starting another batch w/ starter on the right

About 15 years ago my mom-in-law started drinking this concoction made with this juice from a mushroom. Yuck! Now I've discovered kombucha and when I asked her if it was the same thing, she said, "yes".

First you need to understand that I consider my mom-in-law a hippie. She's actually my ex mom-in-law, but as my ex sis-in-law says,  "You divorced my brother, not me." Anyway, Tina is mom-in-law and she really has been sort of out there, hippyish for most people. Is it even OK to call people Hippies in 2012? I guess today you would say she's into a healthy, natural lifestyle.  She's successfully battled cancer using alternative medicine along with regular medical techniques. She's a vivacious free spirit who has WAY more energy than I do and she's 20 years older than me! I cannot keep up with this woman.

Years ago she starts making this mushroom tea stuff that is supposed to be really good for you. All I needed to hear was the word "mushroom" because I hate mushrooms. And all I needed to see was this glass jar filled with tea and this nasty looking mushroom floating around in it. I ignored it all as some disgusting hippie experiment.