:jumpgreen I GOT MINE, I GOT MINE!!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!! I have it safely in a batch of tea now. I cut the recipe in half, 'cuz I will be the only one drinking here and the amount you normally make will be waaaaaaaaaay too much for me. I sweetened what was in the bag with splenda, mmmmmmmmmm yummy, sweet/sour!!!!! I'm just using DH's regular sugar. I'll have to play around with the length of time to let it "cook" and see if 7 days makes it sour enough. I don't know if I got the proportions right, but I figure as long as I give it food, it will be okay. I found my old direction sheet still taped up on the inside of my kitchen cabinet door!!!!! I'm using one of those big jars that cashews came in from Sam's Club with a coffee filter rubberbanded over the top.

How does one "let it rest"? I never did that when I had it before.

Sharron, I can't thank you enough!!!!!

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You drank the starter? I hope it ferments for you. But, you are much more experienced at this than I am!

I just stick mine in a cabinet with a coffee filter rubber-banded to the top. I did have to poke the 'shroom down yesterday cuz' it had all puffed up and wasnt' really in the tea at all!

SIL leaves about 1/4 of the tea in the jar and lets it ferment further. Then after a week, she adds her new tea into it. She likes it with a kick!

AH okay!!!! YES the starter was fine. It was quite sour. It fermented on the way!!! I stuck most of it in the frig to chill. I'll see if it seems any more sour tomorrow. I don't know if it will ferment in the frig like kefir does. I'm gonna have to read up on it. It's been quite a few years.

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You put your baby in the fridge???

Now I'm really confused

What I intended for you to do was put the baby 'shroom into a glass jar with the starter liquid and your fresh tea and sugar.

Hmmm....

Sorry I wasn't clear. I thought the website would be enough.

Can't put the 'shrooms in the fridge. It'll kill 'em

Ok, i think i started off wrong, i put mine into the jar with the tea bags, but i didnt brew the tea first, it was after i had it started that i went to the other website that had more detailed instructions on preparing the tea, but now i dont have the starter brew that you sent, i think i read somewhere that i could use ACV to start, i only have the clear ACV not the cloudy stuff, so i hope this will work, only thing now is im just brewing the tea and i cant stay up until it cools so i can get it right.

I think i will go back to that Gunther man's site and read up some more. Im just so excited about this, i dont wanna mess anything up.

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Started LC 1-10-04

302/199/160, 103lbs down, 39 to go, simply remarkable.

Restart- 8-19-07
242/226/160


405 points to date ( HOLIDAY CHALLENGE )

Celeste, I hope you didn't put the baby in with the hot water. That will kill it :(

Gosh, I thought that site had good instructions.... Guess I'd better find a better one!!!

http://www.kombuchatea.co.uk/how-do-i-make-kombucha.asp That one seems pretty straight forward. It requires 1 cup of sugar per gallon.

I'm so sorry :o

http://www.kombuchatea.co.uk/kombuch...ha-culture.asp

This is from the same site, but is a great FAQ section! More practical info than I've seen previously.

Oh, ladies, I'm so sorry. I sure hope they survive....

and here's one about weight loss!

http://w3.trib.com/%7Ekombu/FAQ/part02.html#BM44part2

and this one says ONLY to use pasturized vinegar, that way you don't accidentally end up with vinegar instead of kombucha
http://w3.trib.com/%7Ekombu/FAQ/part03.html

NO I didn't put the 'shroom in the frig, just the liquid. I made a fresh batch of tea for it. It's sitting on my counter. I did put a bit of the liquid in with it, but I wanted to have some to drink. That's what I put in the frig just to chill it. I let the tea cool down to room temp and then added the sugar and then the 'shroom. I put a coffee filter over the jar. I did it the same way I used to. No worries. I never used vinegar the first time I did it. I just made tea, cooled it off, put in the sugar and put in the 'shroom and covered it. It always came out fine.

Sorry for the confusion!!!!

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Good Barb

I also learned we CAN put the babies in the fridge to let them hibernate. We can also just have them in a separate jar on the counter/in the cupboard.

There was a caution about keeping them in a cupboard, but mine doesn't shut super tightly, so I don't think it will be an issue.

I "snuck" some of my brew last night -- it isn't quite ready, but after reading about it all afternoon/evening I wanted some!!! Oh yum, and a nice energy lift too :great:

Oh no, i didnt heat it at all, just the put the tea in the water with the shroom, not even brewed the tea. it was only in there for couple of hours when i realized i did it wrong, but i did it right this time. i will have my first taste next weekend if all goes well.

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Started LC 1-10-04

302/199/160, 103lbs down, 39 to go, simply remarkable.

Restart- 8-19-07
242/226/160


405 points to date ( HOLIDAY CHALLENGE )

"Take a new baby and cut it into smaller pieces that will fit into a smaller jar"

"I also learned we CAN put the babies in the fridge to let them hibernate"

Good grief! What have you all been up to while I was gone???

Now brewing something else sounds like even more fun - my kefir jar could use a buddy. I'll have to get up to speed on this one!

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Connie

I'm not doing this Kombucha thing at the moment, but I do recall from Dom's site that kefir and kombucha shouldn't be kept in the same vicinity. Each ferments with different bugs, and one could ruin the other.

Just a heads up.

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Thanks, Mags, I didn't know that. I did kind of do it instinctively though. My kefir (which is sleeping at the moment) lives on one side of my kitchen while my kombucha lives on the other. Mostly because the kefir is over by the fridge for the milk and the kombucha is over by my tea cupboard

Celeste! That is good news to me! I was honestly stressing about it. Phew

I'm definitely seeing some "benefits" from the kombucha. A week or so ago, when I ATE RIGHT and did the kombucha a couple of times during the day, I had a 3 pound woosh. I have not been able to lose any pounds for simply ages, since all the stress and illness I've experienced. (I have lost inches.) Then I ran out of kombucha tea and the pounds came back (wasn't eating great either, btw.)

Well, after the first day of EATING RIGHT and drinking my tea, I dropped 2.5 pounds and in 2 days have lost 7 3/8." Also, my "plumbing" is working very efficiently, thankyouverymuch!

I can only attribute it to the tea. I've eaten right before and had absolutely no change. I've been exercising -- and though lost inches with it -- still lost no pounds. It is too early to tell what the long term effects will be on my system, but I can only say that I can't wait to have my cup of tea -- I'm actually craving it!

Did any of you see the link (an off shoot of one that I posted earlier) about the person who's lost 89+ pounds just by drinking kombucha tea???