You could easily pay up to $4 for a small bottle of kombucha at the health store, yet it is easy and relatively inexpensive to make it at home. When you make it at home you also get to make it just as you like it, want it a little stronger, leave it a day longer; want it berry flavoured or ginger flavoured, the choice is yours. To make it at home you need six simple things: A SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast)with starter liquid, tea, sugar, clean water, a warm place and time, that's it, that is all you need....oh and a couple of one gallon containers, preferably made of glass.
There is much myth, much mystery, many claims and all sorts of fads around the drink, I am not going to say it will heal all your woes, or that it will be the answer to all your problems. We do know that probiotics are good for you with proven health benefits, but when anyone mentions the word probiotic we immediately think of yoghurt, sauerkraut or kimchi. That is fine but unless you make your own yoghurt, commercial yoghurt contains oodles of sugar as well as other ingredients you may not want in your healthy diet (just look at the ingredient list on the packaging.) Sauerkraut that has been bought has usually been pasteurised, again bringing into question the diversity of the remaining healthy bacteria. As for kimchi, let's face it, not everyone likes it or wants to go to work the next day breathing fire and garlic! We drink a glass of kombucha every day because we like it and it ensures a healthy dose of daily probiotics. We also eat homemade yoghurt, sauerkraut, and kimchi, but not on a daily basis.
Here is how to make it:
Bring a gallon of unchlorinated, non-fluoridated water to the boil and add 4-5 tea bags (just regular black tea will do) and a cup of sugar. Allow the tea to cool to room temperature.
Place the SCOBY and starter liquid in a clean gallon glass jar and add the cooled tea. Place a coffee filter over the jar and secure with an elastic band. We write the date on the coffee filter as you will want to set the jar to one side for 10-15 days. We do the first fermentation for 10 days, but that is a question of taste, the longer the fermentation the more sour it will taste. Now some people leave it at this and strain off the kombucha into a clean jar or bottles and refrigerate. Whatever you decide, you will need to keep the SCOBY and some starter liquid in your gallon jar for the next batch.
We go on to a second fermentation. You can use berries, soft fruit or our favourite, fresh ginger (NO citrus). Put aside the jar with the SCOBY and starter, you won't use this till your next batch. Just keep it covered and don't allow it to dry out. Place the filtered kombucha in a clean gallon jar, grate your ginger or crush your fruit and add it to the kombucha with a few tablespoons of sugar. Cover with a clean coffee filter secured with an elastic band. Allow to sit for 5 more days. Filter and put the finished kombucha into bottles or large container and refrigerate, it is now ready and refrigeration will stop the fermentation process.
If you want your kombucha to be really fizzy, simply put the filtered product into airtight bottles, we use Grolsch beer bottles with the wire tops. Beware, if you use this method, the pressure can build up. We have never had a bottle explode but it is possible, so take all the precautions needed for home brewing. We keep our bottles in the refrigerator slowing down the fermentation, perhaps that is why we have never had an exploded bottle.
There are a few things that should never come near your kombucha process, anti-bacterial soap or dish washing soap, citrus of any sort, or metal objects. Keep it clean, keep it simple.
Enjoy your kombucha and as your SCOBY grows, share it with friends so they can start their own, too. We throw the SCOBY from the second ferment and the remaining fruit out to the chickens. The dogs like it, too but we have found it may make them unpleasant to be around as it gives them some rather smelly gas.
Any questions and we will be happy to try and answer them.
