Prior to March, kombucha was something I knew of vaguely as “some kind of hippy thing.”
Perhaps unfortunately, I move further into “some kind of hippy” territory all the time to find sources of satisfaction while quarantined at home. Microgreens grow on the sunroom table, and evidence of all the bookbinding I did for the school literary magazine scatters my desk. And in the closet upstairs, I’m culturing my very own symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast: SCOBY, for short.
What is kombucha?
Kombucha is a fermented tea drink. While it’s lauded for health benefits--some proven and others not--I drink it because I like the flavors and think brewing it is fun. If you like tea--especially black tea--you’ll likely enjoy kombucha as well. You can find it in just about every store these days, so if you want to sample some before you take the plunge to brew your own, you have lots of sampling options first. When I do buy kombucha, I get it from Susan’s Table at the Corner’ Farmers’ Market, which is outdoors every Saturday morning 8-11 outside Sticks and Stones. You can’t get much more local than that--plus there’s a flavor for any palate.
Because kombucha tends to come at about the price of a fancy coffee, I decided to brew my own to supplement my kombucha drinking. Arrived through trial and error, I outline below the steps for how to best make kombucha.
Materials
-SCOBY (outlined in SCOBY subsection)
-Large metal pot
-1 gallon water
-1 cup white sugar
-Black tea (approx. 10 tea bags per gallon of water or the equivalent in loose leaf)
-Large glass jar(s)--1 gallon or two ½ gallon jars (ceramic jars are fine too)
-Tight cloth covering (e.g. coffee filters/paper towel/cheesecloth)
-Rubber bands
-Stop-top 16-ounce bottles/canning jars
-Flavorings (explained in second fermentation)
SCOBY
According to the internet, SCOBY is a complicated colony of biology terms I don’t understand. I know nothing much about it other than that it can turn cooled sweet tea into kombucha, which is all that non-chemists need to know. Either way, locating a SCOBY was the first step I took to learn to brew my own kombucha. I ordered mine from Amazon from the seller Poseymom, who shipped the SCOBY quickly and safely and included helpful instructions on what to do once you receive the package.
According to the internet, you can supposedly make your own SCOBY from scratch if you’re able to find bottles of raw, unpasteurized kombucha; however, Bestway does not carry it, so I took the shortcut and ordered it from Amazon.
The good thing about SCOBY is that it multiplies ridiculously quickly. Each batch, I double--sometimes triple--the number of SCOBYS I have, which means I usually have extras I’m happy to give away. You’re welcome to contact me at @grimsleyquaranzine to ask for one.
First Fermentation
I usually make a gallon at a time, but you can double or halve this recipe as you please.
On the stove, I pour just under a gallon of water into a huge metal pot, then turn up the heat to the highest setting and wait for it to boil. Once it’s boiled a couple minutes, I take it off the heat, then mix in a cup of white sugar. The sugar provides food for the SCOBY and flavors the final product. At this point, you have to leave the water to cool to room temperature; anything hotter will kill your SCOBY. This will typically take a few hours with a gallon of just-boiled water, so plan accordingly.
Once the sugar water is cooled, religiously wash your hands--soap and hot water. Take your SCOBY out of its container, then place it into your large glass jar(s) and pour in your starter kombucha. If you have two jars, split it in half. Afterwards, pour the sugar water into the jar(s), dividing evenly if necessary. Once the jars are sufficiently filled, take the woven jar cover and secure it around the opening with rubber bands.
Now you’ve set up your kombucha! All that’s left for this stage is to store it somewhere dark, quiet, and relatively warm while the SCOBY gets started on brewing. The warmer the place you leave it to brew, the sooner it brews. I usually brew my kombucha for about a week, but you can theoretically leave it for as long as two. The longer it ferments, the less sweet it tastes, so start taste-testing around the seven day mark to see what tastes best to you. I don’t think the flavor at this point is that good and love carbonation--hence I do a second fermentation.
Second Fermentation
Save about two cups of your first-stage kombucha; this will be your starter tea for your next batch. Leave your SCOBYs in this leftover tea; they can hang out here until you’re ready to use them again.
It’s time now to carbonate and flavor your batch from the first fermentation!
I use airtight, stop-top bottles I bought off Amazon. Canning jars or mason jars with very tight seals will work alright too, though the carbonation isn’t quite as good as it is with the bottles.
This stage is the most fun. It’s like doing chemistry, except you won’t accidentally get chemical burns if you mess up. You can pretty much do and add whatever you want: fruits, juices, herbs, spices. I find that slicing ginger into matchbox-size sticks always adds good flavor to fruit-based flavors, especially berries. My all-time favorite comes from mixing passion-fruit juice with mint or ginger. If you’re looking for something spicy, consider adding cinnamon sticks (broken up into slivers if you use a thin-necked bottle--they swell when soaked in water).
I typically add 1-2 inches of fruit/juice/etc at the bottom of the container, but you can experiment depending on how strong you want the flavoring to be. If something isn’t inherently super sweet (.e.g. cinnamon sticks), feel free to add a couple teaspoons of white sugar to help with the carbonation.
As you fill your container of choice with your fermented tea, leave an inch to two inches of space at the top. Otherwise, the pressure inside the container could lead to unpleasant surprises.
I typically leave my bottles to ferment a second time for about three days, though you can leave them longer. Note that the more sugar you’ve added--whether it’s white sugar or sugar fruit juice or fruits--the faster it will carbonate. You’ll want to regularly check on your bottles the first few times; pop one open to see how much it’s carbonated and judge whether you want to leave it for longer.
When you’ve decided that they’ve carbonated long enough, move them to the fridge. The cold will stop the carbonation process. When you’re ready to drink, it’s wise to open the bottles outside or over the sink. Occasionally, you might pop a top and get a Mentos-and-Coke chemical reaction. Opening your bottle over the sink will facilitate clean-up.
General Advice
-Watch for mold while fermenting: I’ve never had a problem with it, but if you have anything green, white, or black growing on your SCOBY, then throw out that batch and the SCOBY.
-Do not use metal or plastic containers for fermentation: metal will affect the flavor, and plastic can lead to build-up of bad bacteria.
-Keep everything clean: wash your hands thoroughly before you touch everything.
-Your SCOBY will get thicker with each fermentation; once it reaches about an inch thick, peel it in half to create a second SCOBY. If you let it get too thick, the kombucha will get acidic fast. You can store this SCOBY for later use in sweetened black tea.
All in All
Kombucha brewing is satisfying not only for the end result, but also for the entertainment of experimenting. There’s no right or wrong when it comes to homebrewing, and if you want to try unusual flavorings, you’re welcome to. My friends have been as entertained by the process as me--more than once, I’ve brought bottles over for us to share.
Plus, if you ask me, anything fun done cheap is worth doing again.
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