Homemade Kombucha

We recently started making our own homemade kombucha after my sister Jessa gave us some of her SCOBY, along with the whole setup including the special kombucha bottles! While some people just drink kombucha for the delicious flavor and fizz, it’s been said to have multiple health benefits and may act as a probiotic, improving gut health. Here is the recipe and process! See fun video below for our trial and errors in learning to make our own homemade kombucha!

Makes 1 gallon kombucha

You will need:

1 gallon glass jar

hand towel

large rubber band

wooden spoon

teapot

grater, or garlic press

strainer

funnel

blender, or knife and cutting board

4 kombucha jars (Link for the jars I have here)

Ingredients:

SCOBY starter (my sister gave me some of her SCOBY, but I saw where you can make your own here too!)

1 cup sugar

8 black tea bags

water

2 cups fresh or frozen fruit & some ginger root (or anything else you want to add!)

Directions:

Step 1 (first fermentation): Boil 8 cups water (or a little less). Add 8 tea bags & let steep. Let sit until warm (just not boiling), then pour into gallon jar with SCOBY. Add 1 cup sugar and stir with wooden spoon to dissolve (don’t let metal touch the SCOBY or it will start to taste like metal!). Fill jar rest of way with filtered water. Cover jar with hand towel, place large rubber band around towel to keep in place and let sit for 7-14 days to ferment or to taste. (Note: the longer it sits, the more tart it will get!)

Step 2 (second fermentation): grate ginger and cut fruit into small pieces (or blend or puree fruit with some of the fermented kombucha). Divide ginger and fruit between the 4 clean kombucha jars (about 1/2 cup fruit per jar). Strain and divide fermented kombucha into bottles, reserving 1-2 cups liquid in the gallon jar with the SCOBY for the next batch. Leave bottles on counter 1-3 days making sure to unscrew the caps at least once every day so jar doesn’t explode! Refrigerate after desired fizz level reached & enjoy!

Repeat steps for subsequent batches! It’s fun to experiment with different fruits or juices too! We love mango, blueberry, pineapple and ginger and love trying new flavors!

Notes: fresh or frozen fruit tend to add more fizz during the second fermentation process versus canned or bottled fruits and juices. Also, pineapple, watermelon and ginger may create more fizz than some of the other fruits. Also, make sure anything that touches your SCOBY stays super clean so it won’t start growing bad bacteria or get moldy! If it looks moldy or smells rancid, you’ll have to throw it away and start fresh! Also, I used tap water, but learned it can actually damage the SCOBY over time, so filtered water is best. Your SCOBY eats up most of the sugar you add to the batch, so any sweetness will come mostly from the fruit you add. As your SCOBY grows, you can peel off layers (about 1/2-1″ thick) along with 1-2 cups kombucha liquid to share as a starter with friends!

Do you make your own kombucha or kefir? What are your tips, tricks and favorite flavors or benefits? Share in the comments below!