How to Make Kombucha from Scratch
How to make gut-healthy kombucha at home from scratch with natural ingredients and a SCOBY
Yield: 6 cups
Equipment
- 1-Gallon Glass Jar
- Cheese cloth
- Rubber band
- Glass bottles with pop seal
- Funnel
Materials
- 8 cups Filtered water boiling
- 4 teaspoons Black tea or 4 tea bags
- 1/2 cup Cane sugar organic, unbleached
- 1 SCOBY
- 1/2 cup Brewed kombucha with cultures
Instructions
Brew Kombucha (First Ferment)
- Sterilize the 1-gallon jar and any measuring cups you plan to use.
- Brew half-strong tea for 2-5 minutes by combining 8 cups boiling water and 4 teaspoons loose leaf tea (or 4 tea bags).
- Remove tea bags, straining cloth, and/or tea leaves.
- While tea is still hot, stir in sugar using a clean metal spoon until dissolved.
- Allow tea to cool completely to room temperature.
- Pour cooled tea into the clean 1-gallon glass jar. Add SCOBY and the 1/2 cup prepared kombucha with cultures.
- Cover with cheese cloth and a rubber band and place in a cool, dark place to ferment for 7-14 days, according to taste preference. Check daily for mold growth and to taste-test.
- When the kombucha reaches your desired flavor profile, either pour into jars and refrigerate, or proceed to the second fermentation step. Reserve SCOBY and 1/2 cup of liquid from the bottom of the jar, which contains most of the culture strands to repeat this step for additional fermentation cycles.
Second Fermentation Step (optional)
- Sterilize glass bottles with boiling water.
- Fill the bottles about 2/3 full with prepared kombucha.
- Fill the bottles the rest of the way with fruit juice, leaving 1 inch of headspace.
- Seal bottles and return to the fermentation location for another 5-10 days, or until desired flavor profile and effervesence is achieved.
- Store finished, flavored kombucha in the refrigerator. Do not use flavored kombucha to bulk ferment kombucha using a SCOBY.