Recipe: Lion’s Mane Mushroom Kombucha

What is Kombucha?

Kombucha is an ancient traditional food originating from China thousands of years ago. It is a fermented tea that is made using a starter SCOBY (Symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast), which is often mistaken for a mushroom! The SCOBY is a mix of yeasts and bacteria, living together in a symbiotic relationship, that transform the tea mixture into kombucha.

Kombucha has a fizzy, refreshing taste, and is packed with nutrients, microflora and organic acids which can support digestive health. It is widely available, but is very easy to make yourself at home- you just need to get hold of a SCOBY. You can buy a starter culture in stores, but often they are passed from one kombucha brewer to another when they have a spare SCOBY that has formed.

You can make Kombucha with a wide variety of teas, and these will affect the taste of the end product, you can also experiment with adding different fruits/herbs during the secondary ferment to flavour the brew. We particularly like adding our mushroom supplements to the fermentation for an extra nutritional punch. You can add a little of any of our mushroom powders to the kombucha brew, we like to add Lion’s Mane Powder for some extra digestive and cognitive benefits.

Ingredients
1 x SCOBY
5 x Green/Black Tea Bags
1 cup White Sugar
3g Lion’s Mane Powder

Instructions
-Boil 2 cups of water in a pan. Add the tea bags and leave to steep for 5 minutes.
-Remove the tea bags and stir in the sugar and lion’s mane powder until dissolved
-Add 3 cups of cold water to the mixture and wait until the mixture is completely cool before transferring it to a glass mason jar.
-Ideally leave this mixture to cool overnight, then the next day add your SCOBY, along with the kombucha it came in whether from a friend/store bought.
-Cover the jar with some kitchen roll or a cloth and an elastic band- leave the jar at room temperature, away from direct sunlight for 7-10 days when you can taste it to see if it is done or needs more time (the longer you leave it the more acidic and vinegary it will become. In summer it ferments quicker than in winter).
-Remove the SCOBY and keep 1 cup of the kombucha aside to store the SCOBY in until you are ready to brew your next batch.
-Pour the kombucha into bottles and enjoy. You can do a secondary ferment here where you add a bit more sugar/fruit/herbs to the bottle and leave for 1-2 days more before enjoying.

Check out our full range of mushroom supplements here