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fermentationTo borrow a simile from a recent post [in my personal space], drinking kombucha after becoming used to water kefir is like watching the movie after reading the book: disappointing.
Kombucha was the second fermented probiotic I ever attempted make (after yogurt): Sometime in the mid to late '90s, when it was trendy in New Age / health food circles, I received a kombucha SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) from a friend. My memory of the taste was something like (but not as pleasing as) the apple cider vinegar + honey + water electrolyte mixture I later discovered (and in whose favor I jettisoned the kombucha).
Since December of 2009, I've been culturing water kefir. Not continuously, as attempting to travel with live grains in March failed: they became contaminated with cologne from an apparently not-washed-well-enough bottle -- "why do these taste of violets? :P" Luckily, I had dehydrated backup grains at home, and on May 5th (astronomical Beltane, no less) reconstituted the best-looking sample of the bunch which are currently fizzing away in their jar and have already begun to reproduce.
Tonight, I had the opportunity to sample both kombucha and water kefir. Even the plain sugar-water brew meant to wake up the kefir grains, not taste good, is worlds better-tasting than the bottled, raw, organic kombucha I purchased to remind me of the taste and from which I am attempting to grow a new SCOBY. I think this latter effort is more for proof of concept than anything else, for I don't think anyone here will really want to drink tea vinegar :P Much better instead to brew tea / water kefir infusions, which *are* tasty.
Though it may be interesting to incorporate it in recipes where having tea in would give it an extra level of heh. Tea vinaigrette, anyone?
Kombucha was the second fermented probiotic I ever attempted make (after yogurt): Sometime in the mid to late '90s, when it was trendy in New Age / health food circles, I received a kombucha SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) from a friend. My memory of the taste was something like (but not as pleasing as) the apple cider vinegar + honey + water electrolyte mixture I later discovered (and in whose favor I jettisoned the kombucha).
Since December of 2009, I've been culturing water kefir. Not continuously, as attempting to travel with live grains in March failed: they became contaminated with cologne from an apparently not-washed-well-enough bottle -- "why do these taste of violets? :P" Luckily, I had dehydrated backup grains at home, and on May 5th (astronomical Beltane, no less) reconstituted the best-looking sample of the bunch which are currently fizzing away in their jar and have already begun to reproduce.
Tonight, I had the opportunity to sample both kombucha and water kefir. Even the plain sugar-water brew meant to wake up the kefir grains, not taste good, is worlds better-tasting than the bottled, raw, organic kombucha I purchased to remind me of the taste and from which I am attempting to grow a new SCOBY. I think this latter effort is more for proof of concept than anything else, for I don't think anyone here will really want to drink tea vinegar :P Much better instead to brew tea / water kefir infusions, which *are* tasty.
Though it may be interesting to incorporate it in recipes where having tea in would give it an extra level of heh. Tea vinaigrette, anyone?
no subject
Date: 2011-01-28 04:37 pm (UTC)I've never tried water kefir. I made a couple batches of milk kefir and found that the result wasn't worth the time and effort I was putting into it.