Make Your Own Kombucha!

Kombucha! Who wants to learn how to make their own? Kombucha is fermented sweetened tea, it’s slightly tangy and a little sweet. It can be double fermented to make it into a fizzy soda by just adding fruit or fruit juice. Only thing is you have to be patient making it. It can take up to a week or even two sometimes, but it’s totally worth the wait! Especially when you’re looking for some thing different to drink or on a super hot summer day.

In health food stores and grocery stores they can cost anywhere between $3-$5. Kinda high price for a drink with no rum or vodka to go with it right? 😉 It’s high in anti-oxidants, probiotics, and B-vitamins too! Kombucha is brewed with a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Yeast and Bacteria) that “eats” the sugars in the sweetened tea and creates an acidic, vitamin and probiotic rich beverage. So… you ready to learn how to make it??

First you’re going to need a SCOBY and you can’t get them just from the grocery store. Know anyone making their own kombucha? After every batch or two,a SCOBY will have a baby and they can be used to make kombucha or other fermented goodies. So ask a friend if you take one of theirs. Don’t know anyone making their own Kombucha yet, you can always order one online. (You can find some on Amazon.) Remember when you’re about to start making your kombucha, be sure that your hands are really clean and all containers have been cleaned very well also.

Ingredients:

• 1 gallon size glass or pottery jar
• 1 gallon of brewed sweetened tea (ratio: 1 cup of sugar per gallon of tea)
• a SCOBY and ½ cup of liquid from a previous batch of Kombucha
• coffee filter, cheese cloth, or thin cloth (Walmart sells this for really cheap) and a rubber band

Directions:

1. Prepare the sweet tea. Add 8-10 tea bags per gallon of water. Add 1 cup of regular sugar (organic is best).
2. Let tea cool to room temperature and make sure it is really cool! If you don’t let it cool completely it will kill your SCOBY.
3. Once tea is cool, pour into glass jar, Pour in ½ cup liquid from a previous batch of Kombucha or if starting from a dehydrated SCOBY, pour in ½ cup from a store-bought bottle of Kombucha.
4. Make sure again your hands are clean. Place the SCOBY at the top of the jar of tea. It should float.
5. Cover the jar with the coffee filter or cloth and rubber band tightly.
6. Put jar in a warm corner of the kitchen. Make sure it’s not close to any other fermenting projects!
7. Let it rest for about 7 days, After the 7 days you can taste it, make sure to try the tea under the SCOBY. It should be sweet and tarty.
8. Remove the SCOBY and make sure to save at least 1/2 cup of this batch to start your next batch!
9. It’s ready to drink! Pour into separate jars with a tight seal until ready to drink.

Want to do the second ferment and make it more like a soda? You can add juice or fresh fruit. Just keep an eye on the fruit it will ferment and break down quickly making it kinda slimy. Yuck!

You start with the same set up, just add your frozen or fresh fruit, or even fruit juice. I let my last batch of blackberries and raspberries sit in for about 2 days. Fruit juice can ferment longer. The more juice you add the sweeter it will be so just watch how much you use. Remember fresh fruit is going to break down quick. Kinda like making sangria, fruit will start to get mushy and slimy. Remove the fruit and SCOBY and pour into separate jars. Serve and Enjoy!!!