Fermenting Fun

My current obsession is kombucha.  This fermented sweet tea is easy to make, highly nutritious and provides great support for the digestive system.  Easy to make, yet I've been paying almost $4 a bottle for it each week at the grocery store.  That's just more than my practical parts can take.

In true form, I've read about 10 in-depth websites, taken a (pretty lame) 7 day mini-course from one of them and trolled through several of my nutrition books looking for hints and ideas. Information in hand, a heavens-blessed trip to Goodwill yielded a perfect collection of needed containers and jars. Finally, I took the big step last week and emailed the homeschool group for a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast).

Minutes after getting the first SCOBY home, I started a frenzy of tea preparation. Immediately following the frenzy is a mind-numbing period of waiting.  5 days.  How can I obsess about something I can't fiddle with for 5 days?  After peeking at the jar 10 times in as many minutes, I finally hung a sign up for myself that said, CHECK ON TUESDAY.  Thus directed, I channelled my energies back to regular life.

Another homeschool mom offered me a second SCOBY a few hours later.  More is better, right? A few days later I engaged in another tea making frenzy, put the new SCOBY next to the first, and gazed proudly at them.  Eventually, someone suggested I needed to put up a CHECK ON FRIDAY sign and move on with my life. Fine.

At last Tuesday came.  I put off testing the tea for a few hours, reveling in the anticipation. Finally, the kids and I couldn't stand it any longer.  We poured a little out, admired the color of it, sniffed the brew and then took a taste. Ugh, the tea was way too sweet.  It needed several more days of fermenting before it could be close to ready for the next stage of the process. Sigh. 

Silver lining, I can check my first tea again Thursday, then visit my 2nd tea on Friday. That's two days of komucha fun in a row!

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Oddly, what this hurry up and wait and wonder process most reminds me of is adoption.  Hurry up to get all the documents properly filled out and filed.  Be super careful not to make any mistakes as it is important not to jeopardize the process.  Now wait.  Wait for an unknown period of time for a hopeful outcome.  And make sure to relax and maintain balance in life all the while.

Maybe the practice of brewing kombucha will help prepare my family for the upcoming adoption process.  If nothing else, it can provide us with a tasty distraction along the way.

I'll keep you updated.