How to Make Kombucha
Kombucha is very easy to make at home. All you need is a SCOBY (see section above for more information) to make this delicious and probiotic beverage.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 1 quart 1x
- Category: Beverages
- Method: Kombucha
- Cuisine: Probiotic
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 green or black tea bag or 1 tsp loose leaf tea (it can be decaffeinated)
- 1/4 cup of sugar (white, coconut palm, or raw sugar)
- 3 cups of filtered water
- 1 piece of kombucha pellicle (see above for details)
- 1/2 cup of leftover kombucha
Instructions
- Boil 1 cup of water. In a quart-sized jar, make a sweet tea with boiling water, tea, and sugar. Steep the tea and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
- Stir in the remaining 2 cups of water to the jar to cool the tea down to room temperature.
- Add the kombucha pellicle and leftover kombucha.
- Cover the jar with a piece of cloth, paper towel, or coffee filter. Use a rubber band or a jar ring to keep the cover in place.
- Leave the jar to ferment in a warm location for 3-7 days. The exact timing will depend on the room temperature.
- To determine if the kombucha is finished, pour off a little of the liquid to taste it. It is finished when it has reached the desired level of sourness. It starts sweet and becomes sour over time.
- When you like the flavor, strain the liquid into a plastic pop bottle or a swing-top beer bottle for the second ferment. Reserve a 1/2 cup of brewed kombucha for the next batch.
- Add any additional flavors that you want to the bottle. At this point, the kombucha can be flavored by adding some fresh fruit, vanilla bean, or 1/2 cup of juice. Here’s a whole post on how to flavor kombucha.
- Keep the bottled kombucha caped and allow it to ferment for a further 1-5 days until it has carbonated.
- Refrigerate to stop the fermentation and enjoy within 2-3 weeks.
Notes
- Kombucha is good at carbonating, so be sure to use a bottle that can handle the build-up of pressure. No one wants an explosion!
- If you really get into homemade pop, I recommend using single-serving-sized bottles so that the kombucha doesn’t lose all its carbonation from being popped open multiple times.
- It is possible to brew kombucha with honey or herbal tea but it does require some extra care.
Keywords: summer, spring, sparkling beverage, simple, homemade, fermented, soda pop, easy
Find it online: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/how-to-make-kombucha/