Jennifer Carr was always sick as a child, suffering from bad asthma and requiring three sets of tubes to be put in her ears. But for the past few years, she's rarely been sick, she said, and the same is true for her husband, who used to get sick every January. Their two children, ages 5 and 8, have never even had to take antibiotics, she added.
Your Mom's Kombucha owner Jennifer Carr plans to begin selling her kombucha tea soon at the Brainerd, Cambridge Square and Collegedale farmers markets. / Photo contributed by Jennifer CarrThe family has dabbled in clean eating, but the only thing they've all done consistently over the past three and a half years is drink Jennifer's home-brewed kombucha tea.
She started making the probiotic-rich, fermented tea at the suggestion of a massage therapist, who gave her a SCOBY - or symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast - a slimy, pancake-shaped living home for the cultures used to ferment tea when making kombucha.
Carr followed the video the therapist sent her on how to brew kombucha, though she's tweaked her recipe over time. She uses only organic teas and water filtered by reverse osmosis, she said.
Carr drinks kombucha every day, the same as if she were taking a probiotic, she said. She credits the tea with her and her family's improved health, believing the healthy bacteria it grows in the gut to be the cause for the improvement.
She started Your Mom's Kombucha to share the tea's benefits with others, and will begin brewing in a commercial kitchen in East Brainerd soon. She is currently undergoing the approval process to sell her tea at the Brainerd, Cambridge Square and Collegedale farmers markets.
Your Mom's Kombucha owner Jennifer Carr plans to begin selling her kombucha tea soon at the Brainerd, Cambridge Square and Collegedale farmers markets. / Photo contributed by Jennifer CarrCarr said her method of brewing kombucha is as natural and organic as possible, and is unique in terms of her final process, which doesn't involve forcing carbonation, i.e. mechanically adding carbon dioxide when the kombucha is under pressure. Many commercial brewers force carbonation to hold the fermentation process, which would otherwise cause the alcohol content to continue to increase, she explained, but forced carbonation also has the negative side effect of killing healthy bacteria.
By using less sugar and fermenting for a shorter amount of time, until it's "right in the sweet spot before it becomes tart," Carr is able to naturally keep the alcohol content of her kombucha low.
"It's completely natural, all organic; the way your mom would make it," said Carr. "The body is able to process it more easily because it's in its most natural and raw state."
The first two flavors she plans to introduce to the public are her blueberry-ginger and strawberry-lemon kombucha teas, followed by other flavors she's made such as pineapple-grape-ginger and mint-lime, as well as seasonal flavors such as pumpkin spice in the fall.
For more information about Your Mom's Kombucha, visit facebook.com/yourmomskombucha, call 352-242-7508 or email yourmomskombucha@gmail.com.
Email Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com.