Making Your Own Kombucha:
Making Your Own Kombucha:
Ingredients:
2-2 Quart jars
1- Wide mouth gallon glass jar
1 gallon of purified water
10-12 tea bags (any flavor you prefer)
1 cup sugar or 1/2-3/4 cup pure organic 100% maple syrup
2 paper towels
Mushroom/Scoby
Instructions:
Boil your gallon of water with the tea bags. Just like you are making tea. Boil water first, then add tea bags for about 4 minutes. Remove the tea bags. Stir with a metal spoon, because wooden spoons hold bacteria in them.
Add sugar or maple syrup
Let cool completely (this can even sit overnight, just cover)…this is very important…if it is hot at all it will kill your Scoby and your kombucha will fail.
Place it in a freshly cleaned glass container and cover with a piece of cheese cloth (you can also use paper two paper towels, fold where crease and fold where crease is over the container or a washcloth...I recommend paper towels because gnats can get into your container with the cheesecloth since it is not tightly woven enough, a washcloth can also be used, however, I would be concerned with fibers from the washcloth getting into the drink) and secure it with a rubber band (You can store on the counter, in a pantry, or in the oven if it is off). Kombucha likes to be warm, so we leave ours on the counter, next to the oven/stove.
Notes:
Kombucha grows fast at 80-85 degrees and slower at cooler temperatures, so do your best to keep it warmer.
Kombucha is done after 7 days of growing, eating those sugars, and building up in good bacteria. However, each day you let it go past that date, the Scoby will eat more and more of the sugar and it will become more tart. Taste it each day until it reaches your desired taste. Kombucha will have pretty low sugar to no sugar 22-25 days into it.
After it is all done, what do you do?
Pull the Scoby out along with 1 cup of your old batch and place it all on top of your newly made cool tea. Make your new batch the same way you made your first batch. You get to re-use this for your next batch. You will want to make a new batch of tea beforehand, before pulling your mushroom/Scoby out.
Don’t forget to be sure it is fully cooled. If your Scoby is getting too large, you can cut it, and discard or compost it.
After pulling the Scoby out, strain the Kombucha liquid into 2 qt. jars with sealing lids (be sure it is sealed tight), leave on the counter for two days (24-48 hrs),this is called the second ferment; and then store in the refrigerator. It will keep for months and will be carbonated. We always drink ours too quickly for this though.
During the Second Ferment: You can add different ingredients to give your Kombucha different flavors:
Ambrosia Kombucha: 3-4 TBSP fresh pineapple, cut into very small chunks, 2 thin slices of fresh orange (with or without the peel), cut into small pieces, 2 TBSP fresh apple cut into very small chunks, 2 TBSP fresh pomegranate arils.
Apple Pie Kombucha (tastes like apple cider): ¼ organic fresh apple, sliced in thin strips or small chunks, 2-in cinnamon stick broken into smaller pieces, 2 slices fresh ginger, 2-3 seeds from a cardamom pod or ground cardamom, 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice or 2-3 seeds of whole allspice, 1/8 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg, or whole nutmeg (2-3).
Pomegranate and Pineapple Kombucha: 3-4 TBSP fresh pineapple cut into very small chunks, 3-4 TBSP fresh pomegranate arils
Pear and Cardmom Kombucha: ¼ organic fresh pear, cut into chunks, 2-3 seeds from a cardamom pod OR 1/8 tsp. ground cardamom. You can also add 2-3 whole cloves and 2-3 slices of fresh ginger to this if you would like.
Have fun with your yummy new drink and enjoy; drinking up all those delicious nutrients!!
In the meantime your next batch will be working hard to provide you maximum nutrients while you are enjoying glass after glass of this batch. Hopefully your new batch will be ready when you are about out of your old batch!
Enjoy!
