make kombucha

How I did it: I got a kombucha baby or "scobie" from a woman on Craigslist who had some to give away.  She also gave me instructions for how to brew kombucha.  I started with the baby and a gallon jar.  I purchased a package of large black tea bags meant for brewing pitchers of tea.  I bought a bag of plain white sugar. 

Lessons & tips: How to:
You will have a scobie in a small amount of kombucha liquid to start.  You can preserve it in the refrigerator for a few days if you aren't ready to start yet, but only for a few days to a couple of weeks or the culture might die.  When you are ready to begin, get out your scobie in its jar and keep it covered with cheesecloth, because it needs to get air for the fermentation process to occur, but you want to keep things like fruit flies out. 

Boil one gallon of water, remove from heat and add enough tea bags to make a strong tea.  Let it steep until the tea is nice and strong but not strong enough to get bitter.  Remove bags and add sugar.  I think you need at least one cup of sugar, maybe more.  Mix the sugar in until well dissolved while tea is till hot.  Allow tea to cool to room temperature.  This is very important because if you add the tea to the scobie when it is too hot you could kill your culture.  Pour the tea into the jar and cover again with cheese cloth.  Keep the jar in a cool dark place for 8-12 days depending on how strong you like your kombucha.  The longer you leave it the more tart your brew will be.  Be careful though because if you leave it too long your culture can die because it has no sugar left to feed it.  I've brewed for up to 14 days with no problem.  Start at 8 and work your way up if you are new to kombucha.  When you are ready to pour off your brew, leave a little bit of liquid in the jar so that your culture does not dry out.  Repeat the process to start another batch.  After a few batches, your scobie will thicken and you can peel away the new layers and you will have a baby, which you can give to a friend or start a 2nd batch with.  When I harvest a baby, I wear gloves to keep from contaminating the culture.  You can preserve the baby for a few days by placing it in a smaller jar with some kombucha liquid and keeping it in the fridge.

I like to mix my kombucha with some organic juice to give it a sweeter flavor and help it last longer.

Resources:

• Gallon size glass jar
• Kombucha "scobie"
• Sugar
• Black Tea or Green Tea bags
• A pot big enough to boil a gallon of water
• Cheesecloth
• a rubber band or twine
• pitcher to store your finished kombucha

Oct 25, 10:25AM PDT | 0 comments | 1 cheer