Guest guest Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 If you were fermenting tea using just vinegar, without a mother culture, then it's likely that the baby that grew in your tea was a mother of vinegar culture. They look identical to kombucha cultures, but do not contain the same acids and beneficial bacterias. It will still ferment the tea, but your tea will be missing crucial elements that make the tea good for you in the first place. To answer your question, it is the caffeine that fuels the kombucha culture. The yeasts live off the sugar. This is why a serving size of properly fermented kombucha contains roughly the same amount of caffeine as two sips of coffee. Small amounts of caffeine are still left after fermentation. Once you start making your kombucha and have baby cultures, then try experimenting with cultures in different types of tea. It's mostly trial and error. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 27, 2009 Report Share Posted August 27, 2009 Kerry, This is done in the absence of a scoby and/or some starter brew. If you have both of those things there is no need for the vinegar and it must be distilled white vinegar if you use it at all. zoe Kerry Darden wrote: > Newbie here... > > I've read some recipes online that suggest adding a ¼ cup of white vinegar > to your brew to give it a kickstart.... What are all your thoughts on this? > > > > Thank you > Kerry > > > > From: kombucha tea > [mailto:kombucha tea ] On Behalf Of sweetiekins424 > Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 8:50 PM > kombucha tea > Subject: Re: What is it? > > If you were fermenting tea using just vinegar, without a mother culture, > then it's likely that the baby that grew in your tea was a mother of vinegar > culture. They look identical to kombucha cultures, but do not contain the > same acids and beneficial bacterias. It will still ferment the tea, but your > tea will be missing crucial elements that make the tea good for you in the > first place. To answer your question, it is the caffeine that fuels the > kombucha culture. The yeasts live off the sugar. This is why a serving size > of properly fermented kombucha contains roughly the same amount of caffeine > as two sips of coffee. Small amounts of caffeine are still left after > fermentation. Once you start making your kombucha and have baby cultures, > then try experimenting with cultures in different types of tea. It's mostly > trial and error. > > Good luck! > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 28, 2009 Report Share Posted August 28, 2009 Its the acidity hon, this is what reacts with your tea and sugar to create not only KT but the scoby as well. And its that same acidity that prevents molds to grow in your culture Finished KT is also acidic and when available this is your best starter medium. Now your issue with possible petroleum brings up other issues and I am sympathetic with your concerns, but have no scientific data to offer you. Perhaps researching those brands on the internet will shed some light on the matter. Zoe groupleif wrote: > I am reluctant to use distilled white vinegar because it could be made from petroleum. I cant tell if the vinegar is made from petroleum or not just by looking at the bottle. There are about 4 different brands of white vinegar in Thailand. Now, if i were to use vinegar made from petroleum, would that have a bad effect? How exactly does the kombucha grow with only using distilled vinegar? > > > >> Lief >> >> If you used raw apple cider vinegar then you did NOT have Kombucha, >> what you had was flavored Vinegar. Also beneficial to your health. >> >> You can if necessary create a Kombucha culture using DISTILLED >> white vinegar- it takes a while but it does work. >> >> Mother of Vinegar and a true Kombucha scoby are very similar in >> appearance but not in content. Search the web and you will find your >> answers. >> >> Zoe >> > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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