Kombucha

How To Brew Kombucha

The first step in brewing kombucha is to obtain a scoby. I bought Gonzales mail order, but here’s the thing about scobies: Every time you brew kombucha you get a new one. (That’s not actually Gonzales; it’s something like Gonzales XXIV.) It should be easy if you live in a larger area to find someone with a spare scoby to give away through Freecycle or Craigslist–heck, just email your friends and I bet you’ll turn one up. If, however, you’re out in the middle of scoby-less territory, I bought mine at Kombucha.org, which is also a good source of information. You can also try the International Kombucha Exchange, where you’ll find people who will give scobies away. When you get your scoby, make sure the person gives you at least a cup of kombucha as well.

Once you have your scoby, you’ll want to keep it in the fridge in the kombucha it came in until you’re ready to use it. Store it in glass if at all possible; plastic can leach into the kombucha, and metal is reactive with its acids. I have a Corningware container I keep mine in.

To brew your kombucha you need:
3 1/2 quarts of filtered water–the chlorine in tap water can hurt your scoby! Filter the water through a Brita or other water filter, let it sit out overnight to let the chlorine evaporate (happy thought, no?) or use bottled water. Doesn’t have to be distilled, just non-chlorinated.
1 cup regular old white sugar
5 regular old black tea bags–you can get as fancy as you like with the tea, but I use garden variety restaurant supply tea bags. Red Rose, Lipton, whatever. AVOID ARTIFICIALLY FLAVORED TEAS like Earl Grey or Constant Comment. If you want to experiment with flavor, try different kinds of tea like green or white, or substitute a bag of herbal or spice tea for one of the black tea bags. I like putting in a bag of Yogi Tea. Just make sure the bulk of the tea is camellia sinensis–the plain old tea plant–in some form.
A large pot
A gallon-sized glass jar
A piece of cloth that will cover the top of the jar
A rubber band or something similar that is big enough to go over the mouth of the jar
Your scoby and at least 1/2 cup of leftover kombucha from your last batch

Be sure your hands and equipment are very clean. Bring the water to a boil in the large pot. Once it’s come to a boil, turn off the heat, dump in the sugar and add the five tea bags. Set your timer for 15 minutes and take out the tea bags once it goes off. Put the lid on the pot and leave it to cool. I usually leave it overnight.

Once your tea is cool, pour it into the glass jar. Wash your hands well, take up your scoby gently and slide it into the tea. Add at least a half-cup of already-brewed kombucha. If you don’t do this, the tea won’t be acidic enough and it’ll mold. Cover the top with the cloth and fasten the cloth with the rubber band. It’s important to put the rubber band on to keep out fruit flies, and the kombucha needs air so don’t be tempted to just put a regular lid on. Put the jar in a dark, warm place in your kitchen. I don’t go out of my way; I have a hallway pantry where I do all my ferments and it’s not especially warm but it is out of the sun. Cooler places mean a longer ferment time, that’s all. Forget about your kombucha for at least a week.

After a week, check on your jar. You should see a new scoby forming at the top. If you see green mold, your tea wasn’t acidic enough. Take out the scoby and start over. If the mold is just on the tea, not the scoby, you won’t have to throw the culture out too, but if it’s on the scoby, you’re back to square one. This has only happened to me once in two years.

Your kombucha is through brewing when the new “baby” scoby is at least 1/8″ thick. You will know in time how long to leave your kombucha on to brew; the longer you leave it, the more sour it gets, and you’ll learn how long to leave it to get it just right for your taste. We like it half-sweet half-sour and fizzy.

Oh yes! The fizzy part. Or:

Storing Your Kombucha
Yes, kombucha is naturally carbonated! To keep the carbonation in, I use bottles called EZ Caps. Some imported beers come in bottles like this–Grolsch is one–so if you know any beer connoisseurs see if you can talk them into drinking a case for you and saving the bottles. Freecycle might also be a source for these bottles. If not, you can buy them at most wine and beer brewing supply houses. They’re not too expensive and you’d be amazed how handy they are; I don’t know what I did without EZ Caps around.

In any event, whatever you decide to do, store your kombucha in glass. Metal is reactive and plastic can leach into the kombucha. If you don’t want to use EZ Caps I’d suggest mason jars with plastic lids, but I can’t say that it’d keep the fizz in very well. Keep it in the fridge. It stores pretty much indefinitely. Over a long time it may grow a tiny scoby at the top of the bottle, and it may get more sour, so keep that in mind. If it gets too sour, it makes a good vinegar substitute in salad dressings. (DO NOT use it in pickling/canning; it has too variable a pH.)

Drinking Kombucha
Some people find that they’re sensitive to kombucha at first; it can give you stomach rumbles and be fairly, uh, cleansing to the bowels shall we say. It’s suggested you drink no more than two ounces a day until you know how your body handles it. I have worked up to being able to drink a whole 16 oz. EZ Cap bottle at a go, mostly in the summertime because it’s so dang refreshing, with no ill effects, though when I first drank it I did have a bit of a rumbly tummy–not bad, and not at all painful, but my internal flora were definitely adjusting. That’s to the good; properly brewed kombucha is one of the best of the probiotics.

But mostly, kombucha tastes great! It’s healthy, delicious and cheap. What more could you want from a science project?

Benefits Of Kombucha

Like yogurt, kombucha is probiotic, having live beneficial bacteria and can be made at home. However, unlike yogurt, kombucha is made with black or green tea. sugar, and water. Kombucha is a live fermented tea with beneficial yeasts and bacteria. It can take 8-15 days to ferment kombucha at home, although it can be purchased in stores with live probiotic bacteria.

Kombucha has the same amount of alcohol as fruit juice. That is, less than one percent of the entire drink. The brewing term for a very low alcohol drink like kombucha is an elixir.

Why drink fermented black tea? After all, it’s easier, faster, and cheaper to brew regular black or green tea.

Kombucha has a wide array of benefits far beyond regular black or green tea. In general, it helps digestion, detoxification, and assimilation of nutrients. That in turn improves health.

Many kombucha drinkers report having more energy, stamina, and greater resistance to colds and flus. Others have found that drinking Kombucha helps them sleep better, overcome depression, chronic fatigue, candidiasis, and other ailments.

Labels: beyond kombucha, buy kombucha in bulk, fried kombucha, kombucha time to drink with lowest alcohol

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