New to kombucha? Then read my post on what is kombucha and kombucha benefits. Ready to get starting making kombucha? Here is how to to make kombucha.
How to Brew Kombucha at home:
To make your own kombucha, you will need:
- ½ gallon mason jar (where to buy) or continuous brewer (where to buy)
- 1 clean piece of breathable cloth (from an old tee-shirt is ideal)
- 1 rubber band
- 2 tablespoons of organic green or black tea (has to be caffeinated, not herbal) (where to buy organic tea)
- ½ cup organic sugar (where to buy organic sugar)
- 1 large bowl for brewing tea (we use a glass mixing bowl)
- 1 SCOBY+ starter liquid
Directions:
- Boil ½ gallon of water.
- Pour ½ cup sugar into bowl.
- Place tea bags or tea strainer with tea in center of bowl.
- Pour water over tea and sugar – we use about 2 tablespoons of green tea per ½ gallon.
- Place scoby and starter liquid in the clean ½ gallon mason jar.
- Mix tea until sugar has dissolved.
- Wait for tea to cool to room temperature (hot water will kill or damage the scoby so this is important).
- Once cool, pour tea into jar with the scoby.
- Cover the jar with cloth using the rubber band to secure it (fruit flies love this stuff so don’t use cheesecloth- t-shirt material is much better).
- Depending on the temperature and the size of the scoby the kombucha should be ready in about a week. Keep testing it until it tastes like you want it!
- Second fermentation: If you’d like to flavor your booch, bottle it (I use my store bought booch bottles that I saved or mason jars) add a few berries or fruit juice or lemon and ginger (the possibilities are endless!) and let it sit in the cupboard a few more days. The Kombucha sucks all the flavor from the berries and tastes delicious! You can strain the fruit out or if you’re lazy like me, leave it in.
- Once its done, place in the fridge to slow down the fermentation. It WILL keep fermenting in the fridge so you may want to burp (open and close) the bottles if leaving them in for several weeks so the pressure doesn’t build up too much.
Video Instructions on How to Make Continuous Brew Kombucha:
You can purchase a kombucha continuous brewer here.
Here are some recipes for flavored kombucha:
Save that SCOBY – It will last a long time, and another one will form. Take the new one out of the jar and put it in another jar so you can start another ½ gallon. Once you have several, you can start a SCOBY hotel! Just place them all in a jar making sure the liquid is covering them. If you seal the jar with a regular lid instead of the t-shirt it will slow down the evaporation and fermentation which is what you want for your hotel.
Some of the flavors we’ve tried are this apricot kombucha and this strawberry kombucha. You can’t go wrong!
Sit back and enjoy your health and savings!
You can even make kombucha popsicles. My kids love them!
What do you do with your booch other than drink it on the rocks? Tell me below! I’m dying to know…
Want to learn more about fermenting food? Check out Oh Lardy’s Guide to Fermenting Fruits & Vegetables. You will get easy instructions and delicious recipes to put you on the road to better health.
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Kombucha is an external healing agent as well. If you have a place that won’t heal try it!
I would like to order the white 21/2 gallon continuous container .where can I purchase it? Can’t seem to find it on your website.
Hi
I am new to this process
Just want to know if the starter liquid comes with the scoby-whivh i have ordered on amazon
Do let me know soon
As my scoby arrives in 2 days
I have a question about where to store your kombucha while it’s brewing. Can I store it in a cabinet or pantry or does it need more air circulation? I know it needs to stay out of light and I need to make sure it is away from my kids.
Is it possible to start a Kombucha without scoby ? If not, how to get scoby or to make it myself from other ingredients ? Thank you.
just started my first batch. wish me luck!
Awesome Katrina! Enjoy 🙂
You can use about a cup- as long as there’s some in there you’ll be fine. Doesn’t have to be exact 🙂 Hope that helps! – Sylvie
I just made my own scoby…how much starter liquid should I use for this process?
You can use about a cup- as long as there’s some in there you’ll be fine. Doesn’t have to be exact 🙂 Hope that helps! – Sylvie
I’m so glad you found it helpful, Shannon! Hope your kids like it. Don’t worry if it takes you a couple brews to get the hang of it. Sounds like you’re an old pro at this fermenting gig 😉
So excited for this. I ferment everything, and eat ferments with every meal. Even my condiments are all fermented. But I still haven’t made kombucha. I don’t know why. This made me excited to start making my own, and save the $30-60 / month I’m currently spending. My kids and I love drinking kombucha plain, but I also love using it in place of vinegar in homemade salad dressings.
I’m so glad you found it helpful, Shannon! Hope your kids like it. Don’t worry if it takes you a couple brews to get the hang of it. Sounds like you’re an old pro at this fermenting gig 😉
I don’t see why not Shane! Go for it 🙂
I have a bunch of beer brewing supplies including 1 gallon glass jugs with stoppers and airlocks. Would those work for making kombucha?
I don’t see why not Shane! Go for it 🙂
Sarah, good idea. I will do that on recipes from now on. Yes, kombucha is AIP friendly but as with anything, just start slow to see how you respond to it. Every individual is different.
Hi I’m about to start AIP (Feb 1 here I come)! A little nervous about what is ok on AIP so could you put a little marker on recipes that are AIP OK? Am assuming Kombucha is one of those??
Sarah, good idea. I will do that on recipes from now on. Yes, kombucha is AIP friendly but as with anything, just start slow to see how you respond to it. Every individual is different.
hoping for a quick answer here I used to make Kombucha Tea back in late 90’s seems like I remember having to remove my rings when handling the scoby, and that none of the ingredients could touch metal I am about to make my first batch again does anyone know if this is accurate?
Hi Kat,
Honestly, that’s the first time I hear that. Yes, I wouldn’t put it in a metal container but I wouldn’t worry about a brief encounter with your rings. If you feel more comfortable taking them off, go right ahead 🙂
Hope that helps!
Sylvie
Just wanted to say thank you for my Scoby! I received it yesterday, and started my first batch today. Wish me luck!
Sharon
Oh yay! I’m wishing you luck! But, you won’t need it. 🙂 It’s so easy.
Enjoy!
Why do you think it needs to be caffeinated tea? I’ve been brewing decaf and it’s been fine. Just curious.
Interesting Kimberly! I wonder if the little bit of caffeine in the decaf is enough to keep the scoby growing…. I’d love to know what happens if you switch one batch to regular tea. I bet it will ferment more quickly but heck if it works, you can just keep doing what you’re doing! 🙂