How to Make Kombucha
How to Make Kombucha at home, a fizzy fermented tea, that is 30 times cheaper than store-bought. You just need water, tea, sugar, starter tea and just follow our easy kombucha recipe!
Servings: 14 servings
Calories: 30kcal
Ingredients
- 1 kombucha SCOBY
- 2 cups previously brewed kombucha from a jar with SCOBY or store-bought
- 14 cups water
- 1 cup white or cane sugar not honey, stevia, raw or coconut sugar
- 2 tbsp loose leaf black or green tea or 8 tea bags
Instructions
- Make kombucha SCOBY. All you will need is a bottle of store-bought kombucha, combined with a few cups of homemade sweet tea and left to ferment for about 2 weeks or until a SCOBY forms on top. Or you can buy fresh SCOBY with starter tea these days.
- In a large pot, bring water to boil and turn off heat. Add tea and sugar, stir and let cool completely: place in a sink filled with cold water to speed things up, or let sit overnight.
- In a glass container, add SCOBY and 2 cups of starter tea (the one from growing a SCOBY in or store-bought kombucha). Pour cooled tea on top using a fine mesh strainer.
- Cover with paper or linen towel secured with a rubber band and put in a place with temperatures around or above 21C or 70F degrees (I leave mine on a kitchen counter away from direct sunlight) to ferment for 7-14 days. It is OK if SCOBY isn’t floating at the top (it will later).
- After 7-10 days (less in summer) start tasting kombucha. If it isn’t sweet, has a tangy taste, fizzes as you pour and SCOBY is floating at the top, then your kombucha is ready.
- Pour all of the kombucha, minus the 2 cups and SCOBY, using a funnel into an airtight cap bottles and enjoy!
- Always leave about 2 cups of fermented tea covering the SCOBY in a jug, to keep it hydrated and to be able to start a new batch. To brew next batch, start with step 2 by brewing and cooling the sweet tea.
Video
Notes
- Store: Kombucha tea doesn't go bad but rather keeps fermenting which makes it taste more vinegar-y. Choice of storage depends on your personal taste buds. Keep at room temperature for up to one week, "burping" bottles every few days to avoid gases build up. After that (or from the start) refrigerate for up to 2-3 weeks. Kombucha loses its carbonation when refrigerated and doesn't need "burping".
- Plastic spout: If you have glass dispenser with a tap and it is plastic, know it is fine and normal. That is what I have.
- Can I use plastic or metal container for making kombucha? No, it has to be glass.
- What is best tea for making kombucha? Any caffeinated, flavoured or plain tea like white tea, black tea or green tea works.
- What is ideal room temperature for brewing kombucha? About 68 - 70 F or 20-21 C for bacteria to grow and kombucha ferment. Warmer temperature means faster fermentation.
- Can I take a break from brewing kombucha? Yes. When we went on vacation to Mexico for a month, I placed the jug with SCOBY and about few cups of kombucha in the fridge for 4 weeks. This way the fermentation process slows down. If I want to take a break for a shorter period of time while at home, let's say 7-10 days, I just let the jar sit on a counter in the same way.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cup | Calories: 30kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Sodium: 10mg | Sugar: 2g