Kombucha - basic recipe


Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-free, Dairy-free

Meal Type
Drinks
Cuisine
Fermentation
Author
Scotty's Scoby
Serves
4
Preparation Time
2 minutes
Cooking Time
1 hour

Ingredients

  • 2 Litres clean water
  • 5 tea bags (black or green) (10g)
  • 1/2 - 1 cup raw or white sugar

Optional

  • Scoby & Starter tea

Instructions

Brewing sweet tea - refills

  1. Combine sugar, water and tea bags (or tea leaves in a strainer or infuser) in a pot on the stove and simmer until sugar is dissolved - do not boil.
  2. Remove pot from the heat and allow mixture to steep for 30-60 minutes.
  3. Remove tea bags and allow liquid to cool to room temperature.

Fermentation

  1. Pour sweet tea into a large clean glass jar or fermentation vat, add Scoby and starter tea.
  2. Cover container with a breathable fabric and secure to prevent insect intrusion.
  3. Store in a warm, dry place away from direct sunlight for 7-10 days. A thin baby Scoby should develop on top of the tea.
  4. Strain the kombucha away from the Scoby, saving the Scoby and at least 1 cup of starter tea for your next batch.
  5. Bottle the kombucha and leave in a warm dry place for 2-3 days to allow bubbles to form, refrigerate finished product.

Notes

  • don't use flavoured teas, herbal teas, the Scoby needs the tannins to work and doesn't like the oils that flavour most tisanes.
  • You can make your own Scoby by making up sweet tea, covering it and leaving it for 10+ days, it will take a while to form and could get corrupted, so use a small batch.
  • Green tea, black tea, jasmine tea and oolong all work really well.
  • If the tea is too hot the Scoby will die... Mid 20s, no hotter than 30.
  • Flavoured kombucha happens easiest by adding frozen berries and spices, or 100% juice to the kombucha once bottled. But plain kombucha is lovely on its own.
  • Kombucha like kimchi and other fermented foods takes some getting used to. Store bought kombucha is roughly 4-10% real kombucha, so if you down the same volume of this as a store bought bottle... Bathroom time. Have a shot every day for a week, then try a small glass, you'll get there.
  • Successful flavours- Lemon & ginger Blueberry & cinnamon Raspberry & lemon verbena Strawberry & mint Cranberry w/ orange peel, cinnamon, star anise, cloves. Pomegranate juice Mandarin juice Ruby-red grapefruit juice