My friend, Lindsay, is always ahead of the curve. In middle school, she was channeling Drew Barrymore in “Mad Love,” with sunflowers in her hair. By grade eleven, she was  driving an olive green VW camper van. At the end of high school she left a semester early to work on a sailing ship docked in Cadiz, Spain. She was the coolest best friend a wholesome gal like me could ask for.

Now, as a Sommelier and world traveler, she is always making sure that our trips are full of excitement, especially in the wine department, with great tips and recommendations. She even phoned ahead for us to arrange a tour and tastings at Quinta Nova winery in the Douro Valley, to make sure we got the VIP treatment. Check out the Portugal trip log in the ‘Indulge’ section of the blog for more pics and details o that. Here.

Lindsay is always game to try something before others catch on, in grade school it was tahini and bread making, now it’s homemade Kombucha. If you can get over the repugnant appearance of this stuff, and have a friend who will set you up with a pre-made jar to start you off, it’s pretty easy; I’m actually thrilled by how satisfying it is to see my little science project magically (seemingly) reproducing – in the dark of my pantry.

A few basics:

-it brews in the dark, left alone for a few weeks

-brewing occurs by some scientific fermentation process (magic) through interaction between the liquid (black tea, distilled water and sugar) and the scoby

-the scoby is a booger-y-looking, yeasty layer of good bacteria that multiples and grows in the container, to produce the kombucha tea

-kombucha is getting more and more popular (read: trendy) and is being sold for a pretty penny, but you can make it at home at minimal cost (8 tea bags, some water, a cup of sugar and some glass jars)

I enjoy the low-maintenance aspect of this fizzy, tangy drink; plus it tastes pretty great …and I picture it transforming my guts into the hip-shaking, happy-dancing lady from the Activia Yogurt Commercials, while bringing me untold, mysterious health benefits. I haven’t noticed huge changes in my health, but my stomach is looking pretty flat (despite my unchanged carb intake) and I look forward to my daily dose of Kombucha flavour.

Though you can buy it in an array of flavours…

I bought two of these so that I could get a sense of the ideal ‘flavour’ and have a bar to compare the normalcy of my own batches; plus I’ve reused the containers, after cleaning with boiling water, because the ones I bought have plastic tops (the scoby shouldn’t come into contact with metal), and they are a perfect size to store my finished brew.

As explained by the author of the site Cheeseslave, there are many health benefits; to read the full article, click here. She does an awesome job explaining these perks in detail, so I recommend checking her site out. In short:

• Kombucha Health Benefits #1: Boosts the Immune System
• Kombucha Health Benefits #2: Natural Detoxifier
  • Kombucha has probiotics and enzymes that promote detoxification. One of the main jobs of the good bacteria in your gut is to detoxify. By adding more beneficial bacteria to your gut, you’re getting the job done faster. Kombucha promotes detoxification. Regular consumption of kombucha tea also supports liver function.
• Kombucha Health Benefits #3: Rich in Vitamins and Enzymes
  • B vitamins can reduce stress, anxiety and depression, boost memory, and relieve PMS.
• Kombucha Health Benefit #4: Energy Boost
• Kombucha Health Benefits #5: Increased Metabolism
• Kombucha Health Benefits #6: PMS Relief
• Kombucha Health Benefits #7: Relief from Arthritis and Joint Pain

It has been around a very long time… really long, and a renewed interest in healthier living, and taking the care of our bodies into our own hands, has seen a resurgence of home-brewing and greater availability of commercially prepared Kombucha.

If you’re even a little intrigued (like I was), check out the link above. If you’re game to start your own brewing at home, here is a helpful site with video how-to’s:

http://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/kombucha/how-to-make-kombucha/