We’ve been making kombucha for quite some time now. I’ve been wanting to post about it for awhile, and I’m finally getting to it. What’s that you say? What’s Kombucha? I’m so glad you asked! It’s a lightly effervescent fermented drink of sweetened black or green tea. It is produced by fermenting the tea using a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). I know… yum, right? You can purchase kombucha at your local health food store, or even some grocery stores, but it’s actually really easy to make, not to mention more economic. Why drink Kombucha? Does it taste good? Well, booch (as we like to call it around our house) has tremendous health benefits, such as:
- It alkalinizes the blood
- It’s probiotic
- It detoxifies the liver
- It increases your metabolism
- It improves digestion
- It rebuilds connective tissue – helps with arthritis, gout, asthma, rheumatism
- It considered a cancer prevention
- It alleviates constipation
- It increases your energy
- Improves your mood
- Kills Candida (yeast)
- It helps nutrient assimilation
- Aids in weight loss
And, yes, it tastes good. There are ways to adjust the flavor to your own personal taste. I know a lot of people that drink a couple tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar a day just to stay healthy. I’m not saying that’s bad, as a matter of fact, I was in that habit for a long time. And, if I feel a bug coming on, I will turn to ACV immediately. But, I will say, kombucha tastes waaaayyy better. I also really enjoy the effervescence of it. I love pop, or soda if your from the south, and obviously that is so bad for you. So booch is loaded with health benefits and it gives me that little fizzy craving I get.
So, how do you brew it? First, you’ll need a few things. Starter tea (from your previous batch or the store, if you don’t have either of those, distilled white vinegar works), black tea bags, sugar and a SCOBY. You can get a SCOBY online, but usually if you have any friends or family members that are into this, you can find one from them. Really, put it on Facebook, I bet you’ll get a response. If you’re local, I’m happy to share mine with you.
See on the left side of the jar that gel-ish looking thing? That’s a SCOBY.
Start with a quart of water. Heat it up in a pan and add your 5 tea bags. You can use more or less depending on how strong you like it.
Let that sit for about 15 minutes or so. Remove the tea bags, and add a cup of sugar
Stir that around until the sugar dissolves
Now you need to get this to room temperature. We add a couple cups of ice and some cold water. Add enough water so it’s almost a gallon. So, maybe 2 1/2 quarts or so.
Once it reaches room temperature, place it in a one gallon glass jar, add starter and a SCOBY.
This needs to stay on your counter for 5-7 days undisturbed. You do need to cover it, but it still needs to breathe so the SCOBY can work it’s magic. We use a coffee filter and a rubber band to cover ours. A piece of tightly woven cotton works well too.
After the week is up, you can either bottle it, with or without flavor, for a second fermentation, or you can start drinking it right away. You can also taste test it at this point. If it tastes too sweet to you, let it go a couple more days. We like to do the second fermentation because again, we like the effervescence. That is a fun word to say, try it “effervescence”.
We also like to flavor ours.
Today’s flavors: cherry, blueberry, and orange ginger.
Found some tart cherries in the freezer as we were re-arranging things. Love it when that happens, bonus! I know they don’t look super appetizing here, but that’s what happens when you pick your own and freeze them. But, I assure you, they taste great. So… for the flavoring and second fermentation of the kombucha:
Put your flavorings in the jars.
I love these bottles, so pretty! I found them full of all natural lemonade for my daughters birthday party last year. I bought them because of the bottles. I immediately thought… Kombucha bottles! It’s important that you do not use metal tops to seal the bottles, so these work especially well.
Next you need to get the brew in your bottles. Don’t let our fancy contraption discourage you. You can actually just use a funnel to get this into your jars. But, I do agree with my husband, using a siphon is much easier. This is his idea, because he’s the one that makes the booch at our house. 🙂 We got our siphon at a beer supply store.
Once you have it bottled, it can sit for another 5-7 days. Then you can put it in the fridge to chill. Chilling is not necessary, but we like it cold.
The longer you let it set for the second fermentation the more fizz there will be. In addition, letting it sit longer will make it less sweet and more tart.
If you’ve never made kombucha before, and you try this recipe, let me know how it turns out! If you do make it, do you have anything to add to this recipe? What’s your favorite flavor? Do you do a second fermentation? I would love your feedback in the comments!
Kombucha
Ingredients
- starter tea
- 8 tea bags
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 quarts water
- 1 SCOBY
Instructions
- Heat 1 quart water
- Add tea bags and let sit for 15 minutes
- Remove tea bags
- Add sugar and stir until dissolved.
- Add 2 cups of ice and 2 1/2 quarts of cold water to bring the tea to room temp.
- Place in a gallon jar with starter and SCOBY.
- Cover with a coffee filter or a tightly woven cotton kitchen towel secured with a rubber band.
- Let sit 7-10 days
- pour tea into bottles and store in the refrigerator.
Optional Second Fermentation
- If flavoring, add fruit, fruit juice, or herbs (depending on how you want to flavor it) to bottles and pour tea in.
- Let sit another week.
- Chill and serve
Notes
Nutrition
I tried a second ferment in super thick glass bottles (thicker glass than Grolsch). Bottled two around 9:00pm and woke up at 6:30am to one completely exploded bottle, but the other was barely fizzy at all. They were from the same batch. Thoughts?
That is so strange! A bottle can explode, and it usually has something to do with the temperature of the room being too warm, then the yeast becomes too active and eating the sugar too fast, which produces a lot of CO2. But I understand in your case one did and one didn’t. I’m sorry I’m not much help, but if you figure it out, please stop back and let me know.
I’ve been intimidated by making my own Kombucha, but your post makes it seem doable! Thanks for the detailed recipe and instructions! You (and your hubby) rock!
Hugs,
Lynn
You just convinced me to give this a try, I’ve been wanting to make my own!
Oh good! Let me know how it goes.
Honestly, I’ve never tasted kombucha before! I can’t wait to try this! I wonder what this tastes like. Thank you for sharing!
I’m a fan for sure! I find people either love it or hate it. But making it from scratch you have a a lot of options. The second fermentation adds more bubbles, but if you let it go a few days extra, you’ll get even more carbonation. We still try new flavors too. I’m sure you’ll like it, but if you don’t love it the first time, don’t get discouraged. It just needs tweaking for your taste.
Why am I getting mold with my ghost scoby? How doe you know when your scoby is bad? And can I just drain off the mold? Can you make your own SCoby?
First of all, I haven’t heard it referred to as “ghost scoby”, so I’m not 100 percent sure on what you mean by that, but as far as the mold goes, are you sure it is mold?
People often think it’s mold when there is a new scoby growing on top. It’s cloudy and looks weird. If it’s actually mold, you can leave it and it will look green and powdery, like bread mold. Touch it, if it transfers it’s powdery spores to your finger, then it’s mold, if it’s not on your finger, then it’s probably not mold.
Other causes– not THOROUGHLY cleaning/sterilizing your jars/utensils/bowls, etc. Not covering your scoby jar properly. Don’t use cheesecloth but something with a finer weave like fabric. Or, storing or fermenting your tea in a cupboard where mold is present in it. Like is there onions or something else that got moldy and possibly it somehow got into your tea.
I hope that helps you trouble shoot a little bit. I know I’ve thought before that I was getting mold on a scoby, but it was just a new one growing on top, it seemed discolored when it was a baby size, but grew to look normal.
As long as our scobies are still good, we use them and they are fine. We keep them in a jar with some tea on them and they just multiply. We call it the scoby hotel. 🙂
I’ve never made my own Scoby, but here’s a great article that tells you how.
https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-your-own-kombucha-scoby-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-202596
I’m switching from a batch process to a CB how much of the original batch do put in my CB? Do I put in all the Scooby along with all the sediment from the bottom or do I strain this. Anxious to get this process going.
We do one cup of the previous brew and the whole scoby until it becomes too big, because it will grow. When it’s too large, we just split it and either store it or you can start another brew. As for the sediment, it’s really optional. 🙂 Enjoy!!
Love the simple instructions.
One question I noticed you said don’t use metal tops.
I used mason jars….with lids.
Is that ok
Metal can damage the scoby, that’s why you should brew and bottle with a top that is rubber or plastic. As long as there is no metal on the inside of your kombucha jar. We usually brew in a large jar with a coffee filter rubberbanded around the top, and then use the bottles with the rubber stops for the 2nd brew. I hope that helps!
Question: When doing the second fermentation, do you put the lids on the bottles or leave them off? It seems that the fermenting would cause carbonation to possibly blow the tops off of the bottles?
Yes, we do put the lids on. We’ve never had a top blow off, but we do open them slowly. We’ve had a couple spill over, so we just do it in the sink.
Great post for someone (me) who has been apprehensive about making kombucha at home!
I totally get it Sheeva, that was me. What I’ve learned over time, is you really can’t mess it up. 🙂
I so wish I liked kombucha. I’ve tried several different kinds and the yeasty/vinegar taste gets me every time. I do ACV pills, that way I can’t taste the vinegar 🙂
This looks so good! I will have to try this. Doesn’t look as hard as I thought it would be.
I have never heard of this!! It sounds so interesting. I love tea so maybe i’ll have to give it a try