Kombucha 101
Kombucha…. What is it? Where did it come from? Why would you want to drink it? How do you make it? These are the questions we will endeavor to answer today!
History:
The exact origin of kombucha is uncertain, though it likely originated in China and spread with tea along the Silk Road. It is widely brewed in parts of eastern Europe, particularly in rural Russia, and is common in China and Korea.
My first experience with Kombucha came at a very early age. It is incredibly popular and well known now, but way back when, it was relatively obscure still! My great grandpa always had a jar of kombucha brewing on his counter and when I would visit, he would let me look at the SCOBY and sample the tea. I still feel a special connection to him when I make kombucha today.
Health:
There are many potential health benefits associated with kombucha, here are the top 5!
Digestion: Kombucha is loaded with probiotics, those friendly bacteria that can help balance your gut flora and improve digestion.
Antioxidant Boost: Thanks to its antioxidants, kombucha might help reduce oxidative stress in your body and support overall cell health.
Immune Support: The probiotics in kombucha can also give your immune system a little boost by keeping your gut defenses strong.
Anti-inflammatory: Some compounds in kombucha could help lower inflammation, which is linked to various health issues.
Liver detox: Early research suggests that kombucha might support your liver's natural detox processes, keeping it happy and healthy.
Ingredients:
You will need 3 ingredients, a glass jar and a cloth to start making your own kombucha.
Ingredient 1- Sugar. You can use regular white granulated sugar, or a less refined sugar option like sucanat.
Ingredient 2- Tea! You want to make sure the tea you select is free from oily or antibacterial ingredients so avoid teas with spices (chai) or orange peel for example. You can add those flavors at the end during the second fermentation, but they can make your SCOBY less than happy so avoid them during the main ferment! More on tea in a minute.
Ingredient 3- SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast). You can source a SCOBY in a few ways. Buy one online, get one from a friend, or make your own from a store-bought bottle!
BEST TEA FOR MAKING KOMBUCHA
Black Tea: Tea leaves that have been oxidized, creating a strong flavor. I am currently enjoying Mountain Rose Herbs English Breakfast for my kombucha, but Lipton also works great as do many other black tea brands. When growing a SCOBY, its best to only use black tea. Once your SCOBY has been through 4 or 5 batches, you can start to experiment with other teas!
Green Tea: These tea leaves have been minimally oxidized, thus creating a mild earthy flavor.
Oolong Tea: Tea leaves that have been only partially oxidized (more than green tea but less than black tea), producing a mild grassy/fruity flavor.
Some Herbal Teas: “Herbal tea” is a blanket term that includes any tea made from something other than “tea plant” leaves. Herbal teas can be made from herbs, spices, or plants. Hibiscus and butterfly pea tea both work well for making kombucha and if you have extra SCOBYs and are up to experimenting, you can definitely trial other herbal teas!
2nd ferment:
A second ferment is where you can add fresh fruit, herbs, spices etc… to your finished kombucha and use a tight-fitting lid (swing top bottles) to let the kombucha infuse with those flavors and also build up some carbonation! If you are going to use fruits or things that may get stuck in your flip top bottles, I would suggest doing your second ferment in a mason jar with a tight-fitting lid. After the second fermentation is finished, strain off the fruit or herbs and then bottle your finished beverage in the flip top bottles or another mason jar to refrigerate.
Flavor Ideas - I love lemon either alone or combined with fresh aromatic herbs, blueberry is also phenomenal especially with a green tea base, apple and cinnamon is a seasonal hit and tropical mango and pineapple are really fun too! As many flavors as you can imagine, you can try in your kombucha!
How to take a break:
So, you have been making kombucha for a while and now you just need to take a break! Hitting pause on your kombucha is very easy! You can make a SCOBY hotel and do fancy things to keep it on pause but honestly, it’s as simple as straining off your most recent finished batch, feeding your SCOBY just a little sweet tea, and leaving it alone for up to a month. After a month or so, strain off some of the extra sour tea (you can use this to make an amazing kombucha BBQ sauce! Recipe on that soon.) and feed a little more just to keep your SCOBY happily hibernating! Once you are ready to start brewing in earnest again, just strain all but the starter needed for your next batch off and add the SCOBY and starter tea to a fresh batch of sweet tea!
Troubleshooting:
Mold is never a good sign, if you truly have mold growing on your SCOBY you should discard it and try again. Yeast is an intrinsic part of this ferment and should be expected. This can appear in the form of brown stringy yeasts hanging from your SCOBY like little jelly fish tentacles or sediment on the bottom of your jar. You can also get a yeast imbalance resulting in an off-white film on the surface of your SCOBY, this is called kahm yeast and is not desirable but also not harmful. Just skim this yeast off and start a new batch, you can still drink the current batch with no issue though you may notice a slightly different flavor.
Recipe:
I almost always make 1-gallon batches, but you can easily scale this up or down as needed! Remember that there are 16 cups in a gallon, and you can easily do the math to convert the measurements to whatever size you want.
1 gallon batch
Water (remember to use non-chlorinated water as chlorine will kill your SCOBY)
1 cup of Sugar (or 3/4 cup maple syrup)
8 bags (or 2 tablespoons loose leaf) Plain Black or Green Tea
1 SCOBY
2 cups Starter Tea (either from a previous batch or store-bought bottled kombucha that is raw and unflavored) honestly, I usually use a little less than this because I usually include the SCOBY in this measurement. It is a forgiving brew; you don't need to be crazy precise in your measurements. Live a little!
Boil your water and combine it with the sugar and tea. Set it aside to steep and cool down for several hours. I often like to start in the evening and let it go over night.
When your sweet tea has cooled, remove the tea bags or strain the loose leaf out.
Add your starter tea and SCOBY. Cover the jar with a tea towel, cheese cloth, or coffee filter and rubber band.
Set the kombucha brew somewhere out of direct sunlight, where it will not be disturbed, at a normal room temperature around 65-80f.
After 5-7 days you should start tasting your brew to see if it has reached your desired flavor! Once it is deemed finished, you can either do a second ferment to add other flavors or you can strain it off and put it straight into the fridge for storage. Enjoy your kombucha within a few weeks/months depending on your comfort level. it is very unlikely to go bad, but the flavor can deteriorate over time.
I hope you now feel prepared to make your own kombucha! If you already make kombucha or are going to give it a try, I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment here or on YouTube to say hello!
God Bless
-Cora
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