Something Different Brewing...

I am just putting up a quick post today, wanted to let you know that there is a different kind of brewing going on in the Shadow Beast brewery today... I am trying out some new fermentation/brewing. Firstly I am brewing some cold brewed coffee for summer and for a extra caffeine kick. Secondly, I am also trying my hand at Kombucha... I have ever tried this before but I was lucky to get my hands on to a starter, so  I am now trying to grow a "mother". I won't get into the technical information of the two brews as there some some great links out there to help you. I will add some links at the bottom of the post to the ones I used. 

Cold pressed coffee:


I have tried this before and quite enjoyed it, it makes a great iced coffee and is great just on its own. This is a very easy way of brewing coffee, minus the bitterness and acidity. This method of coffee brewing really brings out the small nuance flavours of your beans of choice. It will also be a stronger brew, minus the bitterness and major increase in the caffeine boost due to it being so concentrated. I used a clean French press(mason jar will do), the coffee beans that I had on hand and spring water.
Make sure the beans are coarsely ground(for easy filtration) and the water is cold, mix in the container cover and leave in the fridge for 12-24hrs, decant off the beans, and serve. It is that easy and tastes great!

 
Kombucha:

Now I have heard about this concoction/alien looking thing for a while, haven't done much research on it, but it has good health benefits, apparently..
I was lucky to get a starter for Willem of TruBrew - Brouwereij Sterrenberg, he was gracious enough to give me a starter for free to try. I researched how to make a starter, but we will have to see if I can get this going...
I made a batch of sweet tea, cleaned and sanitized a mason jar, pitched the Kombucha starter and covered with a hand towel so it can breath. Now to get a decent "Mother," I will have to leave it for 4 weeks. Then only will I be able to make a Kombucha batch. This is going to be interesting, plus hopefully it won't get mouldy, which happens very easily here in New Zealand. It's an experiment for sure!

I will keep you updated on both brews, how they are going, how they taste or if they have gone balls up. I am quietly confidence about the cold brew; the Kombucha... Well, we will see. Thank you for reading my blog and hopefully it is a good read and enjoyable.