bottling kombucha

1. sanitize bottles

2. remove mother and store in new brew

3. remove scoby and store w some liquid (we passed it on to a reader of this blog) 

4. pour kombucha into bottle (we used a plastic funnel for ease)

5. let sit 5-7 days to carbonate

6. refrigerate

7. enjoy!

we didn't flavor our kombucha with anything extra (some people do ginger or fruit). we like the tangy, vinegary taste of this batch but will certainly try some other flavors for future brews.

juicing

a friend of mine mentioned in an email the juicing that she's been doing to keep herself on top of the weather. she says she does 1 beet, 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, 2 apples and a hint of ginger. sometimes, she said, she adds some citrus (half a grapefruit).

this inspired me to take out the snazzy breville juicer jp and i got for our wedding and have maybe used 4 times in almost 3 years. jp and i were at alfalfa's (our new favorite grocery store) earlier this week and picked up some great organic juicing options. i decided to do smaller portions to play around with flavors and also threw in some cucumber.

--1/2 a small red beet

--1/2 carrot

--1/4 cucumber

--1/4" ginger (would add way more next time)

--1/2 a braeburn apple

that mixture made a nice small cup of juice that tasted AWESOME and big handful of fresh scraps for the hens. i plan on doubling the recipe next time. and if i can make juicing a habit, then i'll probably increase the ingredient amounts even more. but i'm gonna wait to see i can stick to this and not let all my veggies go rotten in the fridge.

baristas

justin and jay at crema coffee house.

distracted.

can you tell i cannot get enough of my little chicky?

kombucha, baby

on tuesday, jp and i got a baby, a kombucha baby (SCOBY)! we found out from our midwife, maren, that another midwife, jen, in denver brewed her own kombucha. we contacted her and jen happily gave us our very own baby to start our kombucha brewing process.

we'd been wanting to do this for a while since we LOVE (like, really love) kombucha but it is also fairly expensive to buy (about $3-4 a pop!). since jp has all the brewing experience with beer --and, let's be honest, he's just a master at creating anything ingestible-- i let him do all the research (read: work). jen gave us great directions on what items we needed, what we needed to do, and some other helpful heads-ups. you can find those directions at the bottom of this post.

right now it's living in the back room of our basement and we get to check on it in a week or so to see how it's doing. i'll keep you updated!

Brewing Kombucha

Brewing

-boil a small pot of spring or reverse osmosis water on stove

-turn off heat. add 1 Tbs of organic tea (in muslin bag). Jen recommends gunpowder/jasmin and we used a green tea we were able to find at the asian market.

-cover and steep for 15 minutes

-in a clean gallon glass jar, add 3/4 cup raw organic sugar cane.

-pour brewed tea (minus bag, of course) into glass jar and mix until sugar is well combined

-add chilled spring water and bring up to about 3/4 gallon

-add kombucha baby and stock liquid (this is what we got from jen and what you see jp doing in the photos).

-cover top with thin cotton cloth or paper towel (jen suggests paper towel) and put a rubber band around the neck to hold it in place

-let brew for 2-3 weeks

-taste with a NON-METAL spoon at 2 weeks to see if it's vinegar tasting (not sweet).

Mixing with Fruit

-once brew is finished, take out kombucha baby with 10% stock (starter) liquid for your next brew.

-place in a glass jar and cover with paper towel/thin cloth.

-with brewed liquid, add 5% organic fruit (i.e. 1/2 a mango or 3-4 strawberries).

-cover and let brew for another week

-bottle (taking out fruit first)

-let sealed bottles sit out for a few days to build fizz.

-put them in the fridge and drink within 1 month.

Helpful Tips

-Kombucha hates metal and will take on a metallic taste so don't use any metal when brewing that could come in contact with the culture.

-if you see brown, thick discharge your kombucha probably needs oxygen. (this is why she recommends paper towels to cover jar).

--kombucha babies can be composted (chickens will love that, maybe), given away, or thrown out.

moustache.

at dogwood coffee in minneapolis.

every night.

whiskey (or scotch, or bourbon) for my baby.

edit: 'my baby' in this case means jp. NOT the little bean. in case you were worried.

black shirt brewing

our friend, branden, is one of the brewmasters for the up and coming colorado black shirt brewing. they've been working on and designing a dynamic red ale that, as they claim, is certainly "equally suited to the front porch and the dinner table."

we stopped by to visit his home-based operation the other day. he had some delicious-smelling and freshly-picked wet hops for jonathan and we had yet to see his set-up. brewing envy was on both our minds!

their mission: "to change the perception that beer is somehow inferior to wine and to create an alternative to wine on the American dinner table. also, to create an environment that provides our customers with a sense of community and camaraderie, as well as a feeling of rebellion and swagger."

brew night

mondays are the best time for jonathan to brew and try out making some new beers. we invite whoever's around, sometimes they help, always we sit around and drink good beer and wine and eat some comfort food. this time? mac and cheese, session beer, and wine chosen for the chicken on its label in honor of junebug.

this is what we will most likely be doing again on today's holiday. here's to a relaxing labor day to you all!

if you're going to be a snob, do it well.

i don't know a whole ton about wine except that i LOVE wine. i wouldn't complain if one day i was in the position to order whatever bottle tickled my fancy when out dining (or even picking up something at mondo vino for a nice dinner by jp).

i will certainly keep these tips in mind when i am finally there. number 7 is my personal favorite.

zach and melissa: wedding in chicago

our dear friend, zach, fell in love and married melissa and we went to chicago to party with them. i made jonathan drive so we could listen to david sedaris on CD, have picnics at WPA rest stops, and load our car up with stuff from IKEA on our way home.we stayed with jonathan and emily (whose wedding on september 2, 2007 is responsible for bringing jonathan and i together). they are a seriously-in-love couple and between our two relationships i see similarities that comfort me and also differences that encourage and challenge me. their love is real and their generosity huge. it was a blessing to be able to stay with them and catch up. i also adore emily's sense of home and interior style!

besides the reasons of seeing old friends and stomping grounds and celebrating our best friend's wedding, i could not wait to get to chicago to get my hair did by susan, my chicago stylist of six years whom i desperately miss in denver. she opened her own shop shortly before we left chi-town and certainly does not need me to sing her praises as that girl is busy. i'd say she did a bang-up job. see for yourself:

during this week in chicago, jonathan and i celebrated our two-year anniversary. we decided no gifts: "just" to splurge on dinner at schwa. i called almost daily to get a reservation for the one day we would be able to make it. i was giddy as a school girl when they finally returned my pleas for a wednesday night reservation. we arrived with a bottle of wine, a bomber of beer, and a bottle of whiskey in tow (schwa is BYO) and promptly offered the whole kitchen a shot of whiskey each to help us properly begin our anniversary festivities. they served us up some of the best food we have ever had, including an additional course and a few liquors of their own.

jonathan and michael carlson taking a end-of-the-night shot of leopold whiskey. he would return the next day to stage with the crew.

after schwa, jonathan and rallied for some more hours at longman & eagle. it was lovely but, admittedly, a bit too much for our livers and travel-wearied bodies.

the next morning, jonathan made us all a delicious and much-needed hearty breakfast. we dined at emily's beautifully set table. what hospitality that woman extended us!

that day and the next were filled with prepping the backyard for the wedding day, running last minute errands, and a lovely and casual rehearsal dinner that welcomed all guests who had travelled to the wedding.

i didn't get many photos from the ceremony and reception. we were all too busy eating amazing food, dancing, drying off from the humidity, dancing some more, and stealing swigs from whole bottles of charles shaw. right, nicole? (above: newly weds zach and nicole, our other wedding of the summer).

porkestra

Our friends put on the first annual Porkestra event, an homage to that great animal the Pig, at the Berkeley park. Most everything, down to the bourbon, included pork in some form as an ingredient. Beer was provided by Great Divide as well as a homebrew from the guys. I cannot even remember my favorite dish but I'm sure it had that spicy hot sauce Zach made and tasted like bacon.

The feasting was followed by a round or two or three of bocce ball, time in the sun with JP, playing with strangers' dogs and eating chocolate-dipped bacon.