wash hands again first).
8. Cover with cloth and rubber band, and store in a warm dark place (he doesn’t like light, cold, or being moved much).
9. In 7-10 days decant your kombucha and repeat the above (taste test first, if it’s too sweet it needs to brew for longer, if too sour shorten your brewing time next time still okay to drink).
10. Leave the bottled booch at room temperature on a bench for 1-3 days to increase fizz then refrigerate.

You will notice new scobies will grow, you can leave them in and brew with more than one but your brewing time will be less. You can separate them, to start more brews, give them to a friend, or keep them as backup in case you lose a batch to contamination just put in a container with some booch and cover (don’t refrigerate).

A Refreshing Finish

Whether you’re relaxing on the verandah, heading out for a day of adventure, or simply soaking up the slower pace of holiday life, a glass of homemade kombucha is a simple way to feel refreshed and energised.

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