My Brother ...

Junior, the youngest, is such a gadget hound that I tend to just huff and roll my eyes.

For Christmas, he asked for a magnetic stirrer for his kombucha making. Typical older sister, I just huffed, rolled my eyes, and told him that my long-handled wooden spoon mixed my kombucha just fine. But then, I watched his 'booch on the stirrer, and I watched how well incorporated everything got, and saw his sugar dissolve nicely.

I started thinking about it - my kombucha has never been very fizzy, but I don't want to increase the sugar, even though that makes for happier yeasties, which makes for more fermented fungus farts = more fizz. But what if I made sure my sugar was fully dissolved, would my yeasties be happier and fartier? At best, I'll have more fizz. At worst, nothing will change and I'm out $20.

Next thing I know, "Dammit Junior, now I have to buy one!"

Fuck, I hate it when he comes up with absolutely brilliant ideas. The worst part is, I work in a lab, I use magnetic stirrers daily. But it took Junior's out-of-the-box thinking brain.

Kombucha made from my garden last summer.

I won't know if the fizz has increased until I bottle this batch either tonight or tomorrow morning, but it's worth a try.

Does anyone else brew their own kombucha, and if so, what do you do to increase your fizz?