Hamid David Dashti MH

P.O. Box 1566

Camp Verde AZ 86322

928-646-6611

How to Make Kombucha (Manchurian) tea

Kombucha is a gift of healing. When you work with your Kombucha assume a meditative/positive state. It is sensitive, alive and quite miraculous. I cannot stress enough about not allowing metals/perfumes/oils/smoke and such to come in contact with the container or you while processing this tea. This mushroom will DIE on you and you won’t get the second one free from me!! This recipe makes enough tea for 2 people for one week if each person is taking 4 ounces a day. You may sell the tea, BUT PLEASE GIVE THE STARTER BABIES AS GIFTS!

BRING TO BOIL ¾ OF PURIFIED WATER (not in microwave);

3 quarts distilled or filtered water in 3 1/2 to 4 quart solid HIGH GRADE stainless steel or glass container

ADD: 11/2 cups of white or raw sugar/or brown sugar. Raw sugar works better than brown sugar. The sugar works to assist the mushroom’s fermentation process and will be negligible in 10 to 14 days. Do this slowly to avoid fast bubbling hot stuff! Stir the sugar in slowly. Boil 4 minutes.

ADD: 3 green tea bags and 4 black (orange pekoe) tea bags. Green tea is the raw unprocessed form of black tea, it benefits the immune system. Herbal teas will not work!!! Warning: be aware of metal staples on tea bags, remove them!

Turn off burner.

COVER (tightly to allow for steeping) and leave combination of black and green tea bags for at least 30 minutes, remove tea bags and let the tea cool to room temp. If you are using black tea bags without green tea, 5 black tea bags are enough. (3-tsp loose tea in a cloth bag)

REMOVE tea bags and allow the tea to COOL.. This will take several hours. (Note: you may want to make the tea at night and transfer the starter baby mushroom in the morning.) Keep it in your gallon glass jar covered with cheese cloth or cotton cloth (no tight lids) to avoid contamination.

The shape of the container is unimportant as Kombucha will adapt. However, larger diameter containers work better because this allows more oxygen to get to the tea. What IS important is to be sure Kombucha does not come into contact with any metal or contaminating odors and gases/energies?.

SLIP starter Kombucha mushroom and the tea in from plastic bag you received it in, into the room temperature tea. Most likely it will float to the top. If it sinks, do not be concerned. Usually it will float in a few days or the baby it makes will float.

PLACE container in a dark undisturbed place (a closet, pantry..) and make sure you do not have it next to any fumes, or vibrations(as in motors of AC units etc..). I have seen a batch die just because some one was smoking near when it was being made. Also one of my own batches died because my heater fan was shaking up the wall attached to the closet I had the mushrooms in. Remember, these are living organisms and very sensitive at that. That is why most who work with them call them babies, because they are as delicate as babies.

NOTE: Kombucha requires an uninterrupted warm/dark comfortable environment in order to grow. The ideal temperature is 73 degrees Fahrenheit. Kombucha will grow in temperatures ranging from 60-86 degrees, but the closer to 73 degrees the better. Having positive energies, soft music, good vibes, are all factors for better babies just as it is with humans.

It will take10 to 14 days and you’ll see a new baby on top(lighter color mushroom)
, tea is ready!

HARVESTING:

LIFT your Kombucha starter baby carefully from its container with your hands (no metal rings on hands), be gentle! Cradle the mushroom in the palm of your hand.

PLACE it on a glass plate and separate the new baby if you wish. The baby will be just as big as the mother starter and it will be lighter in color and on top. Use either the mother or baby as a start to make new fermented beverage or use both of them together in your next batch, or, save your start in a Ziploc bag with 1/2 cup of the tea to keep it moist. Refrigerate in the warmest part of your frige. It will keep for a long time but the plan is to always give them away or keep them active in a new batch as they will die in there. Alternately; You can store the same mushroom and tea mixture in glass jars in a dark cool place for a while.

NOTE: Sometimes the starter mushroom does not make a baby the first week. Usually, the fermented beverage will be fine and the it will make a baby the second week. The longer the tea sets, the more vinegary it will taste. You are looking for a taste like the bubbly champagne.

POUR fermented tea from container into a glass or plastic bottle/jar. This is what you are going to drink. You may want to strain it through some cheesecloth (I use panty hoses!). Do not use a metal strainer. This is a living/breathing beverage, so make sure your bottle has either a cloth lid, or a snap lid like the new water bottles have(left in open position all the time) and place it in the door or the warmest part of your frige.

BEGIN your regimen the next morning: Drink 4 oz. of tea from the refrigerator on an empty stomach first thing in the morning. I mix mine with a lemon/Ginger/honey drink, awesome kickstart to life!!

Do not take more than 4 oz. daily. Extra tea may be stored in airtight glass containers in the same place you brewed the batch or kept in the frige, as long as there is no air in the glass container(all tea)!!

IMPORTANT NOTE: Detoxification or cleansing reactions may occur. These reactions may include a tired feeling or skin breaking out. If you want to slow down the reactions, stop the tea until the reactions are gone and then start back with one ounce a day for a week and gradually increase to 4 ounces a day.

Suggestions

Before you receive your starter mushroom, be prepared with a four or five quart Corning Ware pot, or solid stainless steel stove top receptacle for boiling water. You will also need a one gallon glass jar for the gestation period (10-14 days). Use culinary cheese cloth, rather than automotive. A plastic or glass cup or dipper is useful as well as a glass or plastic funnel. A dinner plate is handy for holding the start while separating mother from baby. A glass or plastic refrigerator jar with plastic or glass or spout is helpful for storing the finished elixir. One starter baby will produce enough fermented beverage each 7 to 12 days for two people. Also, be ready with tea bags and the sugar.

When saving your starter baby for some one, slip either the mother or the baby into a large zip-lock bag with 1/2 cup or so of tea and put into a flat cardboard box in the refrigerator until it is picked up by the recipient. The cardboard pie boxes are handy for this. If it is to be shipped, it can be packed and shipped in such a box. Winter is a safe time to mail. By summer, the weather may be too hot to safely send the starter through the mail.

Make copies of the instructions to send to your friend in advance of sharing this culture miracle, so that he/she can be prepared when it arrives. A bowl of room temperature tea can be waiting. Or the start can be kept up to a week in the refrigerator awaiting preparation of the tea.