January 15, 2022

National Booch Day

Booch, also known to some as Kombucha has been around for centuries that's believed to have originated from China. The fermented drink is made of black or green tea often consumed for its health benefits. Since its inception, Kombucha now come in a variety of flavors and tastes. 

To make Kombucha, you'll need the following basic equipment:

• Stockpot
• One-gallon glass jar
• Double layer dishcloth or tightly-woven, lint-free cloths
• Swing-top glass bottles
• Plastic funnel

The basic ingredients vary from one recipe to the next, but the basic ingredients include,

• Water
• Sugar (table sugar, turbinado, demerara, sugar in the raw, or brown sugar)
• Caffeinated tea, or loose-leaf tea (black, green, or white)
• Unpasteurized, non-flavored kombucha
• SCOBY
• Juice, fruit, and fresh herbs or spices (for flavoring)

Celebrate this centuries-old tea and the health benefits it offers!

Homemade Kombucha requires fermentation using a SCOBY (or Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast) that is brewed with black or green tea, and sugar and allowed to ferment. The fermentation process can take days and in some cases up to a month. That said, it takes time and a trip to your health food store to buy the necessary ingredients and equipment to make it. 

For the DIY, here are websites I have found that I think you're going to want to check out if you're interested in learning to make home-brewed Kombucha. 

How to Make Kombucha (brewbuch.com)

How To Make Kombucha Tea at Home (thekitchn.com)

How To Make Kombucha at Home (simplyrecipes.com)

Then again, there are those of you who rather go to a store like ours and buy Kombucha tea. Kombucha teas are not all made equal especially when it comes to the amount of sugar, alcohol content, flavor, and cost of making it. 

Although, these days the lines between commercial and homemade Kombucha have narrowed enough that often time the convenience of buying it at the store, the price you pay for a bottle, and the myriad of textures and flavors you'll find at the store are very close to what you'll expect in homemade Kombucha.   

Regardless of how you want your Kombucha made (homemade vs store-bought), Booch day allows you to unwind and enjoy drinking a tea that is centuries old in the making.