Follow Up on my Kombucha Making

I've seen some recent furver lately on how expensive store bought kombucha is. (Kombucha is a fermented tea  originated in Russia, known for rejuvinating properties, healthy probiotics and various positive things) I started brewing my own Kombucha a few months ago and have found it to be a great experience. Though the SCOBY (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast) can be a little terrifying at times, the tea i brew is delicious and healthful.

The jar i brew in cost me around $20 dollars. Distilled water costs about .99 a jug (Austin's water is treated with chloramines that could harm the good bacterias and cannot be dissolved from the water) Tea ranges in price and i use about 8 bags per gallon of water. Sugar is pretty cheap - I should get organic, but i'm pretty cheap too. So all in all it was an initial investment but has paid off.

I use the continuous brewing method so i can siphon off as much or little as i want each day and add more sweetened tea to continue the process. I like to bottle my KT with some flavorings: dried cherries, cranberries, cinnamon sticks, cloves, ginger, fruit juice - whatever youlike and keep it in the fridge until i'm ready to drink it, or until one of my lovelly friends and co-op members stop by to purchase some.  My little co-op is a great way for me to offer fresh Kombucha to locals at a cost much less than in the stores ($2.50 per 16 oz or just $2 if you bring me a jar to fill or in exchange). They get great tea and i get help purchasing the supplies to make it.

I recommend Kombucha to anyone looking for a healthful tasty beverage who has a little bit of time and a warm spot in the corner. I'll even send you a SCOBY of your own in some starter tea if you compensate the shipping and handling.

The Co-Op is Live!

An Austin Homestead is ready to close up the circle of production. I have Kombucha, I don't have eggs yet, but will, and I have a desire to reach out to this great community and spread the love. You help me afford supplies and feed, you get good stuff, i get good stuff, the hens get good stuff, we all win!  Please invite any friends you know would be interested in buying locally and consuming high quality, fresh goodies.

You can request membership to my new Co-Op here, as well as via a link on the left side of this blog.

Bear with me while I work through the learning process and baby steps of a new entrepreneurial venture, but i think this will be a great step for my little urban homestead and a great way to give something back to my loyal friends.

Current availability : Plain Kombucha Tea 16 oz for $3, Flavored (with cinnamon and cloves, cranberries, or other requests) Kombucha 16 oz for $3, Bring your own jar and knock off a dollar.  Also, very soon Scobies to brew your own KT will be available on special request.

Co-Op members will be given a link to a spreadsheet with available items listed. You will simply enter the number of items you desire and subject to availability will be able to pick up said items most weekends (specific pick up/delivery specifics will be specified once i get a better sense of who and how many co-op members i rustle up)

Can't wait to hear from you!
Miranda

COMING SOON: New Mini Co-op to Purchase Goods from the Austin Homestead

Hi folks!
I'm happy to announce that my entrepreneurial spirit is in full swing. As loyal readers, you know that i am the happy mother of 4 beautiful hens, and an experimenter and succeeder in the brewing of Kombucha Tea (KT). Since I live alone with my husband and animals - we simply have more KT and eggs (in theory, they're not quite laying YET) than we can consume in a hasty fashion. I don't, however, make enough of any of these consumables to warrant a full scale advertising corporate identity or even farm stand, nor guarantee availability at all times.

That being said: I would love to form a small scale, local co-op to partake in purchasing and consuming of my wares - for your benefit and for mine. You will help me pay for the things that make my life more fulfilling and healthy, and bring something healthful into your own home while buying as "local" as it gets.

Wares I will have available for purchase will vary with the season, but will rotate around these assorted items: Kombucha Tea, flavored and unflavored, bottled by me or bottled into your bottle at a discount (you can bring bottles as a deposit towards next time, or have me fill it on sight), Yard Fresh Eggs, by the dozen, half dozen, or even by the egg if you don't mind skipping the fancy egg carton, freshly made pasta and pesto, seasonal produce, maybe even cheese! I also crochet beverage cozies that are great for personal use or as gifts, among other silly and useful crafty things.

I will create a google document that you can simply open up online and place your order. The spreadsheet will tally your totals and orders will be filled upon availability. I will do my best to keep the spreadsheet current by week, and if something is unavailable when you want it, you will be sure to get first dibs the following week.   This document will also be an easy way to 'tell your friends' and they can request participation in the co-op as well.  As we go along I'll have a better idea of exactly how much KT i can really bottle in a week - and luckily it keeps in the fridge so i can bottle as it comes and save it up for the weekend.  I'm still working out the kinks - but I will either set up a set time to meet co-op members at an established locale, or set up  'open hours' Saturday afternoons to coincide with the farmers market schedules.

I am open to comment and suggestion, so please let me know your interests, needs, and preferences, and feel free to give me any ideas about facilitating local goodnesses.

Would this be something you'd be interested in? Do you have friends that are looking for a local source for KT or even scobies to purchase for their own homebrew? Would you buy local, yard eggs for about $3 a dozen? Let me know!