Exercise in Being Here, Day 15: catching the flavour of O Castro in kombucha

 

I didn't come alone to O Castro, I brought scobys, symbiotic cultures of bacteria and yeast. In the first days here I used them to make kombucha and today I prepared the second fermentation. Kombucha is made by leaving a scoby for 10 to 14 days in a mixture of tea, sugar and starter liquid (kombucha from the former batch). A new scoby will form on top and the sweet tea will turn into kombucha. For the second fermentation the liquid is poured into airtight bottles and fruit or herbs can be added. I made one with hibiscus flowers and lemon, another with fresh turmeric and lemon and a special O Castro kombucha with ingredients that are available at the moment: apples, mint and calendula flowers. In the weekend, when I will give a kombucha workshop (and show other things you can do with a scoby) we will taste it!