Kombucha Made Easy
Research continues to show the importance of good bacteria (probiotics) in our gut for good health. Fermented foods can't be underestimated for contributing to everything from digestive regularity, lymphatic system support, immune system support, neural system support, and the list goes on.
A tasty and easy way to contribute to this healthy gut revolution is a beverage known as kombucha. Thought to have originated in China over 2000 years ago, it is made from fermenting sweetened green or black tea with a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria & Yeast). It is now widely available in many stores and in many flavors. Click here for a great article on many of the known health benefits: Kombucha Health Benefits. It tastes great and the light effervescence (bubbles) curb my carbonated beverage craving.
I make it a gallon at a time. I reuse bottles from kombucha I have purchased to bottle it in; my sister uses bottles that once held tea. It should always be brewed and bottled in glass. I always have 12 clean sanitized bottles to keep up. 6 for the secondary fermentation, and 6 in the refrigerator to drink.
If you watch, you can find sales on the commercially available stuff. I've seen it as low as $2.50 a bottle. I saw it for about $3.60 a bottle in the grocery store in my hometown. Anything around $3 is a good price. Making your own costs about $.50 - $1.00 per gallon once you have the equipment and starter. Besides being so much cheaper, I happen to think the homemade stuff tastes a lot better.
If you try this method, I would love feedback on the facebook page: Click HERE for a direct link to our facebook page.
Equipment needed:
1 gallon widemouth glass jar, such as a pickle jar. This is the first one I bought: Gallon Glass Jar.
12 16 oz glass bottles with tight fitting lids. You can use these if you want: EZ cap bottles.
Large plastic spoon
Plastic funnel
Tea Strainer big enough to hold 2 Tbsp loose tea. I reuse a section of cheesecloth tied with a slipknot.
A large pot big enough to boil 1 gallon of water, with a cover for steeping. Stainless steel is ideal.
Ingredients needed:
1 gallon pure water. I use tap water filtered through my refrigerator. Do NOT use: water purified by reverse osmosis, distilled water, or water that is tainted with chlorine or fluoride.
2 Tbsp loose black or green tea. These are great: Orange Pekoe Black Tea; Gunpowder Green Tea
1 cup organic sugar. I buy it at Costco where I pay around $8 for 10 pounds. Don't skimp on this trying to cut the sugar. Sugar is what the good little guys eat as they're brewing your beverage. They'll consume most of it and convert it to beneficial acids and other good stuff. There won't be much left over after they're done and the kombucha is ready. You could add more sugar, just not less.
1 SCOBY starter. I bought my first one here: SCOBY. You will use your own that are produced through the fermentation process after you get the first one.
1 1/2 - 2 cups plain raw kombucha starter. You will (most likely) need to buy your initial starter, unless you're lucky enough to have a friend with enough left over to donate some to your cause. This is the one I started with and it worked great. Be sure it's organic and raw.
Optional flavoring. There are a lot of different choices to get additional flavor into your homemade brew, and I'm still coming up with new ones all the time. Plain kombucha is really good, (kind of like a sparkling lemonade) but flavoring is fun and versatile too. I'm including a section on flavoring your kombucha at the end of the recipe. *
Procedure:
Note: Keep your hands and all equipment clean, sanitized and dry throughout the entire process. Outside contaminants can wreak havoc.
For the first batch:
Bring water to a boil in the large pot. Remove from heat and add the tea that is restrained in a tea strainer or cheesecloth tied in a slipknot with a 12" section of butcher's twine. Cover the pot and allow to steep for about 30 minutes. Remove the tea and stir in 1 cup of organic sugar until thoroughly dissolved. Cover loosely with a clean cloth, set aside, and allow to cool to room temperature.
After the sweet tea has cooled, put your SCOBY in the glass gallon jar and add the plain, organic, raw liquid kombucha starter, and as much sweet tea as it takes to fill the jar to about 1" below the neck. Stir gently but well with a large plastic spoon to distribute the organisms throughout the liquid.
Cover with a tightly woven cloth and secure with a rubber band. I like to use a cotton dinner napkin (a tea towel would work too) and a fairly thick rubber band that I saved from some broccoli or asparagus.
Place the mixture in a warm (between 68 and 85 degrees F), dark place. In the summer, mine goes in my food storage pantry, but in winter I move it to the linen closet that is next to our heater. The ideal temperature is 75 degrees F. Allow it to brew undisturbed for 7-10 days. You can check it for desired tartness after 7 days. It might take a little longer at lower temperatures.
You should see a new SCOBY has formed on the top. It should be white and tan/brown. You shouldn't see any other colors or mold. If mold forms, you need to throw the whole thing out and start over. Mold just doesn't grow in properly made kombucha. It is considered an acidic environment.
Note: Once the SCOBY and starter is introduced to the sweet tea, it shouldn't come in contact with metal. Metal can have unpredictable effects.
Bottling for Secondary Fermentation:
Once the kombucha is brewed to your satisfaction, it is time to bottle!
Add flavoring (optional) to 6 clean, sanitized, dry bottles.
Remove the SCOBYs to a smaller glass container, (such as a bowl) and set aside. Measure out 1 1/2 cups of your newly brewed kombucha to use as starter for your next batch and also set aside.
Using a plastic funnel, fill each bottle to the bottom of the neck. Less head space will produce better bubbles. Tighten the caps well.
Move the bottles to the brewing place you have chosen (dark, warm 75F, quiet) and allow to brew for 7 to 10 more days. This is known as the secondary fermentation.
Once the time has passed, refrigerate your bottled kombucha and begin to enjoy the first bottle once it is chilled. Don't shake it - it would be like shaking a soda! Each bottle should be consumed within 3 days from the time you open it, and it will stay fizzy as long as you tighten the cap well each time you open it. I like to drink about 6/week, plus that's about when my new batch will be ready.
For the second batch (and additional batches ongoing):
Take the new SCOBY that formed on the top of your brew and use it for your new batch, following the directions again from the beginning.
Store the original SCOBY in a cool dark place covered with any remaining sweet tea in a glass container covered with a cloth secured with a rubber band and try to find it a good home with a friend to spread the love; or start yet another batch and brew 2 gallons at a time. Good to do if you are sharing with other people. Of course you will need a second glass gallon jar and 12 more bottles.
*Flavoring your kombucha: The sky is the limit here. You can use real fresh fruit, ginger slices, concentrated fruit nectars; etc.
I add my additional flavorings to the bottles before I add the kombucha as I'm bottling it. If you are using a liquid, you won't want to use more than 2 oz. or 1/4 cup. I usually add a couple of tablespoons of fresh fruit if that's what I'm using; everything from diced Tuscan melon to wild blackberries. I used homemade cranberry sauce once and loved it. I've also used fresh concord puree made by running the grapes through a food mill. If I add ginger, 3-4 slices is a good amount.
FAQs, my trial and error, and old fashion observation:
The first few times I made kombucha I had my share of failures. I found it very difficult to get good directions on making it with loose leaf tea, for some reason. It seems they were all written for using tea bags.
Why don't I use tea bags? I don't want to use tea bags for a few reasons: 1) Suspect ingredients in the tea bags themselves. The whole process used by most manufacturers in the making of making tea bags themselves is something else. For a great article on tea & packaging by Food Babe on this subject, click HERE. 2) Cost. I can buy organic loose leaf tea for way cheaper than I can buy organic tea bags. There isn't much of a comparison when the good stuff made with loose leaf costs between $.50 and $1.00 per gallon. 3) Packaging waste. I try to minimize landfill waste whenever I can. Especially one-use disposable waste that is produced ongoing. This one seems a no-brainer to me.
Why don't I use white distilled vinegar in my first batch? If you've done additional research on the internet concerning making kombucha, you'll find many that recommend using varying amounts of white distilled vinegar in the first batch to kick it off instead of the liquid starter. I have done this with varying results. I got tired of having to throw it out due to mold forming (and ordering SCOBYs online), and have stuck with the liquid starter ever since. I've never had a problem using the method I have described in this post. Maybe I just have a mental block about white distilled vinegar too. I use it around here as a multi-use household cleaner and weed killer in the garden, but I usually never put it in food. I have a line-up of various other vinegars that go into our food. Just a quirk.
How much kombucha can I drink per day? The health benefits of kombucha are cumulative. You can notice differences after about a week of drinking 1/2 - 1 per day, again after about a month and again after a year of regular kombucha consumption. The results vary from person to person and the benefits are so wide ranging, that is another article entirely. Interesting to note that most of the good research comes from scientists outside the US. For some odd reason, research in this country seems a little, shall we say, stifled (we're just going to leave it at that). For a great article on the research that has been done concerning health benefits, click HERE. Start off drinking 1/2 - 1 per day for a few weeks, and then go from there.
How much alcohol is produced through the fermentation process? There is a trace amount of alcohol produced, but it is so negligible, that it is not regulated and is sold next to other non-alcoholic chilled drinks in the grocery store.
A tasty and easy way to contribute to this healthy gut revolution is a beverage known as kombucha. Thought to have originated in China over 2000 years ago, it is made from fermenting sweetened green or black tea with a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria & Yeast). It is now widely available in many stores and in many flavors. Click here for a great article on many of the known health benefits: Kombucha Health Benefits. It tastes great and the light effervescence (bubbles) curb my carbonated beverage craving.
I make it a gallon at a time. I reuse bottles from kombucha I have purchased to bottle it in; my sister uses bottles that once held tea. It should always be brewed and bottled in glass. I always have 12 clean sanitized bottles to keep up. 6 for the secondary fermentation, and 6 in the refrigerator to drink.
If you watch, you can find sales on the commercially available stuff. I've seen it as low as $2.50 a bottle. I saw it for about $3.60 a bottle in the grocery store in my hometown. Anything around $3 is a good price. Making your own costs about $.50 - $1.00 per gallon once you have the equipment and starter. Besides being so much cheaper, I happen to think the homemade stuff tastes a lot better.
If you try this method, I would love feedback on the facebook page: Click HERE for a direct link to our facebook page.
Homemade Kombucha
Equipment needed:
1 gallon widemouth glass jar, such as a pickle jar. This is the first one I bought: Gallon Glass Jar.
12 16 oz glass bottles with tight fitting lids. You can use these if you want: EZ cap bottles.
Large plastic spoon
Plastic funnel
Tea Strainer big enough to hold 2 Tbsp loose tea. I reuse a section of cheesecloth tied with a slipknot.
A large pot big enough to boil 1 gallon of water, with a cover for steeping. Stainless steel is ideal.
Ingredients needed:
1 gallon pure water. I use tap water filtered through my refrigerator. Do NOT use: water purified by reverse osmosis, distilled water, or water that is tainted with chlorine or fluoride.
2 Tbsp loose black or green tea. These are great: Orange Pekoe Black Tea; Gunpowder Green Tea
1 cup organic sugar. I buy it at Costco where I pay around $8 for 10 pounds. Don't skimp on this trying to cut the sugar. Sugar is what the good little guys eat as they're brewing your beverage. They'll consume most of it and convert it to beneficial acids and other good stuff. There won't be much left over after they're done and the kombucha is ready. You could add more sugar, just not less.
1 SCOBY starter. I bought my first one here: SCOBY. You will use your own that are produced through the fermentation process after you get the first one.
1 1/2 - 2 cups plain raw kombucha starter. You will (most likely) need to buy your initial starter, unless you're lucky enough to have a friend with enough left over to donate some to your cause. This is the one I started with and it worked great. Be sure it's organic and raw.
Optional flavoring. There are a lot of different choices to get additional flavor into your homemade brew, and I'm still coming up with new ones all the time. Plain kombucha is really good, (kind of like a sparkling lemonade) but flavoring is fun and versatile too. I'm including a section on flavoring your kombucha at the end of the recipe. *
Procedure:
Note: Keep your hands and all equipment clean, sanitized and dry throughout the entire process. Outside contaminants can wreak havoc.
For the first batch:
Bring water to a boil in the large pot. Remove from heat and add the tea that is restrained in a tea strainer or cheesecloth tied in a slipknot with a 12" section of butcher's twine. Cover the pot and allow to steep for about 30 minutes. Remove the tea and stir in 1 cup of organic sugar until thoroughly dissolved. Cover loosely with a clean cloth, set aside, and allow to cool to room temperature.
 |
| I use and reuse cheesecloth tied with a slipknot for my tea bag. Be sure to leave the string long enough. |
After the sweet tea has cooled, put your SCOBY in the glass gallon jar and add the plain, organic, raw liquid kombucha starter, and as much sweet tea as it takes to fill the jar to about 1" below the neck. Stir gently but well with a large plastic spoon to distribute the organisms throughout the liquid.
Cover with a tightly woven cloth and secure with a rubber band. I like to use a cotton dinner napkin (a tea towel would work too) and a fairly thick rubber band that I saved from some broccoli or asparagus.
Place the mixture in a warm (between 68 and 85 degrees F), dark place. In the summer, mine goes in my food storage pantry, but in winter I move it to the linen closet that is next to our heater. The ideal temperature is 75 degrees F. Allow it to brew undisturbed for 7-10 days. You can check it for desired tartness after 7 days. It might take a little longer at lower temperatures.
You should see a new SCOBY has formed on the top. It should be white and tan/brown. You shouldn't see any other colors or mold. If mold forms, you need to throw the whole thing out and start over. Mold just doesn't grow in properly made kombucha. It is considered an acidic environment.
 |
| The Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast (S.C.O.B.Y.) has formed nicely at the top. Time to bottle! |
Bottling for Secondary Fermentation:
Once the kombucha is brewed to your satisfaction, it is time to bottle!
Add flavoring (optional) to 6 clean, sanitized, dry bottles.
Remove the SCOBYs to a smaller glass container, (such as a bowl) and set aside. Measure out 1 1/2 cups of your newly brewed kombucha to use as starter for your next batch and also set aside.
 |
| The original SCOBY and the newly formed, side by side |
Using a plastic funnel, fill each bottle to the bottom of the neck. Less head space will produce better bubbles. Tighten the caps well.
Move the bottles to the brewing place you have chosen (dark, warm 75F, quiet) and allow to brew for 7 to 10 more days. This is known as the secondary fermentation.
Once the time has passed, refrigerate your bottled kombucha and begin to enjoy the first bottle once it is chilled. Don't shake it - it would be like shaking a soda! Each bottle should be consumed within 3 days from the time you open it, and it will stay fizzy as long as you tighten the cap well each time you open it. I like to drink about 6/week, plus that's about when my new batch will be ready.
For the second batch (and additional batches ongoing):
Take the new SCOBY that formed on the top of your brew and use it for your new batch, following the directions again from the beginning.
Store the original SCOBY in a cool dark place covered with any remaining sweet tea in a glass container covered with a cloth secured with a rubber band and try to find it a good home with a friend to spread the love; or start yet another batch and brew 2 gallons at a time. Good to do if you are sharing with other people. Of course you will need a second glass gallon jar and 12 more bottles.
*Flavoring your kombucha: The sky is the limit here. You can use real fresh fruit, ginger slices, concentrated fruit nectars; etc.
I add my additional flavorings to the bottles before I add the kombucha as I'm bottling it. If you are using a liquid, you won't want to use more than 2 oz. or 1/4 cup. I usually add a couple of tablespoons of fresh fruit if that's what I'm using; everything from diced Tuscan melon to wild blackberries. I used homemade cranberry sauce once and loved it. I've also used fresh concord puree made by running the grapes through a food mill. If I add ginger, 3-4 slices is a good amount.
FAQs, my trial and error, and old fashion observation:
The first few times I made kombucha I had my share of failures. I found it very difficult to get good directions on making it with loose leaf tea, for some reason. It seems they were all written for using tea bags.
Why don't I use tea bags? I don't want to use tea bags for a few reasons: 1) Suspect ingredients in the tea bags themselves. The whole process used by most manufacturers in the making of making tea bags themselves is something else. For a great article on tea & packaging by Food Babe on this subject, click HERE. 2) Cost. I can buy organic loose leaf tea for way cheaper than I can buy organic tea bags. There isn't much of a comparison when the good stuff made with loose leaf costs between $.50 and $1.00 per gallon. 3) Packaging waste. I try to minimize landfill waste whenever I can. Especially one-use disposable waste that is produced ongoing. This one seems a no-brainer to me.
Why don't I use white distilled vinegar in my first batch? If you've done additional research on the internet concerning making kombucha, you'll find many that recommend using varying amounts of white distilled vinegar in the first batch to kick it off instead of the liquid starter. I have done this with varying results. I got tired of having to throw it out due to mold forming (and ordering SCOBYs online), and have stuck with the liquid starter ever since. I've never had a problem using the method I have described in this post. Maybe I just have a mental block about white distilled vinegar too. I use it around here as a multi-use household cleaner and weed killer in the garden, but I usually never put it in food. I have a line-up of various other vinegars that go into our food. Just a quirk.
How much kombucha can I drink per day? The health benefits of kombucha are cumulative. You can notice differences after about a week of drinking 1/2 - 1 per day, again after about a month and again after a year of regular kombucha consumption. The results vary from person to person and the benefits are so wide ranging, that is another article entirely. Interesting to note that most of the good research comes from scientists outside the US. For some odd reason, research in this country seems a little, shall we say, stifled (we're just going to leave it at that). For a great article on the research that has been done concerning health benefits, click HERE. Start off drinking 1/2 - 1 per day for a few weeks, and then go from there.
How much alcohol is produced through the fermentation process? There is a trace amount of alcohol produced, but it is so negligible, that it is not regulated and is sold next to other non-alcoholic chilled drinks in the grocery store.
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