Kombucha Mushroom Culture Honey Starter

Kombucha SCOBY   Happy Herbalist's Pure HONEY Kombucha Starter Cultures. All natural kombucha.

contains:  Our HONEY kombucha mushroom culture (SCOBY) and liquid starter tea. Free Kombucha Craft Brewing Basic e-book. 

Kombucha Honey Ferments are very similar to Mead and Jun. Where a good Mead takes months, Kombucha Honey is typically nicely finished in 14 days, and has far less alcohol. 

Normal SCOBY / mushrooms (at least ours) are creamy and smooth. When fermenting in honey there is a tendency to be more rough and rugged and take a little longer to ferment out the sugars. Our Honey Mushrooms are large (5 inch across) and loveable. 

 What is in our Kombucha Mushroom?

Our Kombucha Culture is specifically fermented with the gluconobacter bacteria. and Mead (yeast) 

We use a sweet mead yeast developed by White Labs. This variety of yeasts works fast and more complete and gets along with our Gluconobactor (bacteria).  We found this yeast more agreeable to honey than our other typical yeasts which took longer  and were more inconsistent

Surprisingly a few early Kombucha books said that you can't use HONEY to ferment kombucha. (they also said to use only white sugar, black tea, and only glass) Honey they claimed, was antibiotical and hence would kill the kombucha bacteria. Quite ridiculous! Honey prevents bacteria (like botulism) from spreading due to osmosis. Honey sucking the oxygen away. Once diluted, honey loses all its antibiotic properties and becomes instead a source of food for a host of microbes. THat's why all honey in the U.S. is heat treated and folks are warned not to feed infants any Raw Honey Infant Botulism, a condition of serious risk to babies and those without a developed and functioning immune system - while not a problem for others. Fermenting Kombucha, Jun or Mead will not reduce the risk. Therefore do not give raw honey to infants or children. Mead (fermented honey) was probably the first adult drink - safe and great - for adults.  Kombucha, made with honey or sugar, or Jun or Ginger Beer, Water Kefir, should not be given to infants or children. please read my cautions.  Give infants and children mother's milk or mineral water. 

Honey does ferment and makes fantastic Mead. (fermented honey). Kombucha made with honey, or Jun (fermented green tea and honey), similar to Kombucha made with Honey, can produce a nice drink in 8-14 days. One quite noticeable difference in these quick ferments will produce a more cloudy or hazy brew. They will also contain higher sugar levels - compared to equal ratios of sugar to honey, The reason is honey takes longer to break down than sugar. With Mead Making it may take several months. If you desire your honey-brewed Kombucha or your Jun to have more clarity then follow what the Mead Makers do and strain (rack) and do a Second Stage Ferment. If you're using an Air Lock then continue until the bubbles slow down to just a few in a minute. Mean can come out very clear - and so can your Kombucha or Jun. note: that this longer ferment - under an airlock - will produce greater amounts of alcohol - up to 3-4 % or more. Doing a Second Stage after racking, and allowing the ferment to be open to the air (like your first stage ferment) will keep the acteobacter active and continue to convert the alcohol to acetic acid - just watch the time and don't let it continue to Honey Vinegar - unless you want to. I would opine that it was Kombucha Tea, which lead Hippocrates to declare "Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine your food". Hippocrates recommended and the Roman Army had a daily regiment of Oxmel. A combination of Honey and Vinegar which kept the army strong and healthy. 

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