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This is the follow-up to Brew Your Own Kombucha – Part 1. In other words, you’ve now cultivated your own SCOBY and are ready to make your first batch of kombucha! For this recipe you’ll need some equipment:
5 l fermentation vessel, for example Kilner Fermentation Set or similar
10 x 0.5 l bottles, for example Kilner Bottle or similar
(There are many different suppliers to choose from in various price ranges)
Cleaning detergent to disinfect equipment
When I make kombucha, I make 10 liters per batch. For this you need double the equipment and 2x SCOBY. On the other hand, I then brew about once a month and always have delicious kombucha available!
Ingredients
- 5 l boiled water
- 300 g sugar
- 3 tbsp black tea (for example Twinings English Breakfast)
- 1 x SCOBY with liquid from when you cultivated the SCOBY
Instructions
Start by boiling water. When the water boils, turn off the heat, add sugar and black tea. Let the mixture cool down to room temperature. This takes quite a long time, so remember to do this well in advance of brewing. When the mixture has cooled, pour it through a strainer directly into a clean fermentation vessel. Add the SCOBY plus the liquid from when you cultivated the SCOBY. This mixture should now sit for 1 to 2 weeks to ferment. What happens during this process is that the yeast from the SCOBY consumes the sugar, so that the final product has a low sugar content. Black tea contains certain bacteria, which together with the fermentation process that the SCOBY initiates produces lots of good bacteria that can be beneficial for gut flora.
If you're unsure whether the kombucha is ready, you should taste the mixture. It shouldn't be too sweet, but have a light, tangy flavor (a bit like apple cider vinegar).
When the mixture is ready, remove the SCOBY and approximately 250 ml of the liquid. Store this in a container in the refrigerator until the next time you brew kombucha.
Now you can either bottle it and get a natural, pure flavor on the kombucha. Or, you can experiment with flavoring – which I always do. Sure flavor winners include 400 g fresh raspberries, passion fruit, or ginger (you can buy frozen passion fruit for making smoothies at the store, for example Oda, or bottles of ginger shots at most grocery stores). Add your chosen flavoring and let this infuse with the kombucha for 24 hours.
After flavoring, you're ready for bottling. Make sure the bottles are completely clean by using a bottle cleaner (special type of detergent). Strain the flavored kombucha into the bottles through a funnel and leave a little air at the top of the bottle. The bottles should sit on the kitchen counter for about 24 hours. This allows the mixture to carbonate due to the sugar in the flavoring! After 24 hours, you must refrigerate the bottles, otherwise they'll continue to carbonate. This can lead to some unpleasant moments when you open the bottle 🙂
Serve cold and enjoy slowly.