Comments on: Get Baked: Kombucha

By: spindrift

spindrift — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 07:30:10 +0000

okay this shit sounds terrifying but with everyone referring to their disc of bacteria as ‘a scoby’ it’s starting to sound like something i want to try…

By: cynthia

cynthia — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 20:56:51 +0000

My friend left her “original flavor” kombucha in my fridge so I tried it & it was horrendous. But I hate to waste things so I forced myself to drink it. My kombucha face was pretty intense I’m sure. I’ve sinced tried a few different flavors & my top faves are the ginger & green one. I drink it because A) I enjoy the taste now and B) it helps with my hangovers. Win-win.

By: Brianna

Brianna — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 06:28:09 +0000

Oh ew. I’m glad to hear #kombuchawatch2012 has been more successful for you. It still sounds to me like something you would drink on Fear Factor, however.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 05:33:32 +0000

OMG! YES!
I found out about the Komb from my lovely hippie (like, midwife-in-training/have worms delivered to the house to help with the compost pile/don’t you DARE use flea medications on your pets as it’s POISON!!!) friend about four or five years ago. I went through a run of making it. I found it’s easier if you can get some beer bottles and go through the bottling process (obvs after it’s fermented the appropriate time frame)- that way it keeps for a bit longer and decreases the whole “Holy shit this drink has been sitting in my warm apartment for way too long for it not to be growing foul shiv.”
Thanks for the tips in the article- I wish that I had known that I could have used store bought Kombucha for the scooby instead of ordering it from some guy on ebay. (EBAY!!!)

By: Paloma

Paloma — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 23:08:21 +0000

I am still processing the concept of buying fungus off strangers through the internet. An irrational fear of being killed on a parking lot in a busted fuzz deal just kicked in.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 02:17:39 +0000

how kombuchawatch2010 actually ended was that we got stalled at the point of trying to grow our own scoby because somehow fruit flies got INSIDE the jar we were using and we were super grossed out, and then got bogged down in dwelling on the terrible pantry moth infestation we had and how we were all broke and hated ourselves and also each other, sort of, and end of story we didn’t have the initiative that kombucha requires. BUT now i live alone and can ferment whatever the fuck i want in my kitchen, SO! here we are. thank you for remembering!

By: Violet

Violet — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 07:20:29 +0000

I was violently opposed to the idea of putting kombucha into my mouth for about two years, because it smells like vinegar and not a whole lot more. Then, for some reason lost to the ages, I tried it one day. It was delicious! Fizzy fizzy and really flavorful like soda without being overwhelmingly sweet, and not a very vinegar-like taste at all. I enjoy the flavor, but what’s really had me hooked is that it calms my upset stomach like real fast (as far as I can tell, this is its only physically beneficial property, but who knows). I eat all sorts of weird shit all the time, so this is an extremely important function.
But I have heard of people dying and stuff from growing the wrong kinds of bacteria in their homegrown kombucha, so I’ve always shied away. But have no idea how common this outcome actually is. I write to say that everyone should taste of the kombucha before knocking it.

By: Violet

Violet — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 07:11:34 +0000

Yep! Here, have this: http://blog.ted.com/2011/05/04/grow-your-own-clothes-suzanne-lee-on-ted-com/

By: kakapo

kakapo — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 03:59:34 +0000

I have absolutely zero interest in consuming kombucha, because it sounds like all the tastes I don’t want near my body (other than the fermented bit), but I sort of want to get a scoby and keep it, like, as a pet. They look like jellyfish that got a rough start to life.

I don’t know, I just like the mental image of tugging a little red wagon down the sidewalk, with the inevitable family of scobies merrily bobbing along in their jars.

By: Tory

Tory — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 03:48:17 +0000

I just did a google search of scoby and I am pretty weirded out by the whole thing. Also, there are currently five for sale on craigslist in the Seattle area. People will sell/buy anything on there.

By: Ferin

Ferin — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 01:03:34 +0000

Oh Autostraddle, always with the perfect timing.

One of my friends is moving across the country next week and offered to give me his scoby the other night. In spite of the fact that making my own kombucha seriously terrifies me and I probably won’t ever drink whatever strange creation grows in that jar… these directions are beautiful and perfectly on time.

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 00:22:21 +0000

From the wikipedia page on Kombucha: “The kombucha culture can also be used to make an artificial leather.”

Interesting.