Kombucha Tea - Part 3, Straining
I posted all these photos on my Facebook site so you can copy and paste them!
To strain or not to strain . . .
In the photos below are bottles that sat for 3 days in the cupboard and were put into the fridge to get them cold. They are wet from the fridge, that’s why they look cloudy on the outside. You can strain before you put them in the fridge, after they get cold, or not at all. I never strain my bottles. I just use a straw!
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The fruit will sink, float or be in limbo, like a lava lamp. It’s all good!
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Do NOT be concerned with the stringy stuff floating in the bottle or the “powdery” looking stuff at the bottom of the bottle. None of it is bad for you. The stringy stuff can feel weird going down. It’s trying to make a new Mother.
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Sometimes you will even have a tiny new Mother in the bottle! Avoid eating it. It’s not bad for you, you can eat it, but it feels like snot going down, thus the warning.
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The powdery looking stuff is good yeast. It will help replace the bad yeast in your intestines. When you are drinking a bottle and get down to the yeast, make sure you shwishle the bottle around, so you get to drink the yeast and don’t waste it. Don’t shake the bottle before that or it will explode like soda! If you forget to swishle, add water and swishle. GET THAT YEAST!
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We are going to strain these bottles as an example.
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The fruit is now “dead.” It will be bland and flavorless. You can drink/chew it for the fiber if you want. I suggest straining it out or use a straw to get around it.
The slimy thing in the plain Kombucha can be washed down the drain
The slimy thing in the plain Kombucha can be washed down the drain
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Don't rinse the bottle! You want that good yeast!
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Pour the strained Kombucha back into the bottle.
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The Kombucha that you strained will be bubbly now. You can put it back in the fridge for later or drink it now!
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Once you strain your bottles, recap tightly and place back in fridge. If you listen to the inside of your fridge and you hear a fizzing sound, it means you have a loose lid. Find it and fix it!
You can put the containers in the fridge if they will fit. It might be easier to take the individual bottles out and just put them on a shelf. As you drink them daily, you will have more room, this way it won't create wasted space. We have two fridges, so don’t usually have a problem finding room for the 24 bottles we make. When I make big batches I store the bottles in the plastic bins in the extra fridge. It's easier to get at them.
You can put the containers in the fridge if they will fit. It might be easier to take the individual bottles out and just put them on a shelf. As you drink them daily, you will have more room, this way it won't create wasted space. We have two fridges, so don’t usually have a problem finding room for the 24 bottles we make. When I make big batches I store the bottles in the plastic bins in the extra fridge. It's easier to get at them.
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For Your Information ~
FYI – If you don’t have room, you really don’t have to put the plain ones in the fridge. They won’t go bad. They will taste better cold though! I don’t think the ones with fruit will go bad either, but I don’t take the chance. I’m doing more research on that.
FYI – I have left half drunk bottles of plain Kombucha on the counter overnight by accident. If the lid was on it, I still drink it. It tastes the same. Until someone tells me otherwise, I’ll keep doing this. I’m not dead!
FYI – I have left half drunk bottles of plain Kombucha on the counter overnight by accident. If the lid was on it, I still drink it. It tastes the same. Until someone tells me otherwise, I’ll keep doing this. I’m not dead!
