Have you decorated
your house with Christmas yet?
Have you decorated
your house with Christmas yet?
Camille first learnt about kombucha and other fermented foods in 2012 when she completed her wholefood chef training with wholefood legend Jude Blereau.
Moving to the southwest she was determined to start an organic wholefood business of her own.
“My idea was to start an organic food truck to take to local markets and festivals selling healing street food and kombucha of course! My partner found an amazing old ambulance that we got halfway through converting into my dream food truck when I fell pregnant with my first child. I quickly realized that running a food truck with a baby was going to be near impossible but was still very keen to start some sort of business.”
Having 20 jars of kombucha brewing in her kitchen, she was encouraged to bottle it and stock a friend's local health food shop.
“This sold out almost immediately, so I gave him a new batch. I started to get approached by other cafes looking for a local authentic kombucha and so Alewife (originally called Camille's kombucha) was born."
“My idea was to start an organic food truck to take to local markets and festivals selling healing street food and kombucha of course! My partner found an amazing old ambulance that we got halfway through converting into my dream food truck when I fell pregnant with my first child. I quickly realized that running a food truck with a baby was going to be near impossible but was still very keen to start some sort of business.”
Having 20 jars of kombucha brewing in her kitchen, she was encouraged to bottle it and stock a friend's local health food shop.
“This sold out almost immediately, so I gave him a new batch. I started to get approached by other cafes looking for a local authentic kombucha and so Alewife (originally called Camille's kombucha) was born."
Have you decorated
your house with Christmas yet?
The name alewife came to me from a beautiful book I was reading called "Full Moon Feast" about the history of wholefoods.
In this book, they wrote about the alewife.
In the 16th century before the industrialization of food and beverage, it was only women who would brew natural low alcoholic, probiotic beer (even consumed by children) and other herbal non-alcoholic ales.
Any woman in this role was called the alewife and she would typically have an extensive herb garden that she would use to brew small batch ales with and sell at the local market. To stand out at the market she would wear a large pointy hat... possibly where the notion of the mysterious witch's brew came from.
Wife back then merely meant "woman" and was added to the end of your professional names such as the midwife that would deliver babies or the applewife that would sell apples.
In the 16th century before the industrialization of food and beverage, it was only women who would brew natural low alcoholic, probiotic beer (even consumed by children) and other herbal non-alcoholic ales.
Any woman in this role was called the alewife and she would typically have an extensive herb garden that she would use to brew small batch ales with and sell at the local market. To stand out at the market she would wear a large pointy hat... possibly where the notion of the mysterious witch's brew came from.
Wife back then merely meant "woman" and was added to the end of your professional names such as the midwife that would deliver babies or the applewife that would sell apples.
Have you decorated
your house with Christmas yet?
For someone that hasn't tried Kombucha, can you describe the unique flavour?
If brewed correctly it should be a perfect combination of sweet and sour. It should be acidic, fragrant, fruity and complex. If you are used to more heavily sweetened drinks you may find kombucha to be very tart with a slight vinegary flavour. However, if you are more into naturally made beverages, your pallet will adjust to favour drinks like Kombucha.
Kombucha should have a light to medium fizz if brewed naturally depending on the juices used to flavour it. Some descriptions of kombucha flavour have been "fizzy, zingy and tangy", "crisp, slick and sophisticated" and "sparkly unicorn champagne".
If brewed correctly it should be a perfect combination of sweet and sour. It should be acidic, fragrant, fruity and complex. If you are used to more heavily sweetened drinks you may find kombucha to be very tart with a slight vinegary flavour. However, if you are more into naturally made beverages, your pallet will adjust to favour drinks like Kombucha.
Kombucha should have a light to medium fizz if brewed naturally depending on the juices used to flavour it. Some descriptions of kombucha flavour have been "fizzy, zingy and tangy", "crisp, slick and sophisticated" and "sparkly unicorn champagne".
Have you decorated
your house with Christmas yet?
Is brewing Kombucha at home an easy process?
Yes I believe so, but I think people get overwhelmed by it. The trick is to not overthink it! Find a recipe that feels good, follow the steps, say a little blessing to your SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) to send it happily on its way. Leave it for at least 10 days or more, taste along the way, and when it's the flavour you like then take off and enjoy! It helps to have a nice warm, dry environment out of direct sunlight and away from house plants or anything that could create mould.
It's such a great natural process to share with your children and friends. We have actually started producing home brew kits that you can purchase at Naturaliste Health, Dunsborough, Margaret River Farmers Market or our online shop (at this stage we only ship to Greater Perth and the southwest...stay tuned).
How big can a SCOBY get?
A SCOBY can literally get as big as any vessel you place it in, given that it has enough food (sugars) to consume. I heard a story once of a man who was a passionate kombucha brewer. He would brew his kombucha on his kitchen windowsill that overlooked his rainwater tank. As his SCOBY would multiply, he would throw the pieces he didn't need out the window thinking they were falling in the garden to decompose into the earth. As he was having a shower one day, he caught some water in his mouth and noticed that the water had an unusual sour taste to it. He proceeded to go outside and check the rainwater tank to find a giant SCOBY the size of the rainwater tank staring back at him.
What came first, the kombucha or the SCOBY?
No one actually knows the answer to this question for sure. According to a legend out of Tibet, a monk fell asleep, and a bacteria-carrying insect landed in his fresh pot of tea. The teapot was forgotten, and a culture was able to form. When the monk discovered the incredible properties of this tea, he shared it with friends.
To entice all the cocktail and mocktail drinkers out there, do you have some favourite kombucha cocktails you could share with us?
Yes!
All these can be made with or without alcohol
Yes I believe so, but I think people get overwhelmed by it. The trick is to not overthink it! Find a recipe that feels good, follow the steps, say a little blessing to your SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) to send it happily on its way. Leave it for at least 10 days or more, taste along the way, and when it's the flavour you like then take off and enjoy! It helps to have a nice warm, dry environment out of direct sunlight and away from house plants or anything that could create mould.
It's such a great natural process to share with your children and friends. We have actually started producing home brew kits that you can purchase at Naturaliste Health, Dunsborough, Margaret River Farmers Market or our online shop (at this stage we only ship to Greater Perth and the southwest...stay tuned).
How big can a SCOBY get?
A SCOBY can literally get as big as any vessel you place it in, given that it has enough food (sugars) to consume. I heard a story once of a man who was a passionate kombucha brewer. He would brew his kombucha on his kitchen windowsill that overlooked his rainwater tank. As his SCOBY would multiply, he would throw the pieces he didn't need out the window thinking they were falling in the garden to decompose into the earth. As he was having a shower one day, he caught some water in his mouth and noticed that the water had an unusual sour taste to it. He proceeded to go outside and check the rainwater tank to find a giant SCOBY the size of the rainwater tank staring back at him.
What came first, the kombucha or the SCOBY?
No one actually knows the answer to this question for sure. According to a legend out of Tibet, a monk fell asleep, and a bacteria-carrying insect landed in his fresh pot of tea. The teapot was forgotten, and a culture was able to form. When the monk discovered the incredible properties of this tea, he shared it with friends.
To entice all the cocktail and mocktail drinkers out there, do you have some favourite kombucha cocktails you could share with us?
Yes!
All these can be made with or without alcohol
SHOP ALEWIFE KOMBUCHA ONLINE
Use HUMIDITYALEWIFE10 at checkout.
