Kombucha Newbie

This is a slight diversion from my usual creating of furniture and home decor but recently I became interested in making fermented beverages. I have spent countless hours researching and watching YouTube videos on them all and decided to share my Coles notes on how I made it. 

This is taken from my blog post on Food Talk Daily.

I am a newbie Kombucha maker. I found inspiration to try it after learning about milk kefir then water kefir; this beverage sounded interesting too. Kombucha has great digestion benefits.

Here is the bottling and making new batch counter chaos.

This is my scoby sourced from a local maker, it came with 1 cup starter tea which is just as important as the scoby itself if not more so. 

The other 2 bags are kefir; milk and water. I will be sharing these soon.

This is my first batch of kombucha made in a half gallon jar. All the ingredients below were halved for this first brew to get things going.

Be sure to get pressure rated glass bottle. I am a huge sucker for blue glass so I chose the cobalt blue ones. This company is less then an hour from me so I did pickup but they sell on Amazon too.

The flip top lids are perfect for this product and the pressure it creates when fermenting.

I saw these at the dollar store but was warned DO NOT use these for kombucha, they are far to thin and most likely explode!!!

First 2F bottle: raspberry ginger!! yummy

  

Ingredients

KOMBUCHA INGREDIENTS

• 2 tbsp. loose unflavored black tea - not flavored like Earl Grey which has oils
• 3/4 - 1 cup sugar (I mix white and raw sugars)
• 4 cups boiling water
• 2 cups starter tea (from previous brew)
• 8 cups cold water
• 1 scoby

KOMBUCHA SUPPLIES

• steeping vessel for tea
• 1 gallon glass jar
• food thermometer
• strainer (if using loose tea)
• cloth cover
• large rubber band or string

Instructions

PREP YOUR SWEET TEA

In the steeping vessel add 2 - 3 tbsp of loose tea or equivalent tea bags and 4 cups boiling water. Let steep 15 minutes. Strain into gallon jar and add sugar swirling or stirring to dissolve. You can add sugar to steeping tea if prefer.

Add approx 8 cups cool water, mix and test to make sure the temperature is between 70-90 degrees.

ADD SCOBY

Once the water is the right temperature add 2 cups of previously brewed starter tea to the mix and your scoby.

Cover jar with a tight weave cloth secured with a large rubber band or string. This prevents fruit flies and other insects from getting in and allows the liquid to "breath"

Place in a warm dark spot with good airflow for about 1 week. Test for flavor about day 5 and once it reaches your desired taste you can bottle this batch and start all over.

BOTTLING YOUR BREW

Once the tea is to your taste it is time to bottle. Remove the scoby and set in a measuring cup.

Stir the kombucha well, remove 2 cups of the liquid adding to the scoby in the measuring cup to start your new batch.

Some people like the kombucha at this stage. I prefer to ferment a second time adding flavor. Flavors are limitless and totally whatever you prefer. I used frozen berries and fresh ginger mixing in my Vitamix to puree.

Add your flavoring puree to the sterilized bottles - approx 1/4-1/3 cup per bottle. Fill bottle with brewed kombucha to top leaving a bit of headspace. Wipe tops clean and seal. This gallon recipes makes approx 6 - 16 oz bottles.

Let the bottles sit in a dark area for a few days then move to the fridge to chill before opening and enjoying your beverage.

Tips

• Do NOT substitute honey or other sweeteners
• Do NOT disturb the mixture for first few days. This is when the scoby is starting a new layer. Once you disturb a scoby it stops growing and another starts forming.
• The longer you ferment the brew the more acidic it gets.
• The stronger the starter (brewed kombucha), the better it is for your brew. It should be very tart with no sweet taste. 
• You can use the thin baby scobys in your next batch. When the scobys get too thick and the brew ferments too quickly, thin the layers of scoby.
• Don’t refrigerate your scoby. The cold can make the bacteria and yeast go dormant leaving more chance of mold forming in your brew.
• It is normal for a scoby to grow in 2nd ferment. They are safe to drink or you can strain it. If the 2F is flavored, it is not a good idea to add the scoby to your brew or hotel.
• The jar you use for your brew is important. The wider the jar, the faster the ferment.
• Don’t squeeze your teabags after steeping. It can cause your brew to be bitter.
• If you need more carbonation add a bit of sugar to the bottles in 2F.
• You don’t have to brew in complete darkness. Light is fine as long as it isn’t direct sunlight.
• Do not place different fermenting beverages (AKA water kefir and kombucha) near each other as they may cross contaminate bacteria/yeast
• If using fruit juice choose pure 100% and from the fridge section if you can. The ones on the shelf have a shelf stabilizing ingredient that is not the best for our health or fermenting but it will work.
• Store bottled kombucha in a cooler just incase they leak or explode from pressure and all is contained.
• Open in a bowl with ziploc bag over top when opening a really carbonated bottle to capture your product.
• Flavors are limitless, I like ginger/lemon or berry/ginger but plan to try so many more. I would love to hear your favorites below and any tips you may have.
• Reusing store bought kombucha bottles and Grolsch beer bottles are a very economical way to bottle your beverages. Here is how I cleaned mine.
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couple of helpful charts 
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• Have extra scobies? Make them a hotel
• A SCOBY hotel is a place to keep and grow extra scoby for experiments or mishaps. It is simply an extra scoby in a jar with enough brewed kombucha to cover the scoby. If you cover it with cloth it will grow baby scoby much faster than if you cover it with a solid lid. Some people do not like the smell of the liquid when it is covered with a solid lid.

  To maintain, feed or top off your scoby hotel, add at least a cup of sweet tea every 3 months or sooner if the liquid is evaporating. To make just a cup of sweet tea you can steep 1 teabag or teaspoon of loose tea in 1 cup of warm water. Remove the tea and add 1 tablespoon of sugar to dissolve. Let cool to room temperature before adding to your hotel.
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• My 2F batch going into their cooler to safely ferment :)


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Here is a behind the scenes look at a bottling day; the pellicle grows to the size of your container hence why mine is huge being in a 3 gallon jug. I make a double batch every 5-6 days.





I also tried a batch with a spare pellicle using jasmine tea. It has a much tarter flavor once done. I like to mix black and jasmine for a nice mix.








This is what can happen when opening a bottle; be prepared with a bowl under and plastic bag over or pop and tip quick into glass.


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