Many people have asked me what kombucha is after I’ve served it to them. Before making kombucha, I bought a bottle from the store after reading all these articles about how good it is for your gut health. I admit that I did not like the taste at all. And on top of that it was so expensive! I definitely could not afford to buy this long term, even if it was good for me.
However, a friend asked me to to pick up some milk kefir starter for her since the place was close to my house, and they happened to also be selling kombucha scoby. So for an extra couple of dollars, I decided to buy the kombucha scoby and try making it myself. Well I took it home and had no idea what to do with it. So I ended up doing some research on the internet and brewed my own batch. It was delicious!
How to Brew Kombucha:
One of the difficulties I found was that most of the instructions on the internet use gallons instead of litres or cups. So I had to do conversions for all the recipes I found.
First Brew:
1 scoby
2 cups starter liquid
1 gallon (16 cups) glass jar
5 bags or 5 Tbs Black tea
1 cup Cane Sugar
1 gallon water
- In a small glass container, add the sugar, tea and boiling water.
- Stir the sugar to make sure that it dissolves.
- Seep the tea and cool the water until it is room temperature. (if the water is too hot it could kill the scoby.
- Once the tea is room temperature, pour it into the glass jar.
- Add the remaining water.
- Add the starter liquid.
- Place the scoby gently on top.
- Place a paper towel over the top and secure in place with a rubber band.
- Make sure that your glass vessel does not have any metal inside the container as the metal reacts with the scoby.
- You can also experiment with the type of tea you use, I’ve tried, black, oolong, green, chai, etc.
- Leave the Kombucha to ferment for 1 week – 1 month. This is dependent on your taste, the longer you leave it to brew the more vinegary it tastes. I prefer it at about 1 week.
Second Brew:
Once the kombucha is the right strength for you, you can flavour your kombucha. There are two options (1) Flat (2) Bubbly. If you like your drinks flat, then mix your kombucha with your favourite juice. If you like your drinks a little bubbly, you can ferment it a second time.
Pour the kombucha in a glass jar (one with a flip top cap is best because it doesn’t leak air like a screw top). Top either with your favourite fruit juice, or chunks of fresh fruit or ginger. The more sugar, the more fizzy it will get. Store in a cool dark place for 2-3 days. When you gently shake the bottle, you will be able to see little bubbles at the top. If you open it and it’s not fizzy enough for you just seal it again and leave it for a little longer until it reaches the right consistency.
Resources:
Below are some additional resources that I found helpful.
mishmashglobe.com 