Kombucha

Becky Montpetit

This recipe will guide you through the steps to make your own basic Kombucha.

Prep Time 2

Course Beverage

Servings 16 ounces

Calories 40 kcal

stock pot
1 gallon glass jar or 2 - 2 quart glass jars
tea towel, coffee filters, or paper towel
rubberband
small funnel
swingtop bottles, 6 - 16 ounce glass bottles with lids, or plastic water/soda bottles

3 ½ quarts water
1 cup sugar white granulated sugar works best
8 bags black tea you can experiment with black or green tea or a mix of tea bags. If you are using loose tea, use 2 tbsps.
2 cups starter tea You can get this from a friend, a store bought neutral flavored bottle of Kombucha, or often times your Scoby will come packaged with the amount of starter tea you need.

Bring the water to a boil in the stock pot.
Remove from heat and slowly add in sugar and stir gently until it dissolves.
Slowly drop in the tea bags and allow to steep until the water has cooled. This will most likely take a few hours.
Once tea is cool (or strain the loose leaf tea) and add in the 2 cups of starter tea and stir gently to combine.
Pour the mixture into a clean 1 gallon glass far or 2 - 2 quart glass jars.
With clean hands, gently add the scoby to the jar (or jars).
Cover the mouth of the jar(s) with a clean cloth, a few layers of paper towels, or a few coffee filters. Secure tightly with a rubberband.
Ferment the tea mixture for 7-12 days. Keep the jar with the mixture out of direct sunlight and don't disturb the contents.
Once the tea reaches your desired taste (you can begin tasting the kombucha around day 7), remove the scoby from the jar with clean hands and set aside.
Measure out two cups of starter tea for your next batch and set aside.
You may strain the Kombucha at this step if you'd like. Pour the Kombucha into your swingtop bottle, glass bottles, or plastic soda/water bottles leaving 1/2" - 1" of headspace.
Store the bottles at room temperature out of direct sun and allow the kombucha to carbonate. When the plastic bottles are rock hard, you may put the bottles in the refrigerator to stop the carbonation process.
Make a fresh batch of Kombucha using your starter tea and scoby.

If you would like to add flavor to your kombucha, you can do this after it has gone through it's first fermentation (7-12 days). Simply strain the kombucha, remove the scoby, measure out the starter tea, and then add fruit, spices, fruit juice, honey, or other flavored tea to the kombucha in the large glass jar. Cover with the tightly woven cloth and let steep for 1-3 days.
The starter tea is an important part of making kombucha. It turns the mixture acidic ensuring that unfriendly bacteria doesn't make it's way into your newly batched kombucha during the first few days of fermentation.
If you're just beginning, use plastic bottles to batch out your finished kombucha. You will be able to feel when they are fully carbonated. This will give you an understanding of how long you will need to let the kombucha carbonate when you switch to swing-top or other glass bottles.
The scoby may settle at the bottom of the jar, or fall to it's side, or develop long stringy bits. It will also most likely form a new layer on top of the scoby. ALL NORMAL! When your scoby gets too big, you can divide it and share with friends!

Keyword kombucha