How to Make Kombucha

The first time I had kombucha, my Mom decided to try it because she had read about the health benefits and wanted to give it a go. I thought it was the nastiest drink ever.

Flash forawrd a year or two....

Kombucha kept showing up on my Pinterest, feed so I gave into peer pressure and started to read more about it.

Kombucha has been around for a long time (believing to have originating in China). Unfortunately there is very little, actual, medical research to back up the magical elixir.

Monster SCOBY (banana for size ) 

Regardless, I think it is amazing and will shout my love for it from the roof tops.

There may not a lot of research to show the benefits of kombucha, but there is a lot of there is a lot of medical research explaining the benefits of probiotics.

Kombucha is jam packed with probiotics. I have had/continue to have digestive issues.  Probiotics help rebuild the flora and fauna of your digestive track. I credit my recovery of my gut to drinking kombucha.

Buying kombucah from the store is expensive. Usually for a bottle of the magic juice you are looking at about $4. While it is worth every penny, you can make your own at home for much less.  

Kombucha is fermented tea, the magical creature that assists with the fermentation is called a SCOBY.

If you know someone who makes their own kombucha they will probably be more than happy to give you a SCOBY, or you can get them online for a reasonable price as well.

MAKE SURE YOU ARE GIVEN SOME STARTER LIQUID!!!

SCOBY stands for symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast. It is not a pretty creature, it is looks like an every growing blob of snot. I have seen an article on Facebook a few times saying “once you see what kombucha is made of you will never drink it again” or other such nonsense. You don’t drink the SCOBY. It acts like a lid, it makes a little ecosystem which in turn makes the tasty drink known as kombucha.

There are some serious kombucha drinkers that make candy or facemasks out of their SCOBYs.

Not the prettiest pet, but they make a tasty drink 

I don’t, not my thing.

If that is something you are interested in here are some links…

Other than a SCOPBY kombucha is made up of tea and sugar. Kombucha needs to be made with black or green tea because it has tisanes in it, which are something SCOBYs need to grow big and strong. Herbal teas don’t have the nutients in them, and they also have oils in them. Oils and SCOBYs don’t mix. I use Tetley English Breakfast tea. This would not pass the scrutiny of most krazy kombucha folk because it is not organic and could possibly have been grown with something other than filtered tears or free range hipsters.

I use it because I can get a lot of it for cheap, and it is the only tea the hubby will drink….

Sugar is the next thing that goes into the kombucha. I use organic cane sugar from CostCo. Sugar is what feeds the SCOBY so getting good quality is import.

You can use honey, molasses or agave. Each type will create a different kind of brew and change the fermentation time.

DON’T use beat sugar or Stevia and Xylitol the SOCBY can’t eat them and it will kill it. DEAD.

Kombucha has kind of a vinegary taste; this is because SCOBYs like an acidic environment. They also love the heat (75 (ish) degrees is perfect).

I killed my first two SCOBYs because I did didn’t have an acidy enough environment and my SCOBYs were to cold.

For my third attempt I added a splash of white vinegar (don’t use anything other than white distilled vinegar, you will kill your SCOBY) and I put them in the cabinet under the sink in the guest bathroom (AKA the hottest place in the house).  Now I have some happy, monster sized, SCOBYs.

Depending on how big your SCOBYs are and what tea and sugar mixture you have made your kombucha will be ready in 3-7 days. I like mine to be more on the vinegar side so I let them ferment for a longer time.

The SCOBY needs to breathe. Cover the jar with a clean cloth and secure it with a rubber band.

Bring it to a boil, then let it cool COMPLETELY before adding the SCOBY 

As the kombucha ferments the SCOBY will “reproduce” and you will have a new baby SCOBY on the top. Some SCOBYs sink and some try to climb out of the container. Don’t confuse your new healthy baby SCOBY with a dead SCOBY. When SCOBYs dies they get moldy. It will look like bread mold. Kind of fuzzy, not slimy. 

Flavoring kombucha happens during the second fermentation. That will be another post.

Warning!

When you first start drinking kombucah it will make you poop something fierce. Like crazy poop. It’s icky, but it’s normal. It is the probiotics doing their job. Your body will work it out and reach equilibrium again and you will feel fantastic.

Also, please note that kombucha is a fermented drink, so there is some alcohol in it. Usually between .5% and 3% depending on fermentation time)

Let me know what you think in the comments!

Thank you

~ Laura