Brewing Kombucha at Home: Step - By - Step Guide for Beginners
- Admin
- Jan 23, 2018
- 4 min read
If you have come to this stage and ready to brew your first batch of kombucha at home, I am sure you know what kombucha is. But let me still remind you.
Kombucha is a sweet, or sour (depends on how you brew it) fuzzy tea created by a process of fermentation. Scoby (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) is the main material in this process.
Kombucha is a very simple beverage. Together with the Scoby it contains only three additional ingredients: tea, sugar and water.
The list of healthy issues that can purportedly be relieved by kombucha is very impressive. Here are some of the benefits that have been observed after regular kombucha consumption:
- Rebalances homeostasis in the body
- Support healthy liver function
- Boosts metabolism
- Improves digestion and bowel function
- Relieves headache and migraine
- Destroys free radicals, which are known to cause cell damage
- Lowers glucose levels
How can one beverage possibly be good for so many different problems?
Let me leave this question for you to explore after brewing your first (but I am sure not the last) batch of kombucha.
Brewing Kombucha Step - By - Step Instructions
1. Since this is our first time brewing kombucha at home, I suggest to buy a complete Kombucha Starter Kit available on Etsy.com
A good quality kombucha starter kit should contain only high quality and necessary ingredients!
Necessary ingredients* for brewing 2 litres of kombucha:
7 cups Spring Water or Filtered Water (the chlorine in tap water will kill the scoby)
3 Tea Bags or 3 Teaspoons Loose Tea
1/2 cup White Granulated Sugar
1/2 cup Starter Tea
1 Scoby
Woody spoon
* The Kombucha Starter Kit I mentioned earlier (image above) also contains a glass brew jar, adhesive temperature strip, cotton cloth cover, elastic band and pipet straw. If you purchased a different kombucha starter kit, make sure you have these items before brewing.
2. Bring water to the boil.
Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar to dissolve. Drop in the tea and allow to steep for 15 minutes. Remove the tea bags or strain out the loose tea. Wait until the water has cooled to room temperature.
3. Stir in the starter tea.
This starter tea increases the acidity of the liquid, ensuring that no unwanted bacteria takes up residence in the first few days of brewing.
4. Pour the mixture into a glass brewing jar and gently place the Scoby on top with clean hands.
Cover the mouth of the jar with a few layers of cheesecloth (or cotton cloth) secured with a rubber band. This covering allows airflow to the kombucha while keeping out dust and bugs.
Keep the jar at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, and where it won't get jostled.
5. Ferment the tea for 7 to 14 days, checking the kombucha and the Scoby periodically.
It is not unusual for the Scoby to float at the top, bottom, or even sideways.
A new cream - colored layer of Scoby should start forming on the surface of the kombucha within a few days. It usually attaches to the old Scoby, it is fine if they separate. You may also see brown stringy bits floating beneath the Scoby, sediment collecting at the bottom and bubbles around the edges of the Scoby. These are all normal signs of healthy fermentation.
6. After 7 days, begin tasting the kombucha daily.
When it reaches a balance of sweetness and tartness that is pleasant to you (it tastes zingy and not sweet but with a pleasant cider like tang to it), the kombucha is ready to bottle.
7. Before bottling, prepare another pot of strong sugary tea for your next batch of kombucha, as described in the first 3 steps.
8. With clean hands, gently lift the Scoby out of the kombucha and set it on a clean plate. As you do, check it over. It should feel thick and rubbery with a creamy layer on top and darker layers below.
! Some darker spots are fine, but if you see anything that looks black or moldy, discard the Scoby and this batch of kombucha immediately and start over.
When a mature Scoby gets very thick, peel away the bottom few layers. You can either discard them or share them with a friend.
9. Measure out the required starter tea from this batch of kombucha and set aside. Pour fermented kombucha into bottles. Leave at least 2 cm of headspace in each bottle.
10. Store the bottled kombucha at room temperature out of direct sunlight until carbonated, typically 1 to 3 days, depending on the temperature of the room.
11. Place bottles to a refrigerator to stop carbonation and then consume within a month.
It is not unusual for a small "baby" Scoby to form on the surface of bottled kombucha. This can be strained out while pouring.
12. Prepare your next batch of kombucha.
Combine the reserved starter tea with a fresh batch of sugary tea, and pour it into the cleaned fermentation jar. Slide the Scoby on top, and proceed with fermentation.
Successful brews to everyone!
Don't be discouraged if the first batch did not taste like the kombucha you had from a store. Each batch will have its own, unique taste. Therefore only by practice you can improve the taste to the desired condition.
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