How to Make Kombucha
- Gail Nishimura
- Oct 11, 2020
- 6 min read
You might have heard all the commotion about the fermented tea called kombucha or have even become obsessed with the fizzy drink. There is no denying that the unique flavor of kombucha can be an acquired taste. It's sweet, slightly tart, and has a hint of vinegary after-taste. If you’re reading this post it probably means you love kombucha and can’t get enough! Before brewing my own, I used to frequent the grocery store to buy a bottle whenever I got a kombucha craving. These trips would be far and few between due to the price.
One day, one of the girls I surf with mentioned she brews her own kombucha and I instantly became instantly intrigued. I did some research and set out to brew my very own kombucha. This summer I started brewing my own kombucha and it has been so exciting and rewarding and a lot easier than I was expecting. After discovering this crazy and special hobby, I knew I had to share it with you on my blog. In this post, I will be sharing what I learned about brewing kombucha along with tips and tricks worth knowing.
A Scoby?
Scoby is actually an acronym for “symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast”. Kombucha is tea fermented by both bacteria and yeast. The scoby itself is a multicellular microorganism that feeds on sugar in the tea and digests it into alcohol and in the process releases carbon dioxide giving kombucha its carbonated fizz. If you want to brew kombucha, you are going to need a scoby.
The easiest and best way to obtain a scoby is to get one from a friend. Scobys continuously grow and can be separated to create two or more scobys. If you don’t have a friend that has a scoby, you can grow your own! It's super easy and a lot less complicated than it seems. All you need is tea, water, sugar, a gallon glass container (yes, it has to be glass) and a bottle of unflavored GT Kombucha ( https://gtslivingfoods.com/ ) from your nearest grocery store.
What you need to Grow a Scoby:
1 gallon glass container (I found mine at Walmart for $14)
½ cup white granulated sugar
4 Black tea bags (not earl grey, not decaffeinated)**
1 bottle of unflavored GT Kombucha***
Notes
**I used 2 of the Whole Foods 365 Organic Iced Black Tea Large Tea Bags
***GT is the brand of Kombucha I use and it must be the original unflavored to start a scoby
Procedures:
Clean your glass container really well and sterilize it by pouring boiling water into it to remove any bacteria that might be on it. Let it sit for about 5 minutes before pouring out the hot water and letting the container cool down and air dry.
In a large pot, heat 7 cups of water just to a simmer, then remove the pot from the heat. Add 4 tea bags and ½ cup of sugar to the water and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Let the tea brew and completely cool until room temperature.
Once the tea is completely cooled to room temperature, remove the tea bags from the pot and pour the tea into the gallon glass container. Pour the bottle of unflavored GT kombucha into the tea. Cover the glass container with a tea towel or a thin dish towel using only one layer. Wrap a rubber band or piece of elastic around the rim of the glass container to keep the towel in place.
Find a dark place, like a closet or cupboard and place the glass container there to grow your scoby. Keep the container there for 2 to 4 weeks. You will first notice a white film growing on the surface of the tea, this is the start of the scoby. Once the scoby has grown to about a ½ inch thick, it's time to brew some kombucha!
Brewing Kombucha
Once you have your very own scoby, you can begin brewing your own kombucha. There are 2 fermentation stages, here is the first of the two.
Fermentation #1
Equipment
1 Scoby
1 gallon glass container
1 cup white granulated sugar
4 teabags Black Tea***
4 teabags Green Tea (green tea, not matcha!)****
14 cups water
Notes
***I use 2 of the Whole Foods 365 Organic Iced Black Tea Large Tea Bags
****I use 4 bags of the Whole Foods 365 Organic Green Tea
Procedures
In a large pot, heat 7 cups of water just to a simmer, then take it off the heat. Add both the green and black tea bag and the sugar to the pot and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Add another 7 cups of cold water to the pot and let steep until completely cooled to room temperature.
Once the tea is completely cooled to room temperature, remove the glass container with the scoby from the dark place. If its your first time making kombucha with your new scoby, gently pour out and dispose of all but about ½ cup of the tea the scoby is sitting in. Pour the freshly brewed tea into the glass container with the scoby.
Cover the glass container back up with the tea towel or dish towel. Place the glass container back into the dark place for 7 to 10 days to ferment.
Fermentation #2
Once your kombucha has fermented for at least 7 days, its time for the second fermentation. The second fermentation is where you can flavor your kombucha and is where the kombucha becomes carbonated.
Equipement
Six 16 ounce glass flip to bottles*
Fruit or juice of your choice**
Notes
* You can also reuse glass bottles from store bought kombucha or Mason jars
** Fresh fruit juice or just finely chopped fruit of your choice. At the end of the blog I share some of my favorite flavors.
Procedures
Wash and sterilize the glass bottles with the boiling water method. Set them aside to let them cool.
Before you start bottling the kombucha, you need to make a fresh batch of tea, exactly like the batch from the first fermentation (the 14 cups, 1 cup sugar, black and green tea). This fresh batch of tea will replace the already brewed kombucha that you will be bottling.
Add the chopped fruit or fruit juice to the six flip top bottles. Using a funnel, pour the brewed kombucha from the glass container into the six flip top bottles and cover the bottles with the lids. Make sure to leave about ½ cup of the brewed kombucha in the 1 gallon glass container with the scoby.
Pour the new batch of brewed tea into the 1 gallon glass container with the scoby. Cover it back up with the dish towel and place it back into the dark place along with the six bottles of kombucha.
Let the six bottles of kombucha ferment for three to seven days. Check on them everyday for an increase of pressure to prevent them from exploding (this hasn’t happened to me yet, but I never let them ferment longer than 3 days). If there is too much carbonation, burp the bottle by slightly opening then closing it to release some of the carbon dioxide.
Once the six bottles have fermented for three to seven days, remove them from the dark place and put them into the refrigerator. The refrigerator will slow down the rate of fermentation and chills the kombucha for consumption.
Carefully open the kombucha once it is properly chilled and enjoy (I sometimes strain my kombucha before drinking it to remove unwanted pieces of scoby or fruit pulp).
Recommend Kombucha Flavors
This is a list of all my favorite fruit combinations to add to the second fermentation to flavor the kombucha. The sugar from the fruit both feeds bacteria and yeast in the kombucha and slightly sweetens the kombucha.
Pineapple Mint:
½ pineapple skinned and finely chopped
6 small sprigs of mint
-evenly divide the chopped pineapple and mint into the six 16 ounces bottles and add the kombucha
Lychee:
Peel and remove the pit of 18 lychee fruits. Place the flesh of 3 lychee fruits into each 16 ounce bottle and add the kombucha
Watermelon Lime
Blend a cup of fresh watermelon and the juice of 1 lime in the blender. Evenly pour the blended watermelon and lime juice into the six 16 ounce bottles and add the kombucha
Apple Pie
1 green apple finely chopped
1inch of ginger, peeled and grated
-put a pinch (less than an ⅛ teaspoon) of cinnamon into each 16 ounce glass bottle. Evenly divide the finely chopped green apple and grated ginger into the 16 ounce glass bottles. Add the kombucha.
Lemonade
Add 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice to each 16 ounce glass bottle and add the kombucha
Links to Other Kombucha Blogs
https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-your-own-kombucha-scoby-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-202596
Comentarios