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Kombucha tea in a vintage glass with a bottle of kombucha in the background.
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Kombucha

Kombucha is a tangy and sweet fermented tea that has an impressive list of benefits. Keep reading to learn how to make kombucha starter tea at home!
Prep Time15 minutes
Fermentation time7 days
Total Time7 days 15 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Yield: 12
Cost: $2

Equipment

  • 1 2 gallon glass vessel such as a beverage dispenser

Materials

  • 1 4-6 ounce SCOBY
  • 6 personal-sized black tea bags or 2 family sized tea bags or 2 tablespoons loose leaf black tea
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 cups starter liquid

Instructions

  • Gather up those supplies! You will need a glass vessels such as a beverage dispenser or large glass jar, a SCOBY, starter liquid, tea, sugar and water. Clean your supplies using plain white vinegar. Residues from soaps or bleach can cause the kombucha to brew improperly. I also wash my hands with vinegar prior to handling my SCOBY.
  • Make the sweet tea. For a one gallon batch of kombucha, you will need about six personal sized teabags of black tea (OR 2 family-sized teabags OR 2 tablespoons of loose leaf tea). Bring a quart of water to a boil and add the tea bags and one cup of sugar, keep stirring until the sugar dissolves! I use a glass bowl with a pour spout for mine, but a large pot on the oven would work great, too! Let it cool to room temperature before continuing on with the next step.
  • Once the tea cools to room temperature, remove the tea bags and transfer the tea to the vessel with one to two cups of kombucha starter tea and a healthy SCOBY. Fill the vessel the rest of the way with room temperature water. Cover the top of the vessel with a tight-knit tea towel or a coffee filter to prevent fruit flies or dust from contaminating the brew.
  • Store the vessel of kombucha somewhere warm, but not too hot. The kombucha will be fine on the countertop, but keep it out of direct sunlight, such as a sunny window. Let it sit for about seven days before taste testing the brew. Depending on the temperature of the room and the activity of the culture, it could be ready anywhere between seven to twenty one days. A warm room will ferment faster than a cool room and a larger SCOBY will also cause the kombucha to ferment faster. The proper pH of finished kombucha is between 2.5-3.5.
  • When the brew tastes really good, it’s ready to bottle! I like to add a secondary fermentation during this step which adds juice and flavors the kombucha, causing it to carbonate even more. I leave at least 1-2 cups of starter liquid to get the next batch of kombucha going, and the process begins again!
  • For your next batch of kombucha, take the 1-2 cups of starter liquid from the previous batch and the SCOBY and start again at step 1.

Notes

OPTIONAL SECOND FERMENTATION

The 2nd fermentation of kombucha is simply the steps taken to add additional flavoring to your completed first fermentation kombucha.
For best results, separate the kombucha from the first fermentation into 16oz mason jars and add about ¼-⅓ cup of juice per mason jar. Place a sealing lid on the jar and let it sit on the counter for 2 days. Open a jar, taste it and see if the carbonation is to your liking. I recommend tasting it after 2 days, because if you wait any longer the kombucha might explode when opened---this has happened to me before.