Quick and Simple Recipe to Brew Kombucha at Home

Kombucha can be almost therapeutic. Drinking it and brewing it! I know it might seem like a daunting task but fear not – put on your mad scientist lab coat and let’s get brewing.

Ryan’s Quick Tips before we begin:

  1. Use organic tea and sugar whenever possible! However, it’s not necessary but because you are creating a living organism it’s better to feed it the best possible ingredients.
  2. Secondly, do not use artificial sweeteners! Kombucha needs real sugar in order to be eaten up by your SCOBY.
  3. Lastly, we like our booch juicy, so when possible, try to use the freshest fruit juices to get the most flavour out of your booch!

Here’s what you’ll need for your abso-boochly delicious booch:

    • 13 cups or 3 litres of water
    • 1 cup sugar (we use 100% fair trade cane sugar)
    • 8 bags caffeinated tea, or 4 tablespoons loose leaf tea (black, green, or white)
    • 1 SCOBY (if you’re making your own SCOBY, see below)
    • To flavour: 2 to 3 cups of juice, 1 to 2 cups chopped fruit, 2 to 4 tablespoons fresh herbs or spices
    • A jar to store your booch

This is how the finished product of a SCOBY looks like.

Quick SCOBY recipe in a pinch:

  • 8 cups water 
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 8 bags black or green tea 
  • 1 cup unflavored, unpasteurized store-bought kombucha
  1. Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan and then add sugar and stir until completely dissolved. Next, turn off heat, add tea bags and most importantly, bring to room temperature.
  2. Pour kombucha into a 1-gallon-sized jar. Add room-temperature tea (hot tea will kill the good bacteria). After that, add cool water to fill the jar to the top. Cover jar with coffee filters or a double layer of paper towels (lint-free cloth) and secure with a rubber band. Store jar in a safe space at room temperature and keep it out of direct sunlight (not dark – just not directly in the sun)
  3. Finally, wait anywhere from 2-4 weeks until your SCOBY begins to form. Once a blob or SCOBY covers the surface, is opaque, and is roughly ¼-inch thick, you have your SCOBY!

Time to make your booch:

    1. Bring water to a boil in a clean pot. Remove from heat and dissolve sugar into it.
    2. Add tea and allow to steep while water cools to room temperature.
    3. Remove your SCOBY from your starter tea and place it on a clean plate.
    4. Pour the sweetened tea into your jar, then pour in unflavoured starter kombucha
    5. Gently place SCOBY into a jar and cover with a few coffee filters, paper towel or cloth. Secure with a rubber band.
    6. Ferment for 7 to 10 days: Keep the jar at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, and where it won’t get jostled. Ferment for 7 to 10 days, checking the kombucha and the SCOBY periodically.
    7. After 7 days, begin tasting the kombucha daily by pouring a little out of the jar and into a cup. When it tastes, slightly sweet and tart with a nice balance, you’re ready to bottle!
    8. Remove the SCOBY with clean hands and set it on a clean plate (save for your next batch).
    9. Pour the fermented kombucha (you can strain it first if you’d like) into bottles using a small funnel. Ass in any juice, herbs, or fruit you may want to use as flavouring. If you need some flavour inspo, check these out!
    10. Store the bottled kombucha at room temperature out of direct sunlight and allow 1 to 3 days for the kombucha to carbonate. The kombucha is carbonated when the bottles feel rock solid. 
    11. Refrigerate to stop fermentation and carbonation, and then consume your kombucha within a month!
    12. ENJOY!This is the kombucha fermented and carbonated. It has fruit juices to give it's rich colour and taste.

 

If you want to check out a video on how this all works, we recommend the Live Eat Learn recipe!

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