Alien drinks made from the alien blobs: SCOBY and Tibicos

If you’re looking for a delicious way to boost your probiotic intake, you may want to explore the world of fermented drinks such as kombucha and kefir.  They may sound like alien drinks, and perhaps they taste like it too?

While the names may sound a little strange, these drinks have an array of health benefits, and can make a great addition to your diet. Indeed, I refer to kombucha (made from a blobby alien looking scoby) as the drink of kings – it’s one of my personal favourites!

In this blog post, I’m going to take a look at some of the alien sounding names associated with these fermented tonics, and discuss why I think they make amazing drinks!

There are multiple fermented tonics including ginger bug, jun tea, water kefir, sours, kombucha and kvass. With the exception of kvass – a drink on my to do list – I’ve played around with each of these.  My favourites though have to be water kefir and kombucha.

So, you’ve got your sugar, and you’ve added it to the liquid! But how does it get from a sugary sweet liquid to the ‘drink of kings’? Enter stage left….the starter culture – aka ‘the alien blob’! Be it the SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) or tibicos. As you’ve probably gathered from my earlier pages about how fermented beverages helped me give up alcohol, I am a huge fan of both. I love the ‘long and slow’ nature of their production and the obvious health benefits! also like the ‘me time’ it gives – discovering new flavour combinations!

Meanwhile, the opportunities for experimentation are literally limitless! Even when I revert to a tried and tested combo, no two batches are ever quite the same.  This is due to differences in room temperature, length of time of first or second ferment, adding more or less tea when first brewing the drink.

So what are these strange lifeforms?

Both the SCOBY and tibicos are communities of bacteria and yeasts that have evolved into a ‘blobby alien looking other worldly lifeform’.  Large enough to see, hold move (and play with)! Unlike a sourdough starter though, these aren’t cultures that can be quickly created in your kitchen.  Unlike heirloom yogurt starters, you don’t just use some of a previous ferment (although this is an important part of the process).

However, once you have them, they grow easily and rapidly reproduce.  After a while you’ll end up with far too much of these cultures.  Although, there are lots of alternatives including making facemasks and ‘nata’.

Now….get your Dr Who on

If you like carbonated (fizzy) drinks, this is where you get the chance to experiment and truly make some alien drinks!

Each drink goes through the same process, add your culture to the sugary liquid (water or tea) and leave for a few days 5-10 days.  I tend to leave for longer as I like a more bitter, less sugary drink.

At this point you will have a tangy concoction which can be drunk at that point. However, if you want to ‘get your Dr Who on’, this is where you have the choice both to carbonate and experiment with flavours.

In the context of kombucha, some people recommend making kombucha with flavoured teas or adding flavour sources to the first ferment. I never do this and whilst the initial results may be good, over time it’s likely that your weird looking SCOBY will degrade.  So I always add the flavours at the second fermentation stage to also get that fizzy option. 

In order to achieve the fizz, you’ll need a secondary sugar source. To avoid adding more sugar, I tend to throw a few raisins or sultanas in. You then need to leave it in an airtight bottle for a few more days to secure the carbon dioxide and to give it that characteristic fizz.

Vary those flavours…

As I’ve made more and more brews, I’m finding that I prefer water kefir with floral and herb tastes – rose petal, hibiscus and mint.  Especially once cooled in the fridge, this makes a beautifully refreshing summer drink.

Meanwhile I find that I prefer my kombucha to be flavoured more with citrus, earthy flavours, favouring both fresh fruits and fruit juices.

So where next for the SCOBY and Tibicos….
Firstly, thanks once again to those aliens, those weird blobby masses that create #fermart!

I tend to stagger my production into 2l brews. This means that I can keep making small batches regularly changing the flavours ensuring a constant supply.

Since I have been brewing, my wife has discovered that she loves them too, however she struggles with the kombucha, especially later on an evening due to the caffeine within the tea. I’ve recently started making ‘booch’ using pure hibiscus.  A caffeine free alternative with its own health benefits.  I’ve experimented making coffee kombucha…..in one word DONT!!! That has to be the most disgusting of all the alien drinks known to man! 

I’m soon going to start experimenting with a rooibos to have another option for an evening.

And what happens if you wish to go away on holiday, or take a break from brewing? Simply create a ‘SCOBY Hotel’, a kilner jar with some first ferment brew that you refresh with sweet tea every 4-6 weeks.