If you get on Facebook there are groups that share Kombucha and kefir or even yogurt cultures for the cost of shipping.

You can use honey, generally they will say to use an extra scoby (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) That will grow every couple of brews to do it with and keep one pure. There is also a JUN culture that is a lot like kombucha, I guess it is really its own culture that you brew with honey and green tea instead of sugar and black tea. I have one of those as well but I dont drink it as often.

I like both kefirs and kombucha as well, but haven't started to make my own kombucha as yet.

Waterkefir I let it stand for about 3 weeks until it's completely sour. Then I drink a cup after heavy meals, when it's taste comes out very well.
To not let it completely ferment is nice as well, that gives a more sweet and carbonized drink. If you do well and harvest at just the right moment and then let the bottle ripen for week or so, it's more like champaign. Very funny!

Milkkefir is a undispensible asset to life. I get raw milk from organic farming, then ferment it and drink it most of the days. Drinking raw organic milk is good as well, but with kefir it keeps well over a few weeks.
Sometimes the whey seperates from the rest when fermenting. Then I let it drip out and obtain kefirquark, which can be intense in taste but I like it anyway...

One thing I don't completely understand is when they multiply at best. Waterkefir seems to be multiplying rapidly during spring and autumn, less during summer & winter. Milkkefir on the other multiplies very slowly, though I have good unprocessed milk for it. Still a mystery how to get it multiplying more radidly.

Does anyone know what's the best way the keep the culture as healthy as possible?

So...I drunk the first kombucha in my life recently. I liked it.

I made it my own. I used black tea (two tablespoons for 20 minutes) and put the kumbucha in it. I think I "harvested" it a bit early, as it was still pretty sweet. It only stood 5 or 6 days.

I already set up a new batch, as I emptied the first in a couple of hours.

Will post a pic later that day, when I'm back from work.

I'm happy to see kefir and kombucha or other type of probiotics culture having such popularity among our poeple !

I'm back to home brewing, but I had been also doing a organic cider vinegar (living also) and organic honey vinegar cure. It's a great tonic, and is used to alcalinize acidic blood, help purifiying blood (very useful for most of us westerners). As a cure, simply take a spoonfull of organic vinegar (best if apple cider or honey vinegar - organic) mix in a glass of water, if the water is cold, it will make a very refreshing drink also.

I homebrew Kefir now. Still does not taste really good, but every batch seems to be getting better. Having some uncomfortable reactions though. Not sure if its the Kefir.

Has anyone tried encapsulating kefir grains in stomach acid safe capsules?

I found out a culture ( kefir grains or kombutcha disc ) takes a few good brewing before accomodating and revealinghteir potential.
Also don't brew them in the same place only one will work and dominate the other which will go funny or not so good tasting. Yeast a nd bacteria are all over litteraly and they have to be well established before managing well to grow and give life ( like most plants or living organism ).
Keep brewing even if you only watr plant ( mix with as much water and water kefir or kombutcha ) and the brew can be more an dmore platable. kefir can have a number of effects depending of quality and dosage.
What is the problem Obli ?

Getting some anxiety, face flushes, heartburn, breathing troubles, dizzyness, nausea, gas...a wide array of unspecific symptoms. I have read that this could be a herxheimer reaction, but i always thought that this is a naturopath justification for eating stuff that actually poisons you.

Does this also occur with Kefir you can buy at the supermarket?

Nope, with Supermarket kefir i get nothing. Same with all probiotics i have tried. Tried the newest batch...tastes a lot better now, less yeasty.

Also thinking about making my own sauerkraut or wild fermenting other vegetables

Well, then it might be the fault of the particular batch.

Good idea with the sauerkraut, I might shop for it as well. I tried kimchi this winter, yummy Korean kraut, unfortunately expensive, but tastier than bland sauerkraut. They can leave the fish sauce away, but chilikraut in general is a splendid idea.

It apparantly takes some time for stale grains to start working again. My latest batch tastes very similiar to storebought kefir..i'd say almost delicious I also started making sauerkraut and waiting for some water kefir grains.

It's a whole new world of food

Do you drink alcohol at all Obli ?
Reminds me at time how I react certain time to sugar or some ethanol ( hot flushes, someitmes with difficult breathing )..

Nice! Hope your stomach likes it too. I drank half a liter of sauerkraut juice today and my stomach didn't complain. I will buy this stuff more often.

If you're really getting into DIY sauerkraut try the kimchi variant. Adding garlic, chili and ginger to your receipe makes a yummy different! You can even use rotkohl or other veggies for lactic acid fermentation (Tsukemono, sauergemüse).

Fun fact: Koreans are the real krauts.

South Koreans consume 40 pounds (18 kg) of kimchi per person annually, where Germans consume only 6 kg of sauerkraut ppa.

Source:

http://articles.latimes....tertainment/et-magnier17
http://www.lfl.bayern.de...blatt_wei__-_rotkohl.pdf

There is a strain of culture called "Jun", it does ferment raw honey and green teas / white teas. That is my favorite ( its a cousin of kombutcha ).
But some poeple sily fed their kombutcha with sugar and honey little little and claim it can adapt to it.
But Jun is what you're looking for if you really fan oh honey. The drink is more sparkling and maybe finer tasting due to honey.
I brew it in a vinegar pot, continuous brew right now. Different doesn't like to live together so I learnt to brew one thing at a time.
There are groups to share kefri grains, kombutcha or Jun scobies.
Thats the easiest way to get started.

I too would like to start ferment cabbage as kimchi or sauerkraut, I'm such a fan of these foods. Do you have a special pot Obliguhl ?
Or you sort of DIY something for cabbage fermentation ?

Nope, just using ikea glasses. Fermentation has started a few days ago....houston, we have bubbles! Kefir is interesting, intoxicating almost...no, not almost. Very easy to be craving more and more. Mood enhancing - can it be? The last batch was made with raw, unpasteurized milk, which resulted in a much, much more sour product. Also less creamy which is weird because it fermented really fast and thoroughly. Homogenized it with a magic stick and its a bit better now. Wow, it really is something. Mix it with orange juice and a bit of sugar perhaps...what a nice drink. Now getting more into water kefir, creating all sorts of crazy drinks

Another thing.... i have noticed very long nights/dreams but thought it was unrelated to my kefir consumption. I then stumbled across a post about the dream changing effects of Kefir and was intrigued. Needless to say, a big glass of kefir was gulped down just before sleep. This resulted in a very long dream.

Try it...real kefir grains, real kefir!

Was it with milk kefir or water kefir ?
Right now am drinking chaga tea daily and I notice better sleep quality and more dreams. It also contaisn lots of enzymes like kombutcha/kefirs. Elixirs FTW !!

I now drink a combination of both before bed, because water kefir tends to make me more tired. It is extreme how easy it is to sleep for a long time after drinking kefir, and that it allows me to sleep through the night. This is something that rarely happens to me anymore without. Dreams are not more vivid, but i think i just remember them better, so it seems like i'm in the dream for longer. Sometimes there are really complex narratives too.

Chaga is cool too, but i found it only effective at high doses of extract. That elixir dude is inspiring though.

Maybe it's the REM rebound effect due to the ethanol in the kefir. Have you tried a beer as control? Milk (kefir) contains also a good amount of tryptophan, which the body converts into 5-htp (meddles with REM, too). So make the control the same amount of milk mixed with some vodka, if you're interested.

When my workload is reduced I might try a DIY kefir as well, the dream effect is indeed intriguing.

I would like to know how much alcohol is in there, but i don't think its much. I would also think alcohol with Milk would be very easy to distinguish from Kefir so no use for such a control.

Maybe it is nootropic, memory enhancing...because i now remember the most boring dreams and its quite painful ;o

Also, making kefir is easy. Put grains into milk. Wait around 24 hours. Strain...drink.