Probiotic Princess: Kombucha Home Brewing 101

This is my own little guide to home brewing kombucha tea. It may seem long, but I promise, it isn't a difficult task and if you are a kombucha lover, home brewing is the way too go. Check out my guide and if you need a SCOBY I  have an extra one lying around every 2 weeks!

One of my proudest moments of going granola was drinking a bottle of my first batch of homemade kombucha. If you don't know what kombucha is, you are missing out my friend. It's another one of those things where I'm like, "How have I not known about this stuff my whole life?!" because although it's only become popular as of late, it's actually been around in China since the BC's and has been commercially bottled in America since the late 1990's. 

If you don't know what kombucha is, it's a fermented tea that gets it's probiotic power from a SCOBY, which stands for Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast. It's slightly effervescent (fizzy) and can vary in taste, depending on how long it's been fermenting. Kombucha has claims of countless health benefits but it's most well known for ability to produce a happy environment in your stomach (think yogurt) and gut health actually affects a multitude of things in our bodies including our metabolism and even our moods! Plus, it's delicious! (To some, it can be an acquired taste, but once you've got it, you'll be addicted)

Because of it's growing popularity, grocery stores now offer a huge variety of flavors that they've got nailed... but despite being super delicious, those store bought brands usually cost between 4 and 5 dollars for a bottle (which is 2 servings) and also, a little steep for most peoples taste, including mine! 

So naturally, it didn't take me long after becoming booch-obsessed, before I got curious about brewing my own tea and went ahead and ordered myself a SCOBY online. The scoby was $25 and came in a sealed plastic baggy in the normal mail and although it did come with instructions, the internet is also full of recipes and instructions for keep a healthy batch of booch. I wanted to get a few batches in before I did a blog post on my experience and by now, I've probably had around 10 successful batches... and by successful I mean totally delicious and comparable to a store bought bottle. (I did have one batch that I forgot to add sugar too and didn't realize until 2 weeks later went I sampled it before bottling... ew... but that wasn't anyones fault but my own!)

Now, I am here to say, that yes, the internet didn't lie... brewing your own kombucha is easy, cheap and super rewarding (to your belly and your wallet) So where do you start? You need a SCOBY so unless you know someone who brews themselves then you can always go online, like I did. Once you have your SCOBY, all you need to do is follow this basic recipe for black tea, add some sugar and throw in your SCOBY....

Ingredients
3-1/2 quarts water (14 cups)
1 cup sugar (regular granulated)
8 bags of plain black tea 
about 2 cups of your "starter tea"

*Your starter tea should come from a previous batch from a friend, or if you order online, your SCOBY will come with some tea in its packaging)

**You will also need a large enough container to store the booch in, glass is best (Never use metal! Metal messes with the kombucha flavor and can even ruin the SCOBY)

***You can use other types of tea for your base (green tea for example also works) but black tea is proven to work best (do your research!)

DISCLAIMER: Kombucha, once done fermenting can be slightly alcoholic... the longer it brews, the more it becomes so, but still, it usually isn't ever going to go over 1% while still being "good" tasting.

1. First you boil your water. Once it is boiling, add the sugar and stir in well until dissolved.
2. Add all of your tea bags and let the tea cool completely (this may take hours, but you do not want to add your SCOBY to warm tea)
3.Once the tea is cool, remove the tea bags and stir in your "starter tea"
4. Finally, pour your tea into the container in which it will brew and add your SCOBY.

And now all you have to do is wait!

Cover your container opening with a clean towel (cheesecloth is too thin) and secure it with a large rubberband (I use a thin headband)

I keep my brew in my spare room

Place your container somewhere where it will stay around room temperature, out of direct sunlight and where it wont get moved around too much. You may notice after a few days that a second SCOBY will begin to form... the mother and baby SCOBYS may sit at the bottom of the container or float to the top... they will look cream colored and may have streaks of brown yeast throughout them... you may also notice bubble and slimy looking blobs floating throughout.... mmmmm! Mold in your kombucha looks like... well, mold... green or white patches on your booch is no good... Google it if you are unsure!

Here is a new, baby SCOBY, all fresh lookin'

Here is an older, mother SCOBY... the brown yeasty streaks are normal

How long you let your kombucha ferment is all up to you, some people only let it go a week, while I prefer at least 2 weeks before "second fermentation". The longer your batch ferments, the less "sweet" it will taste as the culture eats the sugar in the tea. A longer brew also means more natural carbonation... I prefer a more sour, fizzy kombucha, thereofre I let my first fermentation go longer (An "overbrewed" batch will end up tasting vinegary). After your first couple batches, you will start to know exactly how long you like to brew for the first and second fermentation.

After about a week, you can start to sample your batch every day until it gets about where you want it... when its just about ready is when you can start your second fermentation (this is usually to add flavoring if you wish, it is also delicious without additional flavoring).

For second fermentation, you need to seperate your SCOBY and a few cups of the booch to use as the starter tea for your next batch... or you can do what I do and bottle your kombucha for the second fermentation and keep your SCOBY and extra tea in same container for the next batch.

You will also now have two SCOBY's on your hands... you can seperate them and start a second batch, toss the old mother, or there are a lot of other things you can do to actually use the old mother... at this moment, I am dehydrating my last mother into treats for my dogs!

Second Fermentation: There are many ways to go about second fermentation so I will share with you my process. I use Grolsch beer bottles with a swing top that make reusing very easy and I add the fruit juice of my choice (about a 1/4 cup or so) into my bottles before dispensing the kombucha from my big batch container. Using a party drink dispenser with a spigot makes this whole process very easy. You can add bits of fresh fruit to the bottle as well... pro tip: the more pulp in a juice, the more likely you are to get a baby SCOBY/chunks growing inside of your bottles. (Swolling a baby SCOBY grosses some people out, but if it doesn't bother you then you are just getting more goodness!) I fill my bottles about 3/4 of the way full, close them and then let them sit on my counter for about 3 days before refrigerating. The second fermentation really lets the fruit flavor soak in and also adds more bubbly! Be careful though, too long of a second fermentation inthe bottles can result in a lot of pressure, be careful when popping those tops! 

When your booch is ready, put it in the refrigerator, this stops/slows fermentation and carbonation for the most part but you should try to drink it within a month.

One of my favorite homemade batches, Tangerine!

I think I covered all of the important stuff but regardless, there is so much info out there on home brewing, all you have to do it look! Have fun with your flavors, so far I have only experimented with fresh fruit juices but I plan to try and make a Sarsaparilla batch soon!