How to Brew Kombucha

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Kombucha is a fermented sweet tea that has been around for centuries. It is a great alternative to soda especially when sweetened with fruit during the second ferment. Kombucha is full of good bacteria and rich in probiotics to help your gut.

In almost every grocery store, you can find bottled Kombucha but with the $3-$5 price tag, it can get expensive to buy store bought. Brewing your own is so simple and very easy to learn.

SCOBYKombucha is brewed with a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Yeast and Bacteria). This is what eats the sugar and ferments the tea. It is often referred to as the mother. The best way to acquire one of these SCOBYs is to get one from a friend who already brews. Each brew produces a new SCOBY so most brewers have lots of extras on hand. There are sources online to order one too if you cannot find someone who brews. Once you have your SCOBY you are ready to start brewing!

Equipment and Ingredients Needed: Ingredients

-gallon size glass jar

-cheesecloth or paper towel

-rubber band

-Black or green tea

-1 cup sugar

-SCOBY and ½ cup liquid from previous batch

Instructions:

  1. Brew 1 gallon of tea. Boil 1 gallon of water with 1 cup of sugar. Once boiling add 8 tea bags. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
  2. Once tea is cool, pour into glass jar. Add ½ cup of liquid from previous batch and SCOBY.
  3. Cover jar with cheesecloth and secure with rubber band.
  4. Let jar sit in on the counter for about 10 days. After 10 days, the batch should be ready for the second ferment.
  5. If you want fizzy kombucha and flavored, you will need to do a second ferment. Using about 6 jars, put a few berries or fruit juice in the bottom.Bottled-Kombucha
  6. Remove the liquid from the large jar and pour into smaller jars. I use jars from store bought kombucha but you can also use reusable beer bottles. Fill until about 1 inch from the top. Seal each jar tightly and let sit for 5 days.
  7. Once the 5 days are up, move the jars to the fridge and enjoy!

My two favorite flavors are 1/4 cup fresh or frozen berries or 1/2 organic lemon (quartered) and 1/2 tsp grated ginger (tastes like Sprite). The ideas are endless!