Kombucha can be almost therapeutic. Drinking it and brewing it! I know it might seem like a daunting task but fear not – put on your mad scientist lab coat and let’s get brewing.
Ryan’s Quick Tips before we begin:
- Use organic tea and sugar whenever possible! However, it’s not necessary but because you are creating a living organism it’s better to feed it the best possible ingredients.
- Secondly, do not use artificial sweeteners! Kombucha needs real sugar in order to be eaten up by your SCOBY.
- Lastly, we like our booch juicy, so when possible, try to use the freshest fruit juices to get the most flavour out of your booch!
Here’s what you’ll need for your abso-boochly delicious booch:
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- 13 cups or 3 litres of water
- 1 cup sugar (we use 100% fair trade cane sugar)
- 8 bags caffeinated tea, or 4 tablespoons loose leaf tea (black, green, or white)
- 1 SCOBY (if you’re making your own SCOBY, see below)
- To flavour: 2 to 3 cups of juice, 1 to 2 cups chopped fruit, 2 to 4 tablespoons fresh herbs or spices
- A jar to store your booch
Quick SCOBY recipe in a pinch:
- 8 cups water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 8 bags black or green tea
- 1 cup unflavored, unpasteurized store-bought kombucha
- Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan and then add sugar and stir until completely dissolved. Next, turn off heat, add tea bags and most importantly, bring to room temperature.
- Pour kombucha into a 1-gallon-sized jar. Add room-temperature tea (hot tea will kill the good bacteria). After that, add cool water to fill the jar to the top. Cover jar with coffee filters or a double layer of paper towels (lint-free cloth) and secure with a rubber band. Store jar in a safe space at room temperature and keep it out of direct sunlight (not dark – just not directly in the sun)
- Finally, wait anywhere from 2-4 weeks until your SCOBY begins to form. Once a blob or SCOBY covers the surface, is opaque, and is roughly ¼-inch thick, you have your SCOBY!
Time to make your booch:
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- Bring water to a boil in a clean pot. Remove from heat and dissolve sugar into it.
- Add tea and allow to steep while water cools to room temperature.
- Remove your SCOBY from your starter tea and place it on a clean plate.
- Pour the sweetened tea into your jar, then pour in unflavoured starter kombucha
- Gently place SCOBY into a jar and cover with a few coffee filters, paper towel or cloth. Secure with a rubber band.
- Ferment for 7 to 10 days: Keep the jar at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, and where it won’t get jostled. Ferment for 7 to 10 days, checking the kombucha and the SCOBY periodically.
- After 7 days, begin tasting the kombucha daily by pouring a little out of the jar and into a cup. When it tastes, slightly sweet and tart with a nice balance, you’re ready to bottle!
- Remove the SCOBY with clean hands and set it on a clean plate (save for your next batch).
- Pour the fermented kombucha (you can strain it first if you’d like) into bottles using a small funnel. Ass in any juice, herbs, or fruit you may want to use as flavouring. If you need some flavour inspo, check these out!
- Store the bottled kombucha at room temperature out of direct sunlight and allow 1 to 3 days for the kombucha to carbonate. The kombucha is carbonated when the bottles feel rock solid.
- Refrigerate to stop fermentation and carbonation, and then consume your kombucha within a month!
- ENJOY!
If you want to check out a video on how this all works, we recommend the Live Eat Learn recipe!