Kombucha Recipe

This first fermentation is where you finally make the kombucha. For the scoby recipe, click on this link. Use organic ingredients preferably. Do not use decaf tea.

Ingredients 

*14 cups clean water

1 cup (200 g) unrefined sugar 

2 Tbsp loose leaf tea (I use 1 Tbsp black tea and 1 Tbsp green tea)

2 cups unflavoured starter kombucha (either from a previous batch or store bought) 

1 scoby (1/4 inch)

A large glass or ceramic jar (1.25 gallon glass jar as in scoby recipe )

Tightly woven cloth with rubber bands to attach to the jar (as described in scoby recipe above)

*NOTE: For simplicity, I dissolve my sugar and steep my tea in 4 cups of boiling water. I then add 10 cups of cool water directly to the jar after I have strained the tea.

Directions: 

Boil water. Add the sugar to a heat safe container. Remove the water from heat and dissolve the sugar into it. Next, add the tea and allow to steep while water cools to room temperature (3 to 6 hours). 

The water must be room temperature so as to not damage your scoby in hot water.  

With very clean hands, gently remove your scoby from the tea and place on an equally as clean plate. 

Strain sweetened tea into your clean jar, then pour in 2 cups starter kombucha and cool water so that the total liquid is 14 cups water and 2 cups starter kombucha)

Gently place scoby into jar then cover with a few layers of the tightly woven cloth and secure it with a rubber band.  This cloth covering keeps out bugs and dust. Set somewhere dark and at room temperature, for 6 to 10 days.

Begin tasting the tea at about 5 days, using a clean wooden spoon. It should be mildly sweet and slightly vinegary. The warmer the air temperature, the faster the kombucha will ferment. The longer the tea ferments, the more sugar molecules will be eaten up, the less sweet it will be. 

Strain into clean glass jars.

Important: Reserve 2 cups kombucha from this batch to use as starter liquid for your next ferment. Cover scoby with this kombucha and make your new batch within a few days. I store mine in the fridge.

Things to note about the first fermentation: 

You can add any fruit to flavour your kombucha after straining. I add 1 Tbsp honey to each batch and allow to sit at room temperature,  6 to 8 hours or over night before transferring to the fridge.

Do not favour your starter kombucha. Your scoby will grow with each batch. You can store these in the fridge .

For the scoby recipe, click on this link.