making my own drinks

making kombucha

i love drinking.

most people say that same sentence, but they imply that they love drinking alcohol. i love drinking far more than just booze. not only do i love drinking drinks, but i love making them. again, i'm talking more than alcoholic drinks here.

my latest drink is kombucha, a fermented tea. it takes 2 weeks to make, and is a very similar process to brewing beer. the first week 1 gallon of kombucha ferments in a jar as a result of the s.c.o.b.y. (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast).  i enjoy drinking this carbonated beverage in the evening after dinner, it satisfies any sweet craving as well as any soda craving. i've described the flavor to others as healthy ginger ale flavored. technically there may be a fraction of a percent of alcohol in this drink, but any drink with <0.5% alcohol is considered non-alcoholic.

speaking of alcohol i've brewed a few batches of beer recently, and have a few more batches in the queue to brew. i've brewed 1 gallon batches, which yields about 10 bottles of beer. as i don't drink beer daily, this is plenty for me to enjoy once in a while. i also can appreciate the flavors in beers that i drink. i'm planning to brew a 7 gallon batch with my dad when i visit for the holidays. he's been brewing since the 80's.

my second most recently acquired drink to make is soymilk. a friend came back from taiwan with a soymilk maker, and made fresh soymilk for us. i was hooked, and started shopping around for a soymilk maker of my own. fill your soymilk maker with soybeans and water. the devices heats and blends for about 45 minutes resulting with a deliciously warm and fresh soymilk (the last step is to strain the gritty bean residue, if that's your preference). i was searching the appliances section of craigslist for coffee paraphernalia and the most recent post in the category was a 'used once soymilk maker'. some fella's girlfriend bought it, used it once, and it took up kitchen space for a year. i took it off his hands for $40 (originally $120) and have made my fair share of soymilk. it's delicious when hot before bed, or cold in the morning, and of course i put some in my coffee when the bitterness needs a bit of balance.

the drink that i've been making myself for the longest is the purple smoothie. this has been breakfast on and off for the last few years. there's lots of effort (and produce) that goes into a smoothie. but the smoothies are healthy, filling, and delicious. i make them in in batches of 6-8 bottles, so i've got breakfast for a week. when i go too long without one i can tell, and i quickly get back on the purple smoothie wagon.

the drink that i drink the most, have spent the most time and money on, and am currently the most obsessed with is coffee. i greatly dislike coffee snobs, and i greatly dislike seeing the signs of myself slowly becoming one. i subscribe to seattle coffee gear on youtube, i get 6oz of beans delivered every two weeks via tonx, i have more brewing equipment than i know what to do with, and could easily spend $3000 on more brewing equipment in 10 minutes if given the change (or the money really).  i keep a notebook in the same drawer as my scale, and take notes on beans, ratios, grinds, and even water temperatures. i have a quick reference chart on the back of a cupboard door with grind to water ratios so i know exactly how many grams of coffee to water i'll need for an 1:18 ratio cup of joe. needless to say, i love my coffee.

i'm not sure what the next drink is that i'll acquire in my drink making repertoire, but i do know that drinking is something i enjoy. drink making can be quite a process, as with beer and kombucha it takes at least two weeks in order to benefit from the fruits of your labor. our palette is so refined that any human can taste the differences and deliciousness of different drinks. i'm thankful for that ability, and take advantage of it whenever i'm able to.