Kombucha anyone?

[Kassaundra]

I agree the green tea one is nasty, tastes like mowed grass or hay smells.

I have to admit drinking it straight (my home made ones) isn't really my taste, but I add black cherry concentrate (to help w/ my gout and flavor the tea) and about 1/2 and 1/2 of flavored carbonated water, and my home made hooch is sweeter then store bought, it makes it quite tasty.

I have bee just drinking it out of the main fermenting jug, I didn't have much success w/ bottling and adding carbonation just didn't seem worth the added time, energy, space.

 

[canesisters]

Where do you get black cherry concentrate? What does that do? Help with pain? Inflammation?
I've been having a lot of pain/stiffness lately. Probably arthritis, I'm guessing. I'm a COMPLETE doctor-phobe and want to explore any herbal, nutritional options that I can find before going that route.

 

[Kassaundra]

Where do you get black cherry concentrate? What does that do? Help with pain? Inflammation?
I've been having a lot of pain/stiffness lately. Probably arthritis, I'm guessing. I'm a COMPLETE doctor-phobe and want to explore any herbal, nutritional options that I can find before going that route.

You get it at any health food store or if your grocery store has a good health food section. Gout is a specific form of arthritis, it is caused by a build up of uric acid in the joints some foods can increase this build up (coffee, legumes, beef, chocolate, etoh) Black cherry can help your body to get rid of the uric acid. It doesn't work on other forms of arthritis and can't keep up if you eat a lot of the foods that increase uric acid. But it has always helped me during flares.

 

[Kassaundra]

I think healthy food craving is a sign your body needs something (not the junk food or sugar craving) and I have always had an extreme love of black cherries and have always had gout (got my first flare when I was a teen), but didn't know about black cherries until I was near 20.

 

[journey11]

Tart cherry concentrate would be a good additive too. It provides a source of naturally occurring melatonin, which can help you get to sleep better. I've found it in the grocery store. A bit expensive, nearly $20 for a 32 oz. bottle, but a little goes a long way. We've been using it to make elderberry gummies for the kids for sleep/anti-viral. Come to think of it, elderberry syrup would be a good flavor additive for kombucha too.

 

[Nyboy]

@journey11 I read the same about tart cherries being a sleep aid. As someone who has a specialist Dr. just for sleep problems, I planted 4 tart cherry trees. Like every other cherry tree I planted they soon died!!

 

[journey11]

@journey11 I read the same about tart cherries being a sleep aid. As someone who has a specialist Dr. just for sleep problems, I planted 4 tart cherry trees. Like every other cherry tree I planted they soon died!!

We've had no luck with cherry trees either. If they did grow, they never did bear much.

 

[canesisters]

Has anyone ever made ginger syrup to add to kombucha? I saw a recipe that was equal parts chopped ginger and sugar added to 3x amount of water (1cup ginger, 1 cup sugar, 3 cups water) - boiled till reduced - strained & stored in fridge.
If I wash the ginger root real good - and since I'm going to strain the syrup ... do I HAVE to peel it????
I hate trying to peel ginger!

 

[thistlebloom]

It p

Has anyone ever made ginger syrup to add to kombucha? I saw a recipe that was equal parts chopped ginger and sugar added to 3x amount of water (1cup ginger, 1 cup sugar, 3 cups water) - boiled till reduced - strained & stored in fridge.
If I wash the ginger root real good - and since I'm going to strain the syrup ... do I HAVE to peel it????
I hate trying to peel ginger!

I don't know the answer to that, but ginger peels pretty easily with the edge of a spoon.

 

[canesisters]

WHOOOOOO-HOO!
This is some good stuff!

Made the ginger syrup last night. And, by the way, the house smells wonderful! I put about 2Tbsp in my travel mug this AM and filled with 'booch'. MMMMM-MM Could be a 'bit' sweeter, so I'll probably add a packet of stevia in tomorrow's cup.

*1 cup minced ginger (skin-on or not, doesn't seem to matter)
*1 cup sugar (or whatever your favorite sweetener is)
*3 cups water
I ended up with about 2.5 cups ginger and only added about 2 cups sugar
*Bring to a boil, then simmer until reduced and thickened
It was getting late and I stopped mine before it really started to get 'syrup-y'
*Pour through fine strainer into jars