A funny thing happens when a blogger gets sick – I mean sick enough that the past 4 days have been a blur of tea, broth, kombucha, and lying down. The funny thing is (okay not so much funny, but rather annoying for me!) that I realized I had no “weekly workout” post to write or even weekend highlights to share, since beginning somewhere around 2pm on Thanksgiving, a fever and monster of a respiratory infection knocked me down and kept me down for days.
It’s a little sad to get that sick for Thanksgiving, but actually the timing wasn’t all that bad – I had Adam to help me with the kids and chores, and the long weekend meant I could spend whatever energy I could muster to get my go-to home remedies in order – tea, bone broth, and kombucha.
I still use the same recipe from last year for my bone broth and I’ve continued to have success with it. I wish I’d had some available at the first sign of a sore throat, but better late than never! Today, I’m going to share the method I use to brew kombucha at home, which I’ve been doing for about 4 months now.
*This post contains affiliate links to products I purchased for my own personal use and highly recommend. If you use a link to make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.
What You’ll Need:
- A good SCOBY – SCOBY is an acronym for symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast, and this is what you use to ferment your sweet tea to turn it into Kombucha! I purchased a Kombucha Kamp SCOBY on Amazon and I would highly recommend turning to Kombucha Kamp when just starting out, since they provide you with instructions, tips, and tricks for successful brewing. If you purchase their starter kit (link above), you receive starter liquid and their special tea blend along with your SCOBY. *The recipe I use to make my kombucha is based on the instructions provided to me in my starter kit.
- Starter Liquid – If you don’t purchase from Kombucha Kamp, make sure you also get starter liquid with your SCOBY because this is essential for the SCOBY to thrive and for you to brew your first batch.
- Filtered water – Make sure you have a good supply of filtered water, since certain minerals in tap water can hurt your SCOBY and ruin your kombucha.
- 2 1-Gallon glass containers – I started out with one of these fermentation jars and quickly realized that I’d need two of them, since once you’re brewing regularly you’ll have enough SCOBYs to brew 2 batches at a time, at least!
- Glass bottles with lids + a funnel – I know that these bottles (pictured) are very popular for Kombucha! They’re easy to store and clean, too.
- Black tea, green tea, or a combination – Organic is preferable, but not required to brew. I used a combination of green and black for mine.
- Sugar – Plain white sugar is ideal for your SCOBYs – don’t try to attempt “healthier” sugars because apparently SCOBYs do not like this! Just figure your SCOBY is eating most of it – not you.
- Small pieces of fruits and fresh herbs to flavor your brew when bottling – *This is optional
- Cotton kitchen towels and rubber bands to cover the brew.
- A warm, dark (out of sunlight) place for your Kombucha to brew. I use a dark corner of my kitchen.
Start Brewing:
Step 1: With a large measuring cup, measure out 4 cups (1 quart) of cold filtered water. Heat the water until bubbles just form, remove from heat and let sit a few minutes to cool slightly.
Step 2: Add the hot 4 cups of water to your gallon glass container, and add in 5 standard tea bags. I use a mix of black and green organic teas, usually 3 green and 2 black.* Let the tea steep for about 10 minutes before removing tea bags.
*Don’t use herbal tea and don’t use flavored tea.
Step 3: After removing tea bags, add 1 cup of white sugar to the tea and stir until it fully dissolves. Now you will add 8 cups (2 quarts) of cold filtered water to the gallon container.
Step 4: Once you add the 8 cups filtered water, it’s time to add your SCOBY and starter liquid (finally!) Place your SCOBY right on top and pour the liquid over. Place a cotton kitchen towel over the top of the container and secure with a rubber band.
Step 5: Put your brew in a warm and dark, but ventilated location (relatively, at the very least away from sunlight, in a corner) and allow it to sit for 7 days.
If you check on it part way through the week, you’ll probably be slightly horrified by what appears to be growing! This is not mold or anything bad, it’s simply a “baby SCOBY” forming, and, by the end of the week, it should resemble a younger version of the mother 🙂
Once 7 days is up, you can taste your brew (using a straw slipped underneath the SCOBYs) to decide if you want to begin bottling, or allow it to ferment a few more days. The strength of your brew is a personal preference! Over the summer, 7 days was sufficient, but since it’s gotten colder, my brews have been taking 10 days – 2 weeks to ferment to my liking.
I recently purchased this heating strip to help my kombucha along during the cold winter months! Kombucha Kamp also offers various packages containing items needed for continuous brewing, which is something to look into for sure if you want to do this long term!
Bottling:
When your brew is ready after 7-10 days, it’s time to bottle! This is the fun part for me, since I like experimenting with different fruits for flavoring.
Step 1: To flavor your Kombucha, put small pieces (very small!) of fresh fruit or herbs of your choice directly into the bottles before adding the kombucha. I’ve used apples, strawberries (my favorite), lemon (the juice), ginger, pear, grapes, and blueberries. I also sometimes prefer to keep it simple and original and it’s delicious that way too.
Step 2: Remove the mother SCOBY and baby and place in a shallow dish. Pour 1/2-3/4 cup of liquid from the top of the brew over the SCOBYS.
Step 3: Using your funnel, transfer the kombucha into your glass bottles (if flavoring, the fruit should be in there already.) You can strain the yeast strands if they bother you (or just avoid them.) Keep in mind that berries will cause the Kombucha to bubble more, so leave a bit of room at the top of the bottles.
Step 4: Secure the lids and allow to sit on the countertop for 2 days while the kombucha ferments with the fruit. After 2 days, transfer to the refrigerator to stop fermentation and chill. They will last up to a month, but, mine generally last me less than a week!
Step 5: Start a new brew (back to step 1!) with the mother SCOBY and baby, plus the liquid from the top of the first brew. If you aren’t starting a new brew right away, place a kitchen towel over the SCOBYs and keep them away from light (just as when brewing) to keep them happy!
You will start to notice after a few brewing cycles that you have more SCOBYs than you know what to do with! I have not yet jumped into continuous brewing, but it’s something I’m considering since it would make my brewing run more smoothly, and I won’t have to waste any SCOBYs. To keep your SCOBYs healthy, make sure they have a supply (from the top of an old brew, or mature kombucha) to feed off of when not in use, and keep them covered with a cotton cloth in a warm, dark (but ventilated) location.
For more info on brewing kombucha at home, these are great sources:
Do you drink Kombucha?
Do you have questions/concerns about brewing at home?
Very interesting! I have only had Kombucha twice, and the second time I bought it a lady behind my in the store was telling me that I should brew it at home. It still sounds too overwhelming for me! I think I would need to be in the habit of drinking it regularly.
If you’re drinking it several times a week it’s definitely worth it. Overwhelming only until you finish the first batch!
I’ve never tried kombucha and had no idea it’s actually fermented tea. I feel like I should have known that. I obviously don’t drink outside the box much. After reading this, I am now curious though.
There are a lot of health benefits to including some fermented foods in your diet – for me this is the tastiest!
You poor thing. I hope tha tyou are much recovered! I’ve tried Kombucha before, and it was ok. I like my Kevita a bit more 😀
I’m getting there – finally on an antibiotic but it’s slow healing! I tried Kevita long ago and it was a bit sweet for me but still good.
I was seriously thinking about this yesterday and your thoughts on your home brewing! I think it would be cheaper in the long run, but do you see much of a financial gain in making your own even with buying the starter kit and bottles? I know I need to pull the trigger and just try!
If you drink a bottle multiple times per week it’s absolutely worth it! The starter kit plus gallon containers and bottles last you indefinitely and come to under $100 for sure, even if you start with nothing. Kombucha is 3.50-4.00 per bottle so it’s definitely a money saver if you buy regularly.
You sound much more sick than I was…so sorry. Hope this week is better! YAY for this tutorial. I was thinking I wanted to try it after graduation when I’m home.
I’m on an antibiotic as of an hour ago so hopefully that will knock this crazy bug out for good! Once you dive in it’s really not difficult or overwhelming at all! And I have very limited space and time too!
This is fabulous! Sent it to my mom…she’s a huge kombucha lover so I have a feeling she will be brewing in no time 🙂
Once you get started you really get used to it!
I hope you feel better soon! I’ve never actually tried kombucha, but the home brewing process definitely intrigues me and makes me want to try it out.
Thank you! Kombucha is great, I was mainly just spending too much on it and needed to start making it at home!
Well this is going in the FF 😉 And you just taught me what SCOBY meant!! And I feel pretty confident I could do this, now that I’ve grown my own sourdough starter!
You can definitely do this! I also want to make my own sauerkraut and other fermented veggies but haven’t gotten around to that yet.
You make it sound so easy! I love kombucha, but hate the price tag that comes with the store-bought kind, so being able to brew my own would be a dream. The only thing is that I have a serious fear of doing something wrong and poisoning myself 😆 My mom’s been brewing her own kefir for years and years and hasn’t had any problems, but… my luck… something would happen. I’ll probably still give it a go one day though!
I was mildly afraid, but, I have to say it is really not as scary as it sounds/looks at first! And if there’s something wrong with it, I think you’ll see it loud and clear. I figure technically the store bought could make us sick too, at least we know exactly how long it’s brewed and hung out this way.
I hope you are starting to feeling better! I haven’t had kombucha in a while, I was drinking a lot of it in the summer.
As of an hour ago I took the first antibiotic so I’m hopeful! I figure after this I’m due to stay healthy for a while, at least I hope.
I’ve never tried kombucha before, but I love that it has so many health benefits. I will have to give it a try the next time I’m at Whole Foods.
You’ll love it I’m sure! GT’s brand is great, and Whole Foods has a huge selection of great flavors. I think lavender and the “green” one were the only ones I didn’t like.
Hope you feel better soon. I’ve never tried Kombucha of any kind but will have to do so as I’ve heard so many good things about it.
Fermented foods of all kinds have great benefits, I think kombucha is on the top of my list!
I’m (im)patiently waiting for my first ever kombucha batch to brew! What do you recommend for bottles? Knowing how I procrastinate, in a few days I’ll taste it and be all, “great, it’s done! Now where do I put you?”
I bought mine on amazon and linked to them in the bottling section I think. They look like beer bottles with flip lids! I’ve also seen similar ones at Target I think. Lots of love to your first brew 🙂
Love Kombucha and after your first batch and the nerves that come with it pass, it really is so simple! I wish I had started years ago!
With the hot temps here in Australia its brewing really quickly too!
I definitely feel the same, and the summer temps are great for it 🙂
I love brewing at home kombucha. So cost effective and it means I can drink as much as I want and then just make more! Hope you’re on the mend!
Totally agree! And thanks, definitely doing better today!
I have been waiting for this post! It sounds a lot less overwhelming than I thought. I think after the holidays I will give it a shot. I’m deifnitely buying 2-3 bottles a week sometimes! I love it!
It’s SO worth a shot! In a month it will already pay off, plus you’ll have more healthy SCOBYs than you’ll know what to do with, so no end in sight 🙂 I do think I need the heating strip now to speed things along now that it’s cold.
My favorite kind of kombucha is the kind which comes with booze. 🙂
Great post, very informative.
I guess if it ferments long enough… 🙂
I’ve known hannah from Kombucha kamp for years!!! she’s my go to resource as well. she got me started brewing back in 2010.
That’s so cool Lindsay! Glad I started brewing finally – just wished I started a year earlier.
Hi The Kom I drink is from whole foods, and its fizzy. Does this one turn out fizzy or is there a way to make it that way? Thanks!
Gail
For me, during the flavoring step I add berries which makes it fizz a lot. Also, make sure it brews long enough. I find my brew is fizzier in the summer with the warmer temps.
Hello, not sure if you are still responding here, but I’m having a tough time with the cost-benefit of home brewing Kombucha. It’s $3.50 for a 16oz bottle at my store, which is about $28/gallon. The SCOBY kit online is $30 and makes a gallon. Where’s the savings?
The SCOBY makes a whole lot more than a gallon, since for every gallon you brew a new SCOBY is produced. So, you can then make 2 more gallons and so on. You actually wind up with TOO many SCOBYs if you keep on brewing, and theoretically can brew endlessly for years and years if you want to with that first $30 purchase 🙂
Ahhh, that’s so cool!! For some reason I was thinking I had to keep purchasing a new SCOBY, but now I’m hooked. Thank you so much for your reply. And my wife and I LOVE your website. We’ve learned so much here and the recipes are amazing.