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How to Make Kombucha

Kombucha is so hot right now!!!  We really enjoy this fizzy fermented beverage and started brewing it ourselves last summer.  Traditionally kombucha is made with black, green and/or white tea (1), but we wanted to try a purely herbal blend.  These instructions will work just the same for a black/green/white tea kombucha, and if you’re just starting out, make sure your first several batches include black tea and white organic cane sugar to ensure a strong culture. 

Ingredients:

4-6 bags(8000mg - 12000mg) - Organic pure nettle leaf tea (pharmacopoeial quality from Traditional Medicinals) or the same amount of another tea.

4 - quarts filtered water

1 - cup organic turbinado sugar

2 - two-quart wide-mouth glass canning jars

A tight mesh cloth and 2 rubber bands

2 kombucha mothers (one for each jar) also known as a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast)  You can grow your own or purchase them through the internet, perhaps even get one from a friend :)

Before getting started, thoroughly clean all your utensils, pots, jars, and hands with soap and water.  Avoid anti-bacterial soaps as they could harm the culture.

(1) from our research into kombucha, which is not that much, the cultures actually feed on many substances (even caffeine) in the black and green teas.  Without these teas the culture will weaken over time and eventually die out so we brew normal tea for most batches and just use a few ‘children’ to try herbal concoctions.

Step 1, Making Tea

As fun as watching 4 quarts of water boil may be, you can speed up the tea making and cooling process by brewing a very strong tea with 2 quarts of water and combining it with the other 2 quarts of unheated water later.  

1-1

Boil 2 quarts of water then set to low heat.  Add your tea bags and brew for 10 minutes (I like a stronger tea so I let them go 15-20 minutes).  

1-2

Remove the pot from heat and take out the tea bags.  Press out all the water and herbal goodness from the tea bags using a couple spoons, not your fingers.  They are HOT!

Step 2, Adding Sugar, Bottling Tea

After taking out the tea bags, wait for the water to cool, slightly, about 5-10 minutes. 

2-1

Slowly poor the sugar into the tea and stir continuously so that it dissolves quickly and doesn’t caramelize on the bottom of the pot.  It is important not to add the sugar over heat or it will burn and make a sticky mess.

2-2

Divide the other 2 quarts of water between 2 jars.  Slowly add the hot tea until both jars are within an inch of the top.  If you overfill the jars, adding the SCOBY (culture) will cause an overflow.  

2-3

Wait an hour or so for the tea to come down to room temp or at least body temp.

Step 3, Adding the SCOBY, Covering, Fermenting

3-1

Add a SCOBY to each jar. We also poor a little starter tea left over from a previous batch to help kick off the fermentation and lower the pH.  You can test pH to make sure you are below 4.6 to prevent unwanted guests from getting a foothold in the tea.

3-2

Cover each jar top with a cloth and use a rubber band to secure.  Store the jars in a warm (78ish) dark place for 2-4 weeks.

There is no exact rule for when it is ready. After a week, use a straw to taste the tea.  If it is still sugary then it has a ways to go.  Once it has a more acidic taste (like vinegar) then look for SCOBY growth and clarity.  Along with your original SCOBY there should be a new one forming on the top surface of the tea.  This new child can be used to start your next batch or stored in a jar of strong sweet tea for a couple months.  I reuse the SCOBYs at most twice, as they just start to lose their vigor after that.

We will post pictures of the finished tea in a few weeks to give an idea of what it should look like.

Reminder:  It is important to keep all your utensiles, jars, pots, and hands clean to avoid contaminating or damaging the SCOBY.  Also, it is a good idea to avoid anti-bacterial soaps since the B in SCOBY stands for Bacteria.

For more information you can start here.  

perfect Saturday: jammin’ out with leftasrain, Robert’s home-brewed kombucha, a pretty yummy salad with excellent greens from Windfall Farms, and a view of the fall-toned park and City through my window.

The salad is red mustard, tatsoi and radicchio, tossed in a simple lemony olive oil dressing, then adorned with delicata squash and quince that were roasted with olive oil, dried chili, fresh sage and himalayan pink crystal salt.

The lovely salt bowl is from Herriott Grace. The fresh flowers are a fave of mine- ‘cabbage roses’.