Newbie

[Guest guest]

Hi, I'm a newbie. I got turned on to kombucha when a friend brought

me some and said, " Try this. It's carbonated tea. " When I read the

label, I said, " This isn't carbonated. It's fermented! " Then I got

really jazzed up, b/c I love microbes. I make my own sauerkraut, and

I've made yogurt in the past (although I'm non-dairy now). Kombucha

is the coolest thing. One of my favorite beers is a Belgian Lambic I

get at the specialty grocery store, and I was tickled to know that

they share similar strains of yeast (brettanomyces). Although I'm not

real happy to hear that it supposedly gives things a " barnyard " taste.

I've already made one batch, which I think probably should have gone a

little longer. I put raisins in the bottle and that turned out pretty

yummy (although I didn't get much fizz, b/c I didn't let it sit long

enough before refrigerating).

I've been perusing the archives (as well as a bunch of KT sites on the

net), and I have a couple questions. This weekend, I'll be going to a

brewer supply store and getting some swing top bottles. They are EZ

cap bottles. Am I correct that these bottles are specially designed

NOT to explode? And I have been making a list of all the things I

want to add to the bottles, and I have a question about ginger. I've

never used real ginger, just the powder before. If I use real ginger,

do I peel it? And how much do I put in a 16 oz. bottle, for example.

Just one slice? Thin or thick slice?

Thank you in advance. I am so looking forward to becoming completely

absorbed with the KT thing. I love that it's not as " fussy " as

brewing beer or wine, and it's pretty fast, too. I'm not sure I

believe all the hype about it curing everything and anything, but I'm

sure it's way better then soda pop, which I'm currently addicted to,

so my goal is to make fizzy KT, so I can get myself off the nasty ol'

soda pop habit, and onto a better KT habit.

Marcy