"Oh, for the wonder that bubbles into my soul." - D. H. Lawrence
There’s something about a few bubbles that gets all of us a bit excited. Whether it’s the kind that come out of a soapy wand when we’re 5 years old, or that first sip of champagne from mum’s glass on New Year’s eve, things that go pop just seem to make everything seem a bit more special.
Maybe it’s the association with life’s joyful moments that mean sparkling drinks feel like such a treat, or perhaps it’s the fact that most of them play on our dopamine receptors with their high levels of reward-system triggering sugars and fats.
But I love bubbles!
Want to curb your carbonated cravings without sending your system into crash mode? A bit of fizz needn’t be all bad. Our Kombucha sparkles naturally, and it’s all down to a little trick called second fermentation.
What is second fermentation?
If you’ve read our other blog all about the Kombucha brewing process, you’ll know all about the SCOBY and its best friends, bacteria and yeast. Once they’ve got to work processing the sugar and caffeine, we remove our fresh (but currently still) kombucha and feed the SCOBY some fresh sweet tea to begin the process again.
Taking our brand new, still kombucha, we pop it into our lovely brown glass bottles (fully recyclable, of course) and just leave it.
That’s right – no magic, no pazzaz, no sleight of hand. It’s only fair really, after we’ve given the bacteria and yeast deliciously flavoured sweet tea to hang out in that they get to work and create the fizz themselves.
Sounds pretty scientific to me...
OK, so, it’s not that easy. It’s a fine balance to strike, and there’s plenty of stories of home-brewers redecorating the kitchen in a spray of ginger or berry. As low levels of bacteria and yeast remain in the brew, they carry on creating fizz (kombucha is a ‘live’ drink – that’s why it’s so good for you! Too much yeast can overpower the bacteria, and the other way around can really kill the buzz (or fizz).
Because the fizz in our bottles is natural, it varies from brew to brew, but will naturally carry on fizzing over time. Not keen on too much tingle? Just pop your bottles in the fridge as soon as you get them – a bit like us, bacteria and yeast get sleepy in cold weather, so the carbonation process will slow down. Fizz fiend? Leave your bottle out on the side – even a day will do it. Just remember to fridge it again after a few hours in balmy temperatures, as the pressure can get somewhat explosive if left for too long.
Ready to give our bubbles a try?