Making Kombucha At Home

Kombucha is made from a black tea or green tea base and can easily be made at home – you’ll need a pot of t...

Making Kombucha At Home

Kombucha is made from a black tea or green tea base and can easily be made at home – you’ll need a pot of tea, sugar and most importantly, a starter culture or scoby. 

WHERE CAN I GET SCOBY?

You can buy a scoby from many health food retail stores or online. You can also ask a friend who regularly brews their own kombucha if you can have a portion of their scoby (known as a baby) once it has doubled in size.

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 litres water
  • 4 – 5 Nerada black tea bags or Nerada green tea bags or Nerada loose-leaf tea – enough to make a strong flavour
  • 1 cup white or raw sugar
  • 1 kombucha scoby (see below)
  • 1 cup kombucha liquid from a previous batch
DIRECTIONS
  1. Boil water. Add the sugar and water to a large saucepan and simmer until the sugar is dissolved.
  2. Remove from the heat, then add the tea bags or tea to the sugar water to steep.
  3. Remove the tea bags, or completely strain the loose leave tea leaves, and allow the solution to cool to room temperature.
  4. Pour into a large, sterilised glass jar, then add starter tea from a previous batch. Then add an active scoby.
  5. Cover the jar with a tight-weave tea towel or square of paper towel, and secure with string or a rubber band.
  6. Allow the mixture to sit undisturbed in a warm, dry place (ideally 24-32ºC) out of direct sunlight. Leave for a minimum of 7-10 days. Note: the longer the kombucha ferments, the less sweet and more vinegary it will taste.
  7. During this time, it will grow a baby scoby on the top of the liquid. It will also develop a sour, tart flavour as the scoby consumes the sugar in the liquid.
  8. There is no right or wrong time to stop fermentation, you can simply taste the kombucha by sliding a straw down the side of the jar so as not to disrupt the scoby on the surface. When it has reached the sweet/sour balance you prefer, it is ready to drink. Transfer the scoby to a smaller jar with a little of the kombucha and cover with a cloth or paper towel to use in a subsequent batch, then transfer the kombucha to a bottle and store in the fridge.
  9. Keep the scoby along with one cup of the liquid for a subsequent batch in the same conditions where you fermented the kombucha.
  10. The finished kombucha can be flavoured and bottled or enjoyed plain. Try orange and ginger or strawberry and ginger.