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Step 1, Making Tea

As fun as watching 4 quarts of water boil may be, you can speed up the tea making and cooling process by brewing a very strong tea with 2 quarts of water and combining it with the other 2 quarts of unheated water later.  

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Boil 2 quarts of water then set to low heat.  Add your tea bags and brew for 10 minutes (I like a stronger tea so I let them go 15-20 minutes).  

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Remove the pot from heat and take out the tea bags.  Press out all the water and herbal goodness from the tea bags using a couple spoons, not your fingers.  They are HOT!

Step 3, Adding the SCOBY, Covering, Fermenting

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Add a SCOBY to each jar. We also poor a little starter tea left over from a previous batch to help kick off the fermentation and lower the pH.  You can test pH to make sure you are below 4.6 to prevent unwanted guests from getting a foothold in the tea.

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Cover each jar top with a cloth and use a rubber band to secure.  Store the jars in a warm (78ish) dark place for 2-4 weeks.

There is no exact rule for when it is ready. After a week, use a straw to taste the tea.  If it is still sugary then it has a ways to go.  Once it has a more acidic taste (like vinegar) then look for SCOBY growth and clarity.  Along with your original SCOBY there should be a new one forming on the top surface of the tea.  This new child can be used to start your next batch or stored in a jar of strong sweet tea for a couple months.  I reuse the SCOBYs at most twice, as they just start to lose their vigor after that.

We will post pictures of the finished tea in a few weeks to give an idea of what it should look like.

Reminder:  It is important to keep all your utensiles, jars, pots, and hands clean to avoid contaminating or damaging the SCOBY.  Also, it is a good idea to avoid anti-bacterial soaps since the B in SCOBY stands for Bacteria.

For more information you can start here.  

Last night we cooked local winter bounty with chef Peter Berley at Brooklyn Kitchen. Robert and I made the carrot and celeriac slaw with a spicy mustard and toasted fennel seed dressing. Also to be had were heaping helpings of braised purple cabbage with apples, spicy cayenne mashed rutabaga, pickled herring potato salad, local pork sausages and honey poached pears with shortbread cookies.

Peter is opening a place out in Long Island in April that will have a big kitchen for classes and a wood-fire oven for making bread. He’s also starting a 4-season garden. We’ll definitely be spending a weekend or 2 out there this summer. Love this man!