Daily Eats: Iced Latte

Iced vanilla latte.

Double shot of espresso, almond milk, a handful of ice cubes and vanilla protein powder (adds flavour, some sweetness and it works as a thickener to make a creamy drink :)).

The Mighty 'Booch' Part II

As promised, here's part two of my kombucha adventure. I wanted to do something like a step-by-step guide for other people interested in homemade kombucha, but that didn't seem right since I am still experimenting with it myself.  Instead I thought it'd be nice to make a diary-style entry on kombucha, showing you how the tea & scoby developed during fermentation, as this was something I was very curious (and nervous!) about myself. I hope this is helpful to some of you, but do let me know if you have any questions and I will try to help!

Part of the Equipment

A glass jar with a volume of 2,5 litres (84 fl oz) and six swing top bottles. Once bottled, the kombucha will continue to ferment, thus creating more carbonation which will put a lot of pressure on the bottle. It is best to use swing-top bottles as the caps are designed to release pressure without the loss of carbonation. I've read some horror stories about exploding bottles and mason jars, so you definitely want to go the safe route here. (Though I guess there's no guarantee with this sort of thing, so do your research if you decide to bottle your kombucha - this is just the way I make mine and I am not responsible for any accidents...)

Day 0 - Tuesday evening

Here's the jar, sitting on a table in our storage/radiator room, the temperature in there varies from 24° C (75° F) to 26° C (78° F), average temperature seems to be 25° C (77° F).

Day 1 - Wednesday evening

The batch after one day. I think both the scoby and the tea are doing alright. I can see that things are happening inside (yeast), but nothing too exciting yet. If you look closely you can see that a new baby scoby is starting to form, the surface of the tea looks slightly matte, though it's a bit hard to see from this angle.

Day 2 - Thursday evening

Things are happening! The surface looks a bit milky/cloudy, that's the new baby scoby growing - d'aww. There are small clusters of bubbles under the surface, first signs of carbonation.

Day 3 - Friday evening

More bubbles, hooray! The baby is growing nicely.

Day 4 - Saturday afternoon

The baby is slowly getting thicker: it is now 5mm thick and seems to be growing evenly.

Day 5 - Sunday evening

Growning thicker, still. I had to move the jar today and the tea swapped over the baby. Those brown things, on the middle of the scoby and on the edge, are yeast not mould. The yeast normally likes to hang around under the scoby, sorry about the disturbance buddies! It looks a bit gross, but it's not dangerous and I might be able to wash it off before I start my second batch.

Day 6 - Monday morning -> bottled!

I woke up this morning and walked into our storage room to check on my baby. Right away I noticed the temperature in the room seemed to be warmer than usual. The thermometer confirmed this with a temperature of 28° C (82° F). I lifted the paper towel off the jar and took a sniff, then quickly stepped back - vinegar-y! Panic set in, I wasn't sure what to do - stick to the original plan and wait another day or bottle it now?! I stuck a straw into the jar for a taste test and decided it'd be best to bottle it. In hindsight I am not sure if this was really necessary, I would've preferred a more sour brew, but I'm hoping that the second round of fermentation will take care of this. I got enough tea for 4 and a half bottles and starter liquid for two new batches, so I am rather happy with my first harvest.

Flavours
1x ginger (dried & candied)
1x mandarin (juice of one fruit)
1x cranberry (dried)
1x black currant (syrup)
1/2 bottle plain kombucha

I'm leaving the bottles out at room temp. for 1-2 days for a second ferment to get some extra fizz, then they'll go in the fridge. The tea for my next batches is already cooling down as I type, one's black tea, the other one's a mix of black and green. Can't wait to see how these will turn out!


So, I guess that's it! I thought it would take a lot longer, but I'm happy about the fast progress. I am going to do more blogposts about the 'booch in the future, once I have a little more experience, so let me know if there's anything in particular you'd like to see and I'll do my best to include it in my next post! There might also be a post about water kefir in the near future, I sort of stumbled upon it when I did research on kombucha and it looks really interesting and a bit easier than kombucha. Let me know if there's something you want to know about water kefir, so I know what to write about when I get mine. :)

Mofo Favourites Week 4 & a Quick Kombucha Update

A couple of days ago I wrote about my little kombucha adventure, I figured I could give you a small update today. I'll do a full blogpost on it when the batch is done and I have taken photos of it's progress everyday so far, so I think that should be helpful for those interested in making the tea at home. 

Kombucha at Day 4

As you can see there's a lot of carbonation going on, lots of bubbles under the scoby (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast, a.k.a. that gross white thing). The baby scoby is already 5mm thick and has taken the shape and width of the glass jar. It seems to be doing very well so far, yay. I wonder how much thicker it's going to grow (we're at day 4 out of approximately seven to eight days of fermentation.). There's some visible yeast under the scoby and in the tea itself. The tea smells nice and a little vinegary. Overall it all seems to be going according to plan, very exciting! :)

Anyway, on to my Saturday round up!

VEGAN MOFO FAVOURITES: WEEK 4

• Zucchini Corn Pancakes (via EatPure)
I made these a couple of days ago and LOVED them! Jeni from HeathenVegan blogged about them and I couldn't resist and made them for dinner one night, the coconut milk added an interesting touch.

• Tips for New Vegans and/or Raw Foodies (via BittOfRaw)
I thought this was so informative and well thought out. I wish someone would've linked me to a post like this when I was new to veganism.

• T is for Thyme Bread (via TahiniToo)
Thyme is awesome! It is my favourite herb at the moment and those flat breads look scrumptious!

• Candied Orange Peel (via BreadWithoutButter)
Oooh pretty! Making this as soon as I can get my hands on some organic oranges.

• Cherry Bakewells (via Tea & Sympatico)
Cute and classy looking mini tarts from England, nom. :)

• Coconut Macaroons / Kokosmakronen (via SeitanIsMyMotor)
A German Christmas cookie classic with grated coconut. This cinnamon swirl bread looks great too!

• Königsberger Klopse (via Juu's GermanKitchen)
I fricking loved these as a child! 'Meatballs' with capers in a white sauce, usually served with potatoes.

• Simple Cinnamon Berry Compote (via MusingsFromTheFishbowl)
You can't go wrong with compote. Good on oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, pudding, cake.. Good on everything!

• Walnut Spätzle (via TisiGoesVegan)
A classic Swabian noodle dish, super tasty. Watch the video and be amazed! Check out these cookies too: Spitzbuam.

• Swedish Lussekatter (Sweet Safron Buns) (via Seglare)
How cool is this? I have to make this asap!

• Yakitori (via GoVeganMeow!)
Japanese 'chicken' skewers. Bring out the grill (...next year that is)!

The Mighty 'Booch'

I got my first batch of kombucha started! The postman delivered my scoby yesterday afternoon, a day sooner from when I thought it'd get here. I spent the afternoon going over the whole process, reading multiple websites and blogs and got started.

On Monday I ran through the shops, trying to find a big enough glass jar for the tea to ferment in, but didn't have much luck. I settled on a jar with a volume of 2,5L (83 fl oz) that I found in a shop for interior decoration & design. It came without a lid but that's okay, I don't really need one for this. I am glad I bought it then or else I wouldn't have been able to put the scoby to good use yesterday, but I guess I'll have to look for a larger jar eventually. I don't want to spend too much money on it though.. Any tips on where I might find one for cheap? I also got these nice swing top bottles for when the tea is ready to be bottled. They sell this kind of bottle online, but it's usually cheaper to buy a six pack of beer and so that's what I did. I really like the blue 'cork' and the red rubber ring.

Here's the jar, sitting on a table in our storage/radiator room. Let's hope the booch will flourish in this environment, I'd rather not spend money on one of those heating plates that some folks use.

Below is a photo of the batch after one day. I think both the scoby and the tea are doing alright. I can see that things are happening inside, but nothing too exciting yet.

So, I guess I'll do another post on kombucha after the batch is ready for harvest. I'm pretty excited, but I could use some patience heh!

Do any of you like kombucha? What's your favourite flavour or do you like it best plain? Do you make your own? Any tips on making it at home?
I'd love to hear your thoughts about it! :)

Matcha Latte

If you're anything like me, you LOVE coffee but not it's evil companion Mr Jitters. He doesn't show up every time, but often enough to make me avoid coffee (almost) altogether and when I do drink it, I usually resort to decaf just to be safe. Tea however, is a completely different story, even though some blends contain just as much or more caffeine than coffee. Odd, huh? Well from what I've read, it has to do with the different ways in which the human body reacts to the two beverages. Anyway, if you love lattes but want to go the coffee free route, then matcha might be a good alternative for you. Packed with tons of antioxidants, chlorophyll and amino acids the tea is bound to give your body a nice healthy (and tasty!) boost. Plus, anything green is automatically awesome, right?!


Matcha Latte
(makes two small servings or a big one)

1 tsp matcha powder
1 tsp sugar or agave nectar
1/4 C warm water
1 1/4 C soymilk
ice cubes (optional)

Combine the matcha powder and sugar in a tall measuring cup, add warm water and stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Add soy milk and blend with an immersion blender for a couple of seconds.

Pour into a tall glass, add ice cubes and enjoy!


Notes:
• you can use any non-dairy milk, but soy milk will give you the best foam
• immersion blenders are not made to deal with ice cubes (boo!), but if you are lucky enough to own a mixer do yourself a favour and blend the hell out of them. (just don't tell me about it, mixer-envy is no joke!)
• if you're lazy smart you can combine 1/4 cup of matcha powder with 1/4 cup of sugar for an even quicker preperation. Just store the mixture in an airtight container in a cool and dark place, use two tea spoons for a big serving or one tea spoon for a small serving.