Creationism

I’m a firm believer in creationism. In my version of creationism, I am the god, and I create things, not people. This website is one of those things, so are my other websites and all the writing I’ve done. The sheer act of creation—those first few minutes of bringing something new into the world—is the only thing that keeps me going sometimes.

So it’s not surprising (at least to me) that when I learned my mom had moved out of the house and wanted a divorce from my dad, one of my first thoughts was “I have to make kombucha.”

Kombucha is, loosely, “fermented tea.” It has a sour, vinegar-like bite, and I love it. It got popular in the US (or at least accessible in New Orleans) at some point between 2008 and 2010, and I only started drinking it when I returned in June, 2010.

I brewed beer in college, but I’ve been living at home during grad school and haven’t really had the space to collect brewing equipment. Kombucha making, however, requires less equipment, less space, and less of a financial investment.

I went out to Target last week and bought two gallon-sized glass jars in which to grow a SCOBY, and I followed the directions on Total Kombucha to grow a SCOBY mushroom from two bottles of commercial grog.

SCOBY1

SCOBY2

SCOBY3

SCOBY4

SCOBY5

SCOBY6

So far, I have a wee little thing growing. At least I think it’s growing.

SCOBY7

This has taught me another important lesson of creationism: While there is an initial high in those first minutes when the web is rent, the seed often requires time and fuel to grow.

5 thoughts on “Creationism

  1. Kurt Mifsud Bonnici

    WOW .. am sorry to hear about your parents getting divorced Daniel. If there is anyway I can help (even from half the world away) just let me know yeah?

    Keep your chin up.

    Kurt

    Reply
  2. Daniel Post author

    Hey Kurt, thanks for the note! I’m doing pretty well I think. Trying to keep busy with my projects and not doing too bad a job of it, I don’t think.

    Reply
  3. Matt

    Yeah, sorry to hear the news! I hope that everything works out for all concerned.

    You know, even though I had heard folks talking about kombucha (in English) lately, I thought that what they were talking about was just 昆布茶 (in Japanese). So you can imagine how unsettled I was by the end of your blog post, when there was still no seaweed in sight and fungus had started growing in your drink (渾沌如鶏子、溟涬而含牙…). At least I know better now. Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Daniel Post author

      Thanks for the comment! Life continues. We’re doing okay, I think.

      Has kombucha made it over to Japan yet? I feel like it boomed here between 2009-2010. I don’t think I’d heard of it before then. It definitely hadn’t made it to Japan before I left, although the probiotic yogurt drinks were already there, which is kind of a similar target market.

      Reply

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