Відео

Sometimes I hope that a kind of synergy will take place, transforming the ingredients inside into something better than they should be alone. ... But this was definitely barf emoji, for sure.

@@RecklessBooch 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

That sounds great! I'd love to try that out, too. How do you make your coffee kombucha? And do you do anything with the cacao beans, or do you just add them in whole?

Thank you for watching!

A refractometer! You can usually find them for <$20, but not at all essential here. I just think they're fun!

@@RecklessBooch I agree! I'm a little nerdy like that 😁

I think they help a lot if you're juicing fruit yourself, or making your own syrups. My estimates have definitely been very far off before!

Ah, that sounds fun! It's been awhile since I've had Mamba. Let us know how it turns out!

That is the certainly the route we would recommend, as well :D

I gave it a lot of consideration! Last year, with candy corn, I went with melting them first. But then I needed to melt them in a liquid, to keep them from sticking to the pot or burning. I didn't really want to cook the kombucha, so I used water to make it into a strong syrup. But I feel like it ended up diluting the flavor a bit. I had hoped that blending it would liquefy the candy and give a better result. But, alas, it would not blend. Perhaps melting with a splash of kombucha will be the test for next year.

That makes sense! I do like that sharp sour note, but it was a lot more palatable balanced out with some sweetness!

Thank you for watching!

The information here is simply too important. It would be irresponsible for me to do anything but keep the facts front and center.

How would you describe the taste of the coffucha? I've always heard it's an 'aquired' taste, and one that many people aren't very eager to acquire :D

A very fair point! These are 475ml bottles. I would just make sure and adjust to taste if you try any of these recipes. I have to alter the simple syrup amount a bit every time, depending on how the kombucha is tasting.

Thank you for watching!

I've only briefly mentioned testing ABV in some earlier videos. For kombucha, the usual at-home tools don't work very well. The acidity, the particulates, the way the alcohol is used by the bacteria... It all throws off the calculation and the number can fluctuate quickly. For a vague estimate, I use Specific Gravity. And, from what I hear, that is accurate to +- 1.0% ABV. I tend to measure around 0.6% ABV. And most at-home kombucha brewers are making 0.5 - 2.0% ABV.

I do have a mini (1 gallon) keg that I've considered using. But, personally, buying CO2 charges and keeping a keg in my refrigerator is more work than adding extra sugar and waiting a few days. I also like the flexibility of being able to make many different flavors each week. I will try it eventually, though, just to see!

As the grape juice is fermented by yeast, it was a type of wine that I produce. And while you can get fermentation from a kombucha SCOBY with many juices, liquids, or sugar alone, kombucha is by definition fermented sweet tea. Nutrients in the tea are important for the long term health of a standard kombucha SCOBY, though it can be adapted for other sources.

Just a 1:1 simple syrup. I dissolve a half cup of white sugar into a half cup of water, and then save that for a week or two in the fridge.

Ah, once you have your cooled sweet tea (~1L) and your starter liquid (~0.5L), you just need to add water to reach the full volume of 3.78L Some kombucha brewing vessels come pre-marked at the 1-gallon line, but other brewers measure once and then mark the line themselves using tape. I hope that helps!

Good luck! Let me know how yours turn out!

@@RecklessBooch It turned out delicious 🙂. In fact, kombucha tastes great with pure watermelon juice. Thanks for the inspiration!

@@TomaszD-g8z And since it doesn't take much juice, it's not too bad to set aside a slice or two for a bottle!

Thank you for watching! And let me know if you have any questions about brewing!

I'm sure they would work great! I've made a few batches where I use grape juice in my second fermentation, along with some simple syrup, and the flavor has always carried through clearly. Grapes usually have a lot of acid, though, so I think that simple syrup is needed to help balance it out. I would say it probably won't taste like grape soda, though! That artificial taste is pretty specific (and, from what I've read, not a flavor found in any grape). I've had to use flavoring packets (like Kool-Aid) or extracts to accurately copy a grape soda. Let me know how it goes, though! Good luck!

Is it really that easy? :D I wasted so much time juicing....

Love you experiments.

Peach rooibos sounds wonderful! I'll have to keep an eye out for it! Do you use it by itself in the first ferment, or paired with any black tea?

I still have yet to try coffee in my primary fermentation! Any tips? I would love to attempt it myself!

Thank you so much for watching! Let me know if you have any questions about anything!

For a three-stage, I've done flavoring both in the 450ml bottles and in the full 1-gallon fermenting. Both have worked great! If they're all sharing the same flavor, I generally flavor it directly in the 1-gallon. But using the individual bottles lets you be a little more precise (and it fits into my fridge a lot easier).

Thank you so much for watching! I know a few others have tried the caramelized banana now, and liked it well enough. It could definitely be refined, though. It's one I'll come back and focus on someday, to try and improve or simplify. I've got a few ideas.

I generally make plain bottles, too, and I've noticed they're a lot trickier to carbonate: it takes them longer and they're very sensitive to the amount of sugar. But here are some ideas you might try: 1) You could let a bottle go for longer, something like 8-10 days, and see if that improves anything (kind of like what I did with the lime juice). 2) It could be temperature holding them back. I keep my plain bottles on a heating pad in an enclosed case. But, before I bought all that, my bottles took twice as long to carbonate. 3) If you're filling the bottles to about 1" from the lid already, then it could be that the bottle isn't sealing fully. I've used some Amazon flip-tops in the past that wouldn't fully seal, and ended up needing to buy new bottles. Let me know how it goes, though, because there's certainly more we could look at. And, in my opinion, carbonation is the toughest part of making good kombucha. Even with a heating pad, it can change with every flavoring, every batch, every season, every bottle. It keeps you on your toes.

@@RecklessBooch I’ll try that, temperature is good and kinda stable at my place, 25-30C, when I bottle it a ton of bubbles form immediately, just not when consuming it. I’ll try letting it ferment longer. Also, I’m using a Continuous brewing setup, 1 gallon, I usually remove 1/3 of gallon every 4 days and refill.

@@RecklessBooch

I did just that this past week! It was only Cola and Root Beer but (spoilers), they were dead on this time! The video should be out next, so look out!

Thank you very much for watching!

How did this get into double-digit views?!!

Honestly this should've gotten into the triple digits ​@RecklessBooch

82 now !

I've actually found another way that works great, and is almost as simple. The video should be out soon! Thanks for watching!