Kombucha Mother Swap

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Swap Coordinator:	carmen (contact)
Swap categories:	Food
Number of people in swap:	2
Location:	Regional - Northern Hemisphere
Type:	Type 3: Package or craft
Rating requirement:	4.90
Last day to signup/drop:	November 9, 2012
Date items must be sent by:	November 16, 2012
Number of swap partners:	1
Description:
Dear Fellow Kombucha Brewers, I understand people think we are weird. We make a ridiculously sugary tea, and then, instead of drinking it like normal people, we plop a strange rubber pancake on the top and let it sit. And sit. For weeks, even. Then, when it is good and stinky, we bottle it. Perhaps we are weird. Even weirder: we drink it. Why? I think it makes my liver happy. Other people claim it is a tonic. Its fizzy, it smells like vinegar, and health nuts will pay $3.99 at the health food store for a little bottle of it. Is it alcoholic? Ask the ATF. Why go to the trouble of swapping we already have? Recently the idea of *Bacterial Terroire* has come to my attention-- that different places have different resident bacterias and yeasts, and that those produce different flavors. I want to find out if this applies to kombucha critters. I am choosing the month of November because the weather in the Northern Hemisphere should be cool to cold. We don't want to open a box full of exploded, stinky kombucha bits. Sorry, Southern Hemisphere, you alls can do your own swap. The Haps The complete information for mailing a kombucha mother is here. Your kombucha mother should be fresh, alive and free of debris and gunk. Include the obligatory 5 bags of black tea-- it shouldn't be flavored or have oils-- straight up Lipton is best. Follow the directions on the link to mail it. Use a small cardboard box so the mother doesn't get squished. Include a letter telling your partner about how you came to love and brew kombucha. Usual restrictions apply. *If it is illegal to send or receive food in the mail in your country, please don't sign up.*

Discussion

Gofeen 07/27/2012 #

I have to ask. What on earth is a Kombucha Mother? I will have to look it up. And is the U.K. in the Northern Hemisphere? LOL I am ignorant! ;>

Janelle 07/28/2012 #

Oh my gosh I love kombucha and I was so dumb I let my mother dry up :0( I only have one bottle left.... I need a new scoby ... Who is down for a private swap? I have some great loose teas that I have experimented with to make wonderful batches that I a can swap for! Then hopefully next time I can do this swap... PM me ;0)

carmen 07/29/2012 #

@gofeen The kombucha mother (or scoby) is a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast that when exposed to sugary tea turns it into a fizzy soft drink.

@Janelle You can cutlivate a new scoby by leaving that last bottle out for a few weeks until it grows a new one.

carmen 07/29/2012 #

@Gofeen Yes, the UK is the Northern Hemisphere, like every other country north of the Equator.

hereiam 08/16/2012 #

I'm in, but if my SCOBY hasn't grown enough by the send date then I will have to drop out. I will start a new one tonight so it should be good to go - especially with the warm weather right now.

hereiam 08/17/2012 #

I meant to say that if my SCOBY doesn't grow enough by the DROP date then I will have to drop out. :-) I would never drop after partners had been assigned!!

craftyfairy 09/13/2012 #

i dont make kombucha, i buy it like a fool! but this swap is AMAZING!!!

fawnscrafts 11/ 8/2012 #

OK, there was a mushroom we grew into making a tea a few years ago, is this the same thing?

fawnscrafts 11/ 8/2012 #

I would be wiling to do a private swap for a 'starter'. If it is what we used to drink I am willing to start it again.

I do remember this 'tea' and the new babies that grew from the mother. And with my cancers being in remission, I think this would be good for me.

Since I do not have any I cannot join the swap, but great idea.

carmen 11/ 9/2012 #

@fawnscrafts pm me and we can do a private swap.

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