More Kombucha Please!

I love sharing kombucha with my friends, but even more I love showing them how to brew their own kombucha. Everyone has their own taste preferences, so brewing your own is not only the most cost savvy idea, but is also ideal to get your favorite taste.

Here’s my step-by-step guide to brewing your own kombucha.

1. Get your gear. Acquire a two-gallon glass jar (available at stores such as Target or Amazon) as well as a healthy SCOBY (try Craigslist and community bulletin boards, or online vendors such as Get Kombucha). Your SCOBY should come in a bath of starter (i.e., already fermented) tea. (if you are local ask me)

2. Make your tea. 13 cups water, 1 cup sugar, 8 tea bags---no flavors!)

4. Add the cooled tea to the scoby and the starter. Sometimes the scoby mother sinks, and sometimes it floats; either is OK.

5. Ferment your brew. Cover the jar with a cloth napkin and rubber band to hold it in place. Set the jar in a location with good air flow and medium light. (Direct sunlight can damage the tea, and closets won’t allow the tea enough air.) Wait 5-7 days.

The tea’s fermentation rate depends on the ambient temperature in your home. Buy some short-range pH strips to test the pH level in your brew; most people like their tea between 2.8 and 3. You can also just scoop out some tea with a clean cup and taste it. If you want your kombucha more acidic, let it sit longer. (As time goes by, the pH of the kombucha will fall, making the brew more acidic and less sweet.) If you prefer it on the sweeter side, you’ll need to bottle your next batch at an earlier point in the process. 

6  Flavor----I use organic fruits and fruit juices add to brewed kombucha seal jar and let set for 2-3 days

7. Serve your drink. Kombucha is delicious simply poured over ice, but you can also mix it with wine for an interesting take on sangria.

8. Salvage a batch gone vinegary. If you end up with a batch that’s too acidic to drink, dilute it with water and repurpose it as a mild all-purpose cleaning product. You can also use it in the shower for extra-shiny hair.

9. Start over. If your first batch went just fine and you want to do it again, simply repeat the process, saving some fermented tea from each batch to use as a starter in the next batch.

10. Share the wealth. Each new batch will grow a “baby” SCOBY on top. Pass it along to a friend, and spread the kombucha love.

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