Trendy kombucha from your own kitchen

Kombucha has been drawing a lot of attention lately as a tasty beverage capable of healing all that ails. Miraculous claims aside, kombucha is a delicious fermented tea. It’s available at health food stores in a range of flavors – albeit for a steep price. However, it’s neither difficult nor dangerous to make large amounts of kombucha cheaply at home. It’s made by adding a kombucha culture, called a scoby (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast), to a solution of green or black tea and sugar and letting it brew for a week. Chances are, however, you don’t know any kombucha brewers who have extra scoby, nor do you want to shell out 15 bucks to buy some online. Rachel Bigler is a Tower Grove South-based Japanese food and culture writer who lost nearly 200 pounds in part by eating traditional Japanese meals. She spreads the good word on her Web site, www.theanimeblog.com.