OMG. I knew it! I mean I knew there were 'opals' in the kombucha. I'm starting to pick up the inventor's spirit.

Pretty close. Acids are involved in the process. And I want to use natural acids formed by the kefir grains or kombucha to maintain the electrolyte he mentioned.

Chaga is wonderful stuff. But people must not be allowed to become greedy with it--that would be bad, all around.

I have some white oak bark, and some red clover.
And about a T. of raspeberry leaf. Would you suggest mixing these? Kombucha talk, now.

I would try them separately to see what flavor each provides. Like I mentioned earlier the damiana provided the best flavor I have tasted.

I can't remember why I bought the white oak bark--
can you remind me about of its uses?

Oak bark is very rich in tannins making it an astringent. So it can be used to stop diarrhea or bleeding, or topically for hemorrhoids or sunburns. And it can be used to tighten loose teeth or for thrush or other yeast infections.

What is the distinction between an antibiotic (such as golden seal) and an atiseptic. (I mean in herbs)

They are somewhat the same. Antibiotics kill bacteria. Antiseptic is a broader term covering various pathogens such as viruses, bacteria and fungi.

And this may be very elementary--I *am* mostly self-taught:
is there a comprehensive list online of which plants contain tannins?

Not that I am aware of. The list would actually be pretty long since many plants contain some tannins. It is the really high tannin content herbs that you have to watch for such as oak bark, coffee, tea, uva ursi, witch hazel, Mormon tea, cranesbill root, etc. High tannin herbs more astringent, which is generally a give-a-way to their tannin content.

I once had so many SCOBYS, I was cutting them all up for the compost, after I gave up on the idea od making a sort of vegan octopus snack. (and I don't even have a yard right now; just a long balcony). And then I thought there'd be a super (!) market for them as dog chews...I've got bags of scraps in the freezer. I may have to get a new Scoby though. All this started with a nice thick mason-sized Scoby form ebay, (suspiciously -or maybe auspiciously creamy white, but gorgeous, and it grew some really large ones--there's a common picture online in kombucha communities of a nice big glass container--wide mouth; that's the one I mostly use. But I may have to return to the quart size to experiment with herbal kombuchas...

And once I tied to cut a large SCOBY into smaller ones--but they don't like scissors, or any metal in fact. I have two very thick, big SCOBYs, but they don't seem to be producing any babies--even though they are producing more tea itself.

Scoby Scoby Doo!!!!! I had heard a long time ago that they recommend not eating the scoby due to the high melatonin content. Never verified that though.

hmmm.

and the opal saga continues.

Oh--a question about green chai. I've developed this sort of habit lately for STASH (sorry to say, yup, a brand) green chai. I am wondering if it is in any way interfering with calcium?

If it contains actual tea then yes. Tea contains oxalic acid that binds the calcium making it unusable to the body.

The spice part really seems to be something my body wants--just curious. I think I'm getting a bit achey lately. In fingers, and tingly in toes. Any ideas about that?

Tea can also raise uric acid levels, which can lead to joint damage and pain. What about nettle chai instead?