Thursday, May 19, 2011

Kefir Kombucha Hybrid

I don't know why this post that was posted on 12 May appeared today?

I last wrote about kefir about 6 months ago. I got a fresh supply of kefir grains from my ex-colleague just after Chinese New Year. I stored some of the kefir grains in my fridge and gave the rest away. Most people culture using cow or goat's milk. Due to my condition, I would prefer water kefir but so far, one of the ingredients has always to use sugar for the fermentation. In some other recipes, some fruits are also added. What you have is an alcoholic beverage. The description of water kefir made with sugar fermentation is that it taste like soda. Sodas are sugar with water. If fruits are used, its fructose with water. For me, sugar is one of the things I avoid all together.

A friend of mine has been experimenting with water kefir without (or very little of) the sugar. But so far, his efforts have failed because one of the main requirements is fermentation before the culture would grow. I am abstaining myself from taking cow or goat's milk kefir for the time being. So is there another way to take water kefir without the sugar and alcohol?

From what I read, there is a different combination. It's kefir with kombucha. Kombucha (first recorded use of kombucha comes from China in 221 BC during the Qin Dynasty) is a living health drink made by fermenting tea and sugar with the kombucha culture. The result can taste like something between sparkling apple cider and champagne. As the Kombucha culture digests the sugar it produces a range of organic acids like glucuronic acid, gluconic acid, lactic acid, acetic acid, butyric acid, malic acid and usnic acid; vitamins, particularly B vitamins and vitamin C; as well as amino acids, enzymes.

So far from what I read in the forums, most people make water kefir and kombucha separately and then mix them together when drinking. This is also not what I preferred as the water kefir has sugar and alcohol contents in it. I managed to find a person (Tim Anderson) making it the way I want and he calls it kefir/kombucha hybrid.

Ingredients
1. A chunk of kombucha "mother"
2. Kefir grains
3. Green Tea or milk
4. 3 glass jars and plastic spoons

Preparation
1. Culture the kombucha mother
Pour the chunk of kombucha mother into an open jar and tie a cloth over the top. If it's still alive you'll see a skin forming on top in a few days. After a month or two you'll have a nice thick layer of mother in there. Kombucha gets more and more sour with time. The more sour it gets the better the mother grows. This step can be skipped if you already have the kombucha mother.
2. Culture the hybrid kefir/kombucha mother
Get a chunk of kombucha mother and put it in another jar and add the kefir grains. Swirl it around. Leave it for a couple of days. You now have a hybrid kefir/kombucha mother.
3a. Milk hybrid kefir/kombucha
Transfer the hybrid kefir/kombucha mother and put in glass jar. Add milk and allow to ferment for two days. Pour out milk and serve. Add new milk to the jar to make the next batch.
3b. Green Tea hybrid kefir/kombucha
As in 3a above, but only add green tea instead of milk. Tim Anderson uses milk in his example and by logical extension, I think it should work for green tea. For me, I would prefer green tea due to my present condition.

Notes on kombucha:
1: Cover jar with a cloth and let in air. We don't want anaerobic fermentation.
2: Prevent condensation. Anything looking like a lid will get condensation, even if it's loose. Then there will be white mold. The kombucha mother will die and fall apart.
Notes on kefir:
1. Never used any metal utensils as it could harm the kefir.
2. If you are using milk kefir grains but want to use it in green tea, soak the kefir grains in water first to remove the milk concentration. Otherwise, you will have a milk green tea kefir/kombucha drink combination.

I now have to source for kombucha mother before I could try this hybrid drink.

Fungicide Therapy Trial - Day 16 Update
Today, I will resume my fungicide therapy. My coughing has been more active during the early stages of me lying down, possibly due to some fluid retention for which I have to cough out the phlegm but it stops after about a few minutes later. I believe things should start to become normal back today.

My difficulty in falling asleep meanwhile continues and I am beginning to think that this could be due to the Sanuvis Acidum L(+)-lacticum. I just don't feel sleepy. But as far as I know, there are no known side effects.

12 comments:

  1. Hi CT,
    This is the first time I heard of kombucha. Fascinating. There are so many things out there that we are still not aware of.

    Take care.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Real Live Kefir Grains shared by members worldwide

    Some people around the world are willing to give away the kefir grains and kombocha culture for free. Charges, if any are for postage. You can check this website to request from people in your country or region:

    http://www.torontoadvisors.com/Kefir/kefir-list.php

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi CT,

    I am sure I commented here, but it disappered.

    I was saying this was the first time I heard of kombucha.

    Never stop learnig and discovering new things.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Justin,

    Something major happened at Blogger yesterday and they were down for the whole day. I thought I lost this post but somehow it was restored by Blogger but without the comments.

    ReplyDelete
  5. hi CT,
    just a quick stupid question, isnt it that Kombucha is made of fermented tea? you also mentioned molds/fungus on top of the mixture.. if cancer is a fungi, why fight cancer with another fungi?
    Sorry, do not have enough time to research, so I thought to just ask here.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear Nanay,
    Very valid question. Dr Simoncini therorised that cancer is a fungus and is caused by Candida, a yeast-like organism that lives in the body.

    There are over 1,500 species of yeast, of which about only 1% have been studied. Candida albicans, are opportunistic pathogens and can cause infections in humans. I am not an expert but I think some yeast are beneficial to the human body. Many of the things we eat are also fungal in nature like mushrooms, yeast for making bread,etc. Many probiotics enzymes are also made with the help of yeast fermenting and some cancer patients reported it helped them. In Gerson therapy we do avoid mushrooms because it is a fungus but yet we can get rye bread (which has yeast) in Gerson clinic.

    I think so long as we know what type of yeast we are dealing with, taking smalls amounts would not be harmful. By the way, I am on the fungicide therapy. If cancer is indeed a fungus, I should recover. I have about 2 more weeks to go on the fungicide therapy. There were reports of kidney cancer being cured by fungicide therapy, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Seller talks about growing kefir is like art, but the kefir that i got from him was flat. After readind on "DOM'S KEFIR" site i believe the grain was squeezed by the "Seller" ouch !

    ReplyDelete
  8. How are you doing with your health and research ?

    Hope you are well.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate
    you penning this post and also the rest of the site is also really good.


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    ReplyDelete
  10. Kefir is made with sugar, but the sugar is consumed in the fermentation process, and there is no sugar in the finished product. It is quicker and no possibility of spoilage or fungus that you have with Kombucha.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is said of kombucha too, and it's not entirely true. Given enough time, both cultures will eat all of the sugar, making vinegar, and then die. In normal brewing times however, the cultures are just starting to break down the sugar by the time you decant. The drinks will likely still be sweet because there's still sugar in it. If either drink is sweeter than store-bought vinegar, it still has sugar in it.

      Delete
  11. Kefir is made with sugar, but the sugar is consumed in the fermentation process, and there is no sugar in the finished product. It is quicker and no possibility of spoilage or fungus that you have with Kombucha.

    ReplyDelete