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You can grow kombucha either from an adult medusomycete or from scratch using simple ingredients. Despite its name, the mushroom grows not only from classic tea leaves - there are quite a lot of recipes for actually creating it.
Is it possible to grow kombucha from scratch?
You can create a tea jellyfish not only from a small piece of an adult mushroom.The product is successfully grown from scratch, although it may take much longer. And, nevertheless, in the absence of a ready-made medusomycete, just a few simple ingredients are enough to grow a full-fledged kombucha with your own hands.
How does kombucha originate?
The tea jellyfish can be found under many names - it is called mushroom, kombucha, zooglea, medozoumycete, tea kvass or Japanese mushroom. But the essence of the product remains the same.
A mushroom is a living organism obtained by the fusion of yeast and acetic acid bacteria. It originates independently on the surface of an infusion with the appropriate composition - the basis is a moderately sweet drink. Yeast fungi use sucrose as a nutrient substrate for the development of medusomycetes - if you make kombucha at home according to all the rules, it will develop into a substance that has pronounced medicinal properties.
Externally, the tea jellyfish looks like a thin slippery pancake
How long does Kombucha grow?
If you try to grow a product from a ready-made piece, then it will take very little time before the adult organism appears - only about a week.
However, if growing from scratch, you will have to wait much longer. Kombucha grows in this case for a couple of months. It will take that much time for it to transform from a thin film on the surface of the liquid into a dense organism resembling a jellyfish.
How to grow kombucha from scratch at home
To create a useful organism in your jar, you don’t have to look for friends who are also keen on breeding medusomycetes.There are several ways to grow kombucha using recipes—all you need to get results is a few basic ingredients and a little patience.
How to grow kombucha from tea leaves
The classic method of growing tea jellyfish involves using regular tea leaves and sugar. The recipe looks like this:
- for the body, select a large jar, usually 3 liters, and sterilize it;
- then brew tea with a very weak concentration - only 2 small spoons of dry tea leaves for a liter of liquid;
- Add 3 large spoons of sugar to the tea and stir until the grains are completely dissolved.
After this, the infusion is filtered and the jar is filled to 2/3 of its volume, and then put in a warm, dark place for a week. After this period, a thin film of the future mushroom should appear on the surface of the sweet base, and the full development of the organism will take about 1.5 months.
How to grow kombucha from rose hips
The product can be prepared not only with tea, but also with herbal infusion of rose hips. According to the recipe, you need:
- For 5 days, keep rose hips in a thermos, filled with hot water at the rate of 500 ml per 4 large spoons of berries;
- pour the herbal infusion into a sterile large jar;
- Brew 1 small spoon of black tea in a glass of boiling water and pour the resulting drink over the rose hips;
- add 5 large spoons of granulated sugar and mix well.
You need to place kombucha at home in a warm and dark place, covering the neck of the jar with gauze. After about 1.5 months, you can get a fully formed organism.
A fungal organism can be grown not only from tea leaves, but also from herbal infusion
How to Grow Kombucha from Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar can serve as a nutrient medium for the fungus, provided that the product is completely natural. Growing a jellyfish is quite simple, for this you need:
- For a couple of months, put the bottle of vinegar in a warm place without direct sunlight;
- at the end of the period, make sure that a cloudy sediment has formed at its bottom;
- strain off the vinegar and then mix it with a base of regular sweetened tea;
- Place in a dark place to infuse for another 2 weeks.
Soon, a young medusomycete will begin to emerge in the infusion, and it will have not only numerous beneficial properties, but also a pleasant smell.
How to grow kombucha from a piece
The easiest way is to grow kombucha from scratch step by step from a ready-made piece - if someone you know also grows mushroom jellyfish, then there will be no problems getting a piece.
For a piece, prepare a standard tea solution - a couple of small spoons of dry tea leaves and 40 g of sweetener are diluted in a liter of hot water. The warm liquid is poured into a clean jar, and then a piece of mushroom is placed there and the neck of the container is covered with gauze.
You can grow a tea jellyfish from a piece in just a week. If it is possible to get a piece of medusomycete, it is recommended to use this method.
How to grow kombucha at home from apple juice or apples
In addition to apple cider vinegar, you can make kombucha using apple juice - it has similar properties. About 500 ml of juice is poured into a jar and placed under gauze in the dark and warm for 1.5 months.After this time, a thin medusomycete will naturally appear on the surface of the juice; it will need to be carefully removed, washed and placed in a standard nutrient medium from tea leaves.
You can grow a useful medusomycete from fresh apples like this:
- several sour apples are grated along with the core to get 400 g of puree;
- in a glass jar, add 1.5 liters of cool, clean water to the apple pulp;
- add 150 g of high-quality honey, preferably liquid, and 15 g of yeast;
- mix the ingredients and put them away in a dark place for 10 days.
Every day the mixture must be stirred at least once, and after the period has expired, the starter is removed, placed in a clean linen bag and squeezed out properly. The resulting juice is poured into another jar, the neck is covered with gauze and the future fungal organism is removed to infuse for 2 months.
How to grow your own kombucha from live beer
A non-standard recipe for growing tea jellyfish suggests using alcoholic beverages instead of tea. The mixture is prepared as follows:
- to 100 ml of high-quality beer that has not undergone pasteurization, add 2 small spoons of sour wine;
- dilute 1 small spoon of sugar in liquid;
- The components are mixed and put away in a dark and warm corner for several days, covering the glass container with gauze.
A film of the future mushroom will appear on the surface of the workpiece within a week. After the mushroom has grown, it can be removed and moved to a permanent place in ordinary tea.
You can even use beer to create a mushroom jellyfish
How to grow kombucha in a jar at home
Fans of mushroom kvass will be interested in learning not only unusual recipes for growing medusomycetes, but also the basic rules for keeping the mushroom. Keeping tea jellyfish in a healthy state is not difficult - you only need to follow the basic recommendations.
What does kombucha look like at the beginning of cultivation?
At the very beginning of cultivation, the homemade tea jellyfish bears little resemblance to the final product that can be seen in photographs. A young medusomycete is just a thin dark film on the surface of the nutrient solution.
It takes about 2-3 months for the body to grow - towards the end of this period the mushroom becomes like a thick slimy pancake.
Which side should you put the kombucha in the jar?
To successfully start a kombucha, you should take into account that it has an upper and lower side, and they are not the same. The top of the kombucha is lighter, with a smooth surface, and the bottom is dark, uneven, with shoots and bulges.
It is necessary to immerse the mushroom in the nutrient liquid with the bottom side. Otherwise, he will not be able to fully grow and develop.
Where should kombucha be located in the house?
Most drinks are usually stored in the refrigerator. However, the tea jellyfish is a living, developing organism, so cold is most often contraindicated for it. The jar with the mushroom must be kept in a shaded and warm place with a stable temperature no higher than 25 °C. Only the finished drink obtained from the mushroom is placed in the refrigerator, but not the jellyfish itself.
Once removed from the refrigerator in fresh tea infusion, the mushroom will quickly come to life again.
It is not recommended to keep a jar with a fungal organism in the light
Several recipes on how to make kombucha
At home, mushroom jellyfish can be grown in many ways. Depending on the chosen recipe, the finished mushroom acquires additional valuable properties.
Proportions of the main ingredients, how to properly brew kombucha
Almost any recipe for growing mushroom jellyfish suggests using the same proportions. Usually to create a mushroom you take:
- about 2-2.5 liters of water; initially, zooglea can be grown in only 500 ml of liquid, but the fungus grows quickly, so the solution is gradually added to the final volume;
- a few tablespoons of sugar, their exact amount varies depending on the volume of liquid, but on average only 3 large spoons of sweetener are added per 1 liter of solution;
- 2 small spoons of dry tea leaves per 1 liter of liquid; mushroom jellyfish prefer weak tea leaves, so there should be little tea.
Even if you plan to grow the mushroom immediately in a large 3-liter jar, you need to fill it about 2/3 with water. There should be space between the mushroom and the neck.
Traditional recipe
The basic recipe for growing zooglea suggests using a simple tea solution and sugar. The tea to create a mushroom jellyfish is taken black, without additives or flavorings, and the algorithm looks like this:
- the tea leaves are poured with boiling water at the rate of 2 teaspoons of raw materials per liter of liquid;
- add sugar to the strained solution - 3 large spoons for each liter;
- Stir the liquid thoroughly, cover the neck of the container with gauze and put it in a dark place.
Brew the tea for about 15 minutes before adding sugar.
On green tea
You can grow a fungal organism using green tea - many consider this infusion to be healthier, rich in antioxidants and flavonoids. The growing recipe is very similar to the previous one:
- 2-3 small spoons of green leaf tea are poured with a liter of hot water;
- let the tea brew for about 15 minutes, after which it is strained from the brew;
- add 3-4 large spoons of granulated sugar and stir the infusion properly, and then pour it into a glass vessel.
The container with the neck covered with gauze is placed in a warm place and in the dark, for example, in a closed kitchen cabinet. After about 25 days, a thin substance similar to a jellyfish will appear on the surface of the solution. This will be a young fungal organism.
On herbs
A fungal organism grown on a herbal infusion can, at home, constantly supply a drink with pronounced soothing, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic properties. The specific features of mushroom kvass will depend on the medicinal herbs chosen. You can grow the mushroom on rose hips and chamomile, on linden and St. John's wort, on plantain and on multi-component herbal preparations.
You can dilute kombucha with herbs like this:
- about 200 g of dried herbs are poured into 3 liters of boiled water;
- leave the broth to infuse overnight, and filter in the morning;
- sugar is diluted in the resulting infusion in a standard amount - 3 tablespoons per 1 liter of liquid;
- cover the container with permeable gauze and put it in a warm and dark place for several weeks.
Mushroom jellyfish on herbs is characterized not only by numerous healing properties, but also by a very pleasant taste and aroma.
Herbal medusomycete has increased medicinal benefits
On honey
Traditionally, sugar is used to create a sweet solution, but it is possible to make kombucha at home using honey if desired. The standard recipe changes slightly:
- as usual, pour 2-2.5 liters of hot water into black or green tea leaves;
- then natural liquid honey is added to the strained tea - only 50 ml per 1 liter of liquid;
- You also need to add granulated sugar to the infusion - no more than 2 large spoons per liter.
The mushroom is grown according to this recipe in the usual way. It is believed that honey enriches tea jellyfish with biologically active substances and microelements, and the drink from the finished jellyfish has strong antibacterial properties.
On the hibiscus
Hibiscus tea is valued for its wonderful aroma, pleasant refreshing taste and numerous medicinal properties. Hibiscus is well suited for growing zooglea, and the algorithm is as follows:
- half a glass of dry hibiscus tea leaves is poured into a 3 liter jar and filled with 2.5 liters of warm, but not hot water;
- the drink is infused overnight, and in the morning the finished ruby-colored infusion is filtered and poured into another jar of similar size;
- Add 5-6 large spoons of granulated sugar to the infusion and stir until the grains dissolve completely.
Next you need to follow the standard algorithm.The container with the hibiscus nutrient solution is covered with gauze so that the infusion can “breathe” and is put in a dark and warm place until the first film of the fungus appears.
How to grow kombucha at home
It is quite simple to achieve the appearance of medusomycetes in a nutrient solution. However, even after this you need to follow the rules for growing the mushroom, otherwise it will not be possible to use it to obtain a healthy drink for long:
- It is necessary to place the kombucha correctly. You need to keep the container in the house in a warm place, but not in the sun. Direct ultraviolet rays are harmful to the body.
- The jar with the fungal organism cannot be closed with a lid - the fungus needs oxygen, without which it will stop developing and die.
- From time to time, the solution in the container with the growing fungal organism must be changed. Usually this is done once a week - the finished “kvass” from under the jellyfish is drained and consumed, and the body itself is filled with fresh solution.
- When changing the solution, the mushroom is washed in clean water - carefully so as not to damage its delicate structure.
Even if mushroom kvass is temporarily not consumed as a drink, it is still necessary to update the solution in the jar. The acidity level of the infusion increases over time, and the solution, if not changed, begins to corrode the body of the medusomycete itself.
A mushroom jellyfish in a jar needs to create special conditions
Why Kombucha does not grow and what to do
Sometimes the thin body of the medusomycete does not want to appear on the surface of the nutrient solution, and sometimes it very slowly gains thickness and practically does not grow. The reasons are violation of growing conditions. The body will not grow if:
- leave the jar of infusion in a brightly lit place, in which case, over time, only blue-green algae will appear inside the container;
- seal the container with a lid - this will block the access of air, and the fungal organism will not be able to develop;
- violate the temperature regime or leave the jar in a room with poor air quality, in which case mold will quickly appear on the surface of the infusion, but it will be difficult to see the tea jellyfish underneath it.
It is equally harmful to keep a young medusomycete in an oxidizing infusion, or to change the nutrient medium too often. In the first case, the increasing acidity of the solution will corrode the fungus itself, and in the second, the medusomycete simply will not have time to take root in the nutrient medium.
Conclusion
You can grow kombucha with your own hands, even without having a piece of an adult medusomycete. There are many recipes for growing an organism. The main thing is to adhere to the basic rules that ensure rapid and healthy growth of the mushroom jellyfish.
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