I called up a friend I knew used to brew for info/advice on locating a scoby and found out she still homebrews for her family and was willing to not only provide a scoby, but made up a deluxe starter kit for me. As thanks I brought a jar of my homemade strawberry jam.
I am now the owner of three upcycled bottles of homemade kombucha, a brand new gallon of sweet tea and scoby happily chugging away in their jar, and a smaller jar for brewing in with the sugar and tea bags for next week's batch of concentrate inside! I also came home with a finger of ginger for flavouring.
This is the strength of the gifting community over the bartering economy. If I were to pay/barter for a kit this elaborate, well lets just say the jam wouldn't cover it. Giving what you can when you have excess bolsters your community, and a healthy community can bolster you when you don't have enough.
I'm hoping a regular supply of kombucha with help stabilize my digestive troubles and provide some of the B-vitamins that are deficient in my gluten-free diet.... And also just be a nice replacement for diet and sugar laden sodas.
