My journey with kombucha went from skepticism to full-fledged enthusiasm, culminating in crafting my own homemade recipe – with a few unexpected hurdles along the way.
Initially, my lack of knowledge about kombucha fueled my fear. The idea of making it, let alone trying it, seemed daunting. With its hefty price tag at stores, kombucha wasn’t a beverage I considered splurging on. My friend’s SCOBY, resembling something out of a medical oddities museum, didn’t help either.
But curiosity got the better of me, and when I finally tasted kombucha, I was hooked. Its sharply sweet and vinegary flavor was a revelation, like a more drinkable, fizzy version of shrubs. The purported health benefits were a bonus, but I was more interested in the improved taste, cost savings, and the thrill of a new project.
Embarking on my DIY kombucha adventure at the Food52 offices was nerve-wracking, to say the least. My colleagues witnessed my highs and lows, from the tears shed over a fly-infested SCOBY to my frantic messages and endless questions.
In the end, it was absolutely worth it. Not just for the delicious bottles of kombucha in my fridge (far superior to any store-bought variety), but for the sense of accomplishment. It became “my project” at the office, my legacy. As you can tell from the length of this article, I learned a lot more than I anticipated, including a whole new kombucha vocabulary.
If you’re considering making your own kombucha, be prepared for a wealth of information. The brewing methods and tips are endless, and I’ll share what worked (and didn’t work) for me, but my experimentation continues.
A Few Basics Before You Start
Kombucha, a fermented tea with a rich history dating back millennia, is created by introducing a SCOBY (a symbiotic colony of yeast and bacteria, akin to the vinegar “mother”) to sweetened tea.
Embarking on your kombucha-making journey requires an investment of time and some initial resources. It’s a long-term commitment: Depending on your fermentation duration, your first batch will take about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks from start to finish. Once you have a healthy SCOBY, you’ll likely want to brew continuously, starting a new batch as you finish the previous one. While the individual items aren’t costly, you’ll need to acquire suitable jars, tea, sugar, and tea towels.
Most importantly, you’ll need to obtain a SCOBY from a trusted source, such as a reputable website or a kombucha-brewing friend, or create your own (instructions below). My SCOBY, affectionately named “SCOBY Doo,” arrived via mail from my friend Rebecca, along with her detailed brewing instructions. I highly recommend collaborating with a friend for your kombucha endeavors, as you can bombard them with questions at any time. I’m happy to be that friend and even share a SCOBY if you need one!
Kombucha Recipe Ingredients
Throughout this guide to making a kombucha recipe, there are a few keywords that you’ll commonly hear.
Carbonation
One of the joys of drinking kombucha lies in its bubbly effervescence, thanks to carbonation. While you may be familiar with carbonation in soft drinks and sparkling water, kombucha’s fizz has a unique origin.
The delightful air bubbles in kombucha result from the live cultures used in its creation. As these cultures consume the added sugar, a chemical reaction takes place, producing carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide is what creates the fizziness and characteristic bubbly texture that kombucha enthusiasts love.
So, the next time you enjoy a refreshing sip of kombucha, appreciate the tiny bubbles dancing on your tongue – they’re a testament to the fascinating fermentation process that brings this beverage to life.
Fermentation
Kombucha is just one of many fermented foods and beverages we consume today: Think yogurt, sauerkraut, pickles, and other gut-healthy edibles. “Kombucha is sugar-sweetened tea fermented by a community of organisms into a delicious sour tonic beverage, sometimes compared to sparkling apple cider,” writes Sandor Ellix Katz in his book, The Art of Fermentation.
SCOBY
SCOBY, which stands for “symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast,” is a crucial ingredient in the kombucha fermentation process. This key player isn’t exactly cute, though. Imagine a rubbery, flat disc – that’s SCOBY. It’s dense, opaque, and has a vinegar-like smell. Even kombucha enthusiasts might find SCOBY a bit off-putting, but it’s an essential part of the journey.
Starter Tea
Starter tea is simply kombucha used to make more kombucha. As long as your kombucha is teeming with live, active cultures, it’s ready to kickstart a new batch. If you’ve already enjoyed all your homemade kombucha (because who wouldn’t?), you can also use store-bought kombucha. Later on, I’ll share how I combined SCOBY and store-bought kombucha to create my own brew.
Supplies Needed For Making Kombucha Recipes
Along with a SCOBY, you’ll need a few essentials to embark on your kombucha brewing adventure:
- A Pot: A four-quart pot is perfect for brewing your starter tea.
- Glass Jars: Large, wide-mouth glass jars will be home to your SCOBY and kombucha as they ferment.
- Tea Towels: These cover your jars, shielding them from fruit flies while allowing the kombucha to breathe.
- Rubber Bands: These secure the tea towels in place.
- Glass Bottles: These bottles will house your kombucha during its second fermentation. Opt for ones with tight-sealing plastic lids. (Pro tip: Reuse old kombucha bottles!)
- A Plastic Bottle: This helps you gauge the carbonation levels of your kombucha during the second ferment (more on that later!).
- A Fine Mesh Sieve: This is for straining your finished kombucha.
How To Make A SCOBY From Scratch
If you didn’t buy one online or inherit it from a friend, never fear—you can make your own.
1. Gather Your Ingredients
Here’s your shopping list:
- 7 cups of water
- ½ cup of cane sugar
- 4 bags of black tea (or 1 tablespoon of loose leaf tea, but teabags are easier and require no straining)
- 1 cup of plain, unpasteurized store-bought kombucha (look for those little SCOBY bits floating at the bottom)
- A large, meticulously clean and dry wide-mouth canning jar
- A thin, clean, tightly-woven piece of fabric or tea towel (avoid cheesecloth – more on that later)
- A few sturdy rubber bands
2. Make Sweet Tea
Steep the tea bags in boiling water for 20 minutes (or longer), making sure the sugar dissolves completely. Allow the tea to cool down entirely to below 90°F (essentially room temperature) before transferring it to your large canning jar. This cooling step is crucial, as the heat can damage or even kill the beneficial cultures in your future SCOBY.
3. Jar Your SCOBY:
Gently pour the cup of prepared kombucha (including those little SCOBY bits – they’re important for your new SCOBY’s growth!) into the canning jar. Cover the jar with the piece of fabric, ensuring it’s snugly secured with a rubber band or two.
4. Put It Away
Tuck your covered jar away in a spot with room temperature, out of direct sunlight. A quiet, out-of-the-way kitchen cupboard is ideal for the next few weeks. Let the jar sit undisturbed for two to four weeks, checking on your SCOBY every few days. You’ll know it’s progressing when bubbles appear on the tea’s surface, a thin, whitish, jelly-like film forms across the top, and that film becomes almost opaque. Your SCOBY is ready when it’s grown into a ¼-inch-thick disc. If you notice bubbles throughout the process, particularly in the later stages, that’s a good sign of carbon dioxide production, indicating a healthy and active SCOBY.
5. That’s It!
Congratulations! Your SCOBY is now ready to embark on its kombucha-making journey.
How To Make Your First Batch Of Kombucha
The first steps are very simple—brewing, sweetening, and cooling tea.
1. Brew Tea
Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a 4-quart pot. Turn off the heat and add 6 to 8 tea bags. Let them steep for 20 minutes, giving them a stir every so often.
I skipped the organic tea and opted for a mix of black and green tea bags instead of loose leaf tea. I even threw in a couple of Earl Grey bags when I was running low, and it worked just fine! Remember, herbal teas won’t work for kombucha, but I’m keen to try oolong and caffeine-free rooibos as base teas in the future.
I used regular tap water without any purification and didn’t experience any issues. While some online sources might advise against tap water, I haven’t noticed any negative effects.
2. Sweeten It
Fish out the tea bags and add 1 cup of organic cane sugar along with a half-gallon (8 cups) of cold water. Give it a good stir until the sugar granules dissolve completely.
I personally used both organic cane sugar and turbinado sugar, and both worked well. However, I found that finer sugar dissolves more readily in the tea. If you’re interested in experimenting with other sweeteners like brown sugar, honey, or agave, I suggest consulting a resource like this chart, as some sugars can be trickier to work with than others.
3. Transfer To A Jar
Pour the cooled tea into a large glass brewing jar (the bigger the better – a 2- to 3-gallon jar is ideal), then add 1 to 2 cups of cold water. It’s crucial that your tea is close to room temperature before introducing the SCOBY, as warm tea could harm it.
While glass is great, you can also use ceramic, stainless steel, or even wood for your brewing jar. Many sources advise against cleaning the jar with soap, as it might harm the SCOBY. I personally cleaned mine with soap but made sure to rinse it extremely thoroughly before adding the tea. If you prefer to avoid soap, you can sanitize the jar (and other equipment) with white vinegar and hot water.
Remember to use a wide-mouth jar for better air circulation and easier SCOBY removal later on.
4. Add The SCOBY
Once the tea has cooled to below 90°F (which it most likely will be by this point), gently add your SCOBY along with 1 ½ to 2 cups of the starter liquid it came with (or, if you’ve brewed before, the liquid you stored it in after bottling).
If your SCOBY didn’t come with enough liquid, you can top it up with plain or original flavored store-bought kombucha (or leftover liquid from your previous batch). For my first brew, I used the SCOBY’s original liquid plus 1 ½ cups of Health Ade Original Kombucha just to be safe. The SCOBY seemed to thrive with the extra help from the starter liquid.
5. Cover It
With your SCOBY nestled in the tea, it’s time to cover the jar. This step is crucial to protect your precious SCOBY from both contamination and suffocation.
Rule #1: Absolutely avoid using cheesecloth. Our first SCOBY met its demise due to cheesecloth. Despite a seemingly healthy SCOBY forming, fruit flies infiltrated the jar, laying eggs and ruining the entire batch. It was a heartbreaking lesson, and we had to start over with a new SCOBY (lovingly named SCOBY Doo II).
Fruit flies, as I painfully learned, are the most common kombucha contaminants. They’ll circle your brew like vultures, ready to wreak havoc. To prevent this, use a tea towel or an old (clean!) T-shirt, secured tightly with rubber bands. A tea towel is much more tightly woven than cheesecloth and acts as a much better barrier against flies. Also, store your jar in a fly-free environment – not near a bowl of ripe fruit, for example. I kept mine at my desk, acting as a vigilant guard against those pesky flies.
6. Wait & Watch
With your SCOBY happily submerged in the sweetened tea, covered with a tea towel, and residing in a spot below 90°F with good airflow and minimal sunlight, it will take about 1 to 4 weeks to reach drinkable perfection.
You’ll observe the SCOBY transforming into a thick, leathery, white layer on the tea’s surface. You might also notice some discolored spots (as seen in the top-right photo below). These dark spots initially caused me a bit of panic, as mold is the second biggest threat to your SCOBY.
Fortunately, it’s not too hard to tell mold apart from those natural dark spots (which are just harmless remnants of dying yeast cultures). Mold will resemble the green, fuzzy growth you find on old bread or cheese, not brown strands or masses. If you suspect mold, it’s best to discard your SCOBY and start anew.
7. Try It!
After about a week, gently nudge the SCOBY aside with a straw and take a little sip of the liquid. If it’s as tangy as you prefer, you’re ready for the next stage. But if you like your kombucha a bit sharper and more vinegary, let the tea ferment for a few more days. In my experience, the kombucha hit the perfect flavor sweet spot after about 10 days of fermentation.
8. Transfer Your SCOBY
Once you’re satisfied with the flavor, gently transfer the SCOBY to another large jar along with 1 ½ to 2 cups of the brewed kombucha. This will be the SCOBY’s temporary home, and you’ll use this liquid to start your next batch. Cover the jar with a tea towel and rubber bands, just like before, and set it aside.
Now, what to do with your SCOBY? The most obvious next step is to start another brew! Prepare more tea and use this SCOBY for your second batch – that’s the path I’ve followed so far.
Alternatively, you can separate the SCOBY layers and share one with a friend. It might not be the most conventional birthday gift, but trust me, it’s a unique and thoughtful one. Just make sure to include enough brewed kombucha to keep the SCOBY alive and provide your friend with a starter for step #4. And be sure to encourage them to get brewing as soon as possible!
While I haven’t personally stored SCOBYs long-term, The Noma Guide to Fermentation suggests keeping extras in an open-top jar, submerged in twice their weight of kombucha or 20% sugar syrup (800 grams water and 200 grams sugar, boiled then cooled). This puts them in a dormant state. Remember to change the syrup or storage-kombucha every 2 to 3 weeks. You can also store your SCOBY in the fridge to slow down its metabolism, but this might make it a bit sluggish for the first few brewing cycles. If you’re interested in taking a break from brewing, you can learn more about storage options online.
9. Collect Bottles
Pour the kombucha into glass bottles with plastic lids, like old kombucha bottles or flip-top brewing bottles. This transfer triggers a second fermentation, making the kombucha less sweet and, excitingly, carbonated.
Avoid using any bottles with metal caps to prevent any unwanted reactions between the kombucha and the metal. If you want to use Ball jars, make sure to get plastic lids for them. I also tried a glass-topped Weck jar, but it didn’t create a tight enough seal.
To keep an eye on the carbonation levels, I used one plastic bottle. The plastic bottle acts as your carbonation gauge: It gets firmer and more pressurized as the kombucha ferments. When it’s rock-solid, that means the kombucha in the glass bottles is ready with its bubbly goodness.
10. Flavor & Bottle
Now that you’ve gathered your empty bottles, it’s time to consider flavorings. While I was perfectly content with my plain, unflavored kombucha, my colleagues inspired me to experiment with different flavors (more on that later!).
Fill your bottles almost to the brim. The fuller they are, the more carbonated your kombucha will become. If you notice vigorous bubbling in your bottles, you can “burp” them by briefly opening the lids to release some pressure.
11. Wait & Enjoy
Once the plastic bottle feels very firm—this took about 3 days for us—transfer all the bottles to the fridge. This stops the carbonation process. (I tend to play it safe, so I usually refrigerate them a bit earlier rather than later.)
When you’re ready to enjoy your kombucha, open the bottles over a bowl or sink to avoid any unexpected fizzy splashes. If you (or your guests who are new to kombucha) aren’t keen on SCOBY strands or flavoring bits, simply strain the kombucha through a fine sieve for a smoother drink.
How To Make Different Flavors Of Kombucha
It’s crucial to remember not to overdo it with the add-ins: Adding extra sugar in the form of fruit or fruit juice during this second ferment could lead to excessive pressure buildup and a subsequent explosion.
Here are the flavors I’ve experimented with so far, along with what I used to achieve them:
- Hibiscus: 3 or 4 dried flowers
- Grapefruit: approximately 2 tablespoons of grapefruit juice, with the pulp; this was delicious, although you’ll find online that many suggest using juice without pulp to minimize the stringy bits in the final product
- Ginger: a 1-inch piece, sliced into matchsticks
- Rhubarb lime: lime zest and diced rhubarb; too tart for my liking
- Blueberry lavender: about 1 teaspoon of dried lavender and 2 or 3 frozen blueberries
- Rose petal: roughly ½ tablespoon of dried rose petals
- Orange saffron: a pinch of saffron and a strip of orange peel
- Cherry and jalapeño: a deseeded jalapeño half (cut lengthwise) and a few tablespoons of tart cherry juice concentrate
