Hop kombucha (flavour kombucha with hops)
All right, the term "Kombucha beer" might be a bit exaggerated. Because, of course, home-brewed Kombucha, flavored with hop blossoms does not taste quite like normal beer. However, the rather sour aroma of your Kombucha harmonizes wonderfully with the intense, distinctive and slightly bitter aroma of hops! Whoever appreciates the tart and fresh taste of a good beer should definitely try this great and very simple recipe. In this way, you can also get the valuable ingredients of the local hops into your Kombucha drink - and maybe even convince some sworn fans of the foaming barley juice of Kombucha. Who knows... ;-)
The principle is quite simple: You put dried hop blossoms (brewers also speak of hop cones) into the almost completely fermented Kombucha drink and let the mixture (without your Kombucha fungus) steep for a few days. This way of flavoring drinks is also called cold extraction (unlike tea, which is always infused hot). It takes a little longer for the aromas and ingredients to be transferred into the drink. To make the Kombucha for the recipe yourself, you will of course first need the Kombucha fungus from Wellness-Drinks.
The effective ingredients of the hops, such as essential oils and polyphenols, are transferred to your Kombucha drink after a few days. They have a slightly calming, balancing effect and, due to their special bitter substances, kill bacteria and aid digestion. Hops have therefore been used in naturopathy and brewing for many centuries.
You can find out more about the effect of hops if you like, following the recipe. But now first to the practical part.
As ingredients for the hop Kombucha you need nothing more than:
- 1 liter finished Kombucha drink, still a little too sweet (go to the Kombucha recipe)
- 5 g dried hop cones
You can get the dried hop blossoms cheaply from many herb and spice dealers.
And this is how you make hop Kombucha:
- Place the flowers together with the Kombucha in a sealable glass or large bottle. (You should take out your Kombucha fungus beforehand with sufficient preparation liquid and store it separately until the next preparation)
- Carefully close the bottle or glass so that any carbonic acid produced can just about escape. Place the cold extraction in a dark place at room temperature for about 24 hours.
- Afterwards, your hop Kombucha should be left in the refrigerator and allowed to steep for at least 2-3 more days. Just try a sip after 2 days.
- If the aroma is already bitter enough for you, you can sieve the hop cones and store the finished drink in the refrigerator well chilled. If it is not yet bitter enough for you, the hop cones must remain in the cooled drink for a few days longer.
- The Kombucha you use for the hop Kombucha should taste a little too sweet. As the cold extract takes several days to prepare, the drink will continue to ferment slightly and become correspondingly more acidic. Depending on how sour you like your Kombucha, it should be allowed to ferment for about 8-12 days before. Again, the easiest way is to try a little bit of it first. If you say: “Hmmm, a little more acid would be good!" then he's just right for the recipe.
Between natural remedy and tangy beer enjoyment: hops
But now, as promised, back to the hop. This incredibly powerful, native creeper, whose numerous shoots can grow 10cm a day (!) and more in summer, has been cultivated in Germany for many centuries because of its female flowers. The hop cones contain numerous bitter substances in their sticky hop resin, including humulone and lupulone, as well as various bitter acids and tannins. Among the essential oils in hops, which contribute to its aroma and pharmacological effect, are humules and caryophyllene. In addition, there are flavonoids, precursors of certain plant dyes (proanthocyanidins) and many other ingredients.
What many don't know: Hops are closely related to cannabis, the hemp plant from which not only fibers are extracted but also the drugs hashish and marijuana. Isn't it an interesting coincidence that the two most widely used psychoactive stimulants worldwide, beer and cannabis, originate from the same plant family?
The complex mixture of active substances in hops has three central properties: It has a calming, bactericidal (suppressing harmful bacteria) and digestive effect. In the beginning, its bitter constituents were appreciated in brewing beer mainly because they contributed significantly to the shelf life of the barley juice. As early as 1153 A.D., the antiseptic power of hops was described by Hildegard von Bingen with the words "Putredines prohibet in amaritudine sua" (its bitterness prevents rotting). Its bitter constituents, in turn, stimulate digestion, bile flow and gastric juices - like many other bitter foods - which is why it is used in folk medicine to treat loss of appetite and digestive problems. (You can also learn more about the healthy effect of bitter substances, which you should definitely take advantage of in your diet, in our delicious recipe chicory salad with mandarins and Kefir goat cheese cream.)
After all, hops have a calming, relaxing, slightly sedative effect and help people fall asleep - an effect that he shares with its close relative cannabis and which has so far been relatively little pharmacologically researched. If hops are to have a calming effect, it is best to combine them with valerian root. In naturopathy, both herbs are often used in combination for anxiety and insomnia. Accordingly, you can of course also add valerian root to your cold extraction. But then the name "Kombucha beer" is definitely not correct anymore - then you will have a real "Kombucha herb bitter". ;-)
Hop kombucha
- Description: flavour kombucha with hops
- Category: Getränke, Cuisine: Deutschland
- Tags: Kombucha, Hopfen, Komhucha-Rezept, Vegan, Vegetarisch, DIY
- Prep Time: 10 Minuten , Fermentationszeit: 2-3 Tage
- Yield: 5 Portionen, Nutrition facts (calories): 220 (ca.),
- Author: Wellness-Drinks, Published: 10.11.2019
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