Kombucha
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Sweet black or green tea fermented with a scoby, then bottled with fruit for a fizzy second fermentation.
Ingredients
- 1 activated Kombucha and Scoby starter culture
- 12 cups of filtered water
- 6 black or green tea bags
- 1 cup of cane sugar
- 1 TBSP white vinegar (only if the pH is not below 4.5)
- Supplies: gallon jar; coffee filter and rubber band; pH test; heating pad (kombucha-specific or regular); bottles for second fermentation
- Mango strawberry flavor (optional): 5 to 6 (16 oz) bottles; ½ mangos; ¼ cup strawberries
Equipment
- stockpot
- glass bottle
- funnel
Directions
- Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and take it off the heat.
- Drop in the tea bags, steep for 10 minutes, and lift them out.
- Stir in the sugar until it dissolves.
- Pour the sweet tea into the gallon jar and top up with the remaining water, leaving 4 inches of headspace.
- Add the starter culture and the Scoby, and stir well.
- Test the pH; it should read below 4.5. If it doesn’t, stir in 1 TBSP white vinegar and test again.
- Cover the jar with a coffee filter held on by a rubber band.
- Ferment for 7 to 10 days at 75 to 85°F, using a heating pad set to high and left on the whole time. Ferment for at least 7 days and up to 21 days, until the flavor is right.
- Test the pH once more; it should be less than 4.5.
- Set aside 2 cups of the kombucha along with the Scoby to start the next batch.
- Pour the remainder into bottles, leaving 1 to 2 inches of headspace, and add flavorings, fruit, and spices. (For mango strawberry, blend the fruit and share it among the bottles, leaving 3 inches of headspace.)
- Let the bottles ferment for 1 to 3 days, opening each lid once a day to let the carbon dioxide pressure out.
- When the fizz and flavor are where you want them, chill and serve.
Notes
Refrigerate once fizz and flavor are right. Flavor ideas: honey lavender, raspberry lemon, blueberry vanilla, peach, strawberry, pineapple, hibiscus, mango ginger. Safety: pH must be below 4.5 at the start and before bottling; burp bottles daily during second fermentation (pressure can burst bottles). Discard if the scoby grows fuzzy or colored mold.