Yes, you can ferment tea. It is apparently quite popular among health-food types. It is called kombucha. I’m not a health-food type nor would I recommend brewing this drink because of it’s dubious health benefits. I recommend brewing it because it is cheap (my first gallon totaled around 12 dollars), fun, and a good first step into the world of homebrewing. I got into homebrewing by homebrewing beer but I like brewing all kinds of things; basically if it involves yeast I will probably give it a shot (sourdough, beer, kombucha, you name it). Kombucha (unlike beer), only requires black tea (unflavored), sugar, distilled water, a gallon glass container to hold it, and “dish soap sanitation”. It also requires one other ingredient . . .  the mother. The mother is the term used to describe a white, gelled mass that forms on top of the tea and turns it into kombucha. Most places on the web recommend buying one or getting it from a friend but I didn’t know anyone who had one and I wasn’t real enthusiastic about buying one. Luckily I found a video here. I actually felt stupid it didn’t occur to me since this is the same idea as culturing your own yeast for homebrewing beer. But I digress . . . I thought today I’d give a brief tutorial on how to brew kombucha for under twelve dollars.

Bill of Materials:

-  1 gallon Jar (I bought a pickle jar and ate all the pickles) [Aprox. $5]
- 6 packets of plain Black tea (don’t substitute other teas) [Aprox. $2]
- 1 gallon of distilled water [Aprox. $1]
- 1 small kombucha beverage from your favorite hippie coffee shop [Aprox. $4]
- 1 cup of sugar (preferably white cane sugar) [free from neighbor]
-1 stirring stick
- 1 pot w/heat source
-  1 thermometer

Step 1:
In homebrewing sanitation is essential to a good brew. Since we are only making kombucha our sanitation doesn’t need to be as strict as in homebrewing beer, but it is still important. Wash everything that will come in contact with the brew (i.e. your hands, and gallon jar) with soap and water (you don’t really have to do this to the stirring stick or the pot as they will soon have boiling water in them).

Step 2:
Add roughly half of the gallon of distilled water to the pot and bring to a boil.

Step 3:
Pour in 1 cup of sugar, slowly stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Step 4:
Remove from heat and add the tea bags. You can leave them in as long as you would like (check here for recommended steeping times if you prefer).

Step 5:
Add the other half gallon of distilled water then check the temperature. if the water is above 95 degrees (F) let the mixture cool down to around 75-80 degrees (F). If the mix is above 100 degrees (F) and you add the kombucha you bought, you will kill your yeast friends and it will be all over (until you go back to the hippie coffee shop).

Step 6:
After making sure the proper temperature has been reached pour in the contents of the kombucha beverage you got at the hippie coffee shop.
Warning! If you pour hot water in the wrong kind of glass it can crack and break. Canning jars are made of the right kind of glass, store bought pickle jars probably aren’t. So make sure the water is below 80 degrees (F) before putting in the jar.

Step 7:
All you have to do now is cover the jar with a light cloth (I just used paper towel) and place in a warm room, out of direct sunlight. The brew will take between 1 and three weeks to brew. I let mine go about 2 weeks, or when the brew starts to smell vinegary. After the first week a thin film should begin to form on top of the brew. This is your “mother” and will be needed to brew future batches so don’t get rid of it! It may look gross but it is perfectly safe (as long as you don’t let it mold, which is not very likely given the acidity of it). If you wait much longer then two weeks the PH will fall below 2 and not really be much good for drinking; it could be used like vinegar though. If you have any questions or comments feel free to post.

I recently decided to try and make a gourd canteen. For those who are really into reenacting/rendezvous this is probably old news. These are apparently a common sight at such events. I don’t participate in these though so it was new for me. What follows is some basic instructions and photos that will hopefully help you create your own gourd canteen.

Bill of Materials:

1 “Canteen Gourd”
1 slab of paraffin wax
1 piece of stiff wire or a coat hanger
1 double boiler or as I prefer, a tin can bent so it is easy to pour from and a pot of water.
1-4 handfuls of gravel
1 drill with 1/4, 1/2 drill bits

Step 1.

Find yourself a gourd; either kind is acceptable but I used the first. Although these pictures are linked to a website that sells seeds and such I bought mine from my local farmer’s market. I was able to buy it already dried.

Step 2.

As I already mentioned I bought mine already dried; so I can’t speak from experience but drying apparently can take up to two years (depending on the size and thickness of the gourd) [1]. I recommend just buying it dried. I think mine cost about six dollars (US). It is important that the gourd has a fairly thick outer shell for obvious reasons. Approximately 1/4 inch is common. An experienced person can tell the thickness by knocking on it (this, in addition to shaking the gourd indicates when it has finished drying). If your seller isn’t experienced, find another vendor or it is trial and error time.

Step 3.

Drill a hole in the canteen where you think you want to drink from (most people pick the top). My whole is somewhere around 1/2 to 3/4 inch. I pre-drilled first with a 1/4 inch drill bit and then drilled with a half inch bit. After drilling, the hole didn’t look big enough and I didn’t have any larger bits handy so I just reamed it larger with a rat-tail file.

Step 4.

This is by far the most labor intensive part and will test your patience. The gourd is full of “fluff” and seeds. These all need to be removed. To do this get a clothes hanger, cut it to a reasonable length for your gourd and then bend a small loop in the end. This will prevent gouging the gourd and make it easier to pull material out of the little hole you drilled. This will take awhile (think one hour plus here). You can check your progress with a flashlight. Once the large particles are removed put a hand full of gravel in the canteen (obviously small enough to fit in and get out). Put in a cork or cover with your hand and start shaking. When you think you are done, scrape it again then repeat. This will probably take as long or longer than the initial scraping did, it is also very loud and annoying.

Notes:
One recommendation I received was to add water. I tried this on the second gourd I started making. It made it considerably quieter, I’m not sure if it made it faster or not.

Step 5.

Once all of the inner material has been removed grab a beer and take a break because the last step was no fun and you don’t want that to carry into this step. If you’re a light weight let the effects wear off then grab your gourd and put it in the oven on a low setting. You only want to get it heated up, not bake it. While the gourd heats up get your double boiler (or improvised one), put you water in it and start heating. It is important to note at this step that a double boiler is essential. Wax is a fuel (that’s what a candle is burning). When heat is applied to a fuel in the presence of oxygen it combusts (of course); then you will have a kitchen fire. The double boiler reduces this risk. For the risk averse or notoriously unlucky feel free to keep a fire extinguisher nearby. While the boiler is still heating up add the wax slab. When the wax is fully melted pour it into your gourd (which is most likely warm enough at this point) and cork it. Now quickly swirl the wax around covering all the surfaces. Continue doing this until the wax starts to feel different (it feels different because it is starting to solidify). Once you feel this pour out the left over wax into a mold or other receptacle. Once it cools you are done. All you have to do now is devise a clever way to carry it and decorate it.

Notes: The wax is only to prevent the taste of the gourd from leaking into the bottle; it isn’t bad for you, just unpleasant (some people actually like the taste or so I’ve heard). You can re-coat the inside of the gourd with more wax as necessary but don’t heat the gourd when you reapply the wax. I also heard a tip that you could avoid waxing if you rinsed it well (maybe even soaked it briefly) with salt water.

Sources:
1)  Wilderness Survival Forums
2)  The NWAT Courier

Congratulations President-Elect Obama and Vice-President Elect Biden! You have promised many things, I hope you keep your promises. I especially hope you are able to fulfil your promise to listen closely to those who disagree with you and reunite the great red/blue divide. The Democrats have won an overwhelming victory. Please do not forget you have responsibilities to all Americans and not just your base. Do not abuse and squander this great power Americans have given you as the republican party did after the 2000 election. Unite America and lead not only Americans but the entire world into a brighter future!

If you are learning how to be quiet in the woods the “fox walk” is a great place to start. Here a short quicktime video shows you the basics. Enjoy.

Here is another video, this one on the fire piston. This is a fairly remarkable device considering the tolerances necessary to achieve a coal and that this was done in less than ideal conditions (i.e. the jungles of the South Pacific). I am currently in the testing phase of a design for a fire piston I intend to sell on Ebay in the near future.  I will post an update when my fire piston becomes available. Enjoy the video.