How I Brew my Kombucha - Beginner’s Guide

I’ve been getting into kombucha brewing lately and have just finished brewing my first two batches of kombucha. I was lucky to be gifted a kombucha SCOBY from one of my wonderful friends from my permaculture class and have been passionately making kombucha since. So big thanks to my friend Robbie who got me started on kombucha brewing! If you’re interested in brewing your own kombucha at home, here are the simple steps I’ve been following below.

YOU WILL NEED THE FOLLOWING CONTAINERS:

• 1 large glass jar with wide open top (3-4 litres size)

• 2 glass milk bottles (1 litre size)

• Woven cloth and a rubber band

• 1 large pot (2+ litres size)

AND THE FOLLOWING INGREDIENTS

• 4 tsp loose leaf black/green tea or 4 black/green tea bags (I started off brewing kombucha with green tea & used green tea in this blog post but now I’ve switched to black tea and like it better!)

• 1/2 cup Sugar

• 2 litres water (I’ve been using filtered water, though I’ve read online that it should be ok to use tap water too)

• Kombucha SCOBY (the best way to get a SCOBY is from a friend who brews kombucha as they reproduce with every brew. Otherwise you can always purchase one)

• 250ml (1 cup) Starter tea

• + flavouring options for your second fermentation.

HOW TO MAKE

Kombucha making is divided into two main steps - first fermentation and second fermentation.

FIRST FERMENTATION

1. Make sweet tea using 4 tsp of loose-leaf green tea + 1 cup sugar in 2 litres of boiled water.

2. Let sit for 15 minutes.

3. Remove tea leaves/bag and let the sweet tea cool to room temperature.

4. Add the sweet tea to your large glass jar + starter tea + your kombucha SCOBY

5. Cover the top of the jar with a woven cloth + rubber band.

6. Place in a well ventilated, dark-ish area away from sunlight. This could be a kitchen bench however if it’s too bright you can wrap a towel around it. Try to avoid placing in closed off places like cupboards as the lack of ventilation may cause mould.

7. After 5-7 days, start checking your kombucha by dipping a clean spoon into it to see if it tastes ready. The longer you leave it, the more sour it tastes. The hotter it is, the faster it ferments (aka goes sour tasting)! So it really depends on how you like your kombucha.

SECOND FERMENTATION

1. Pour 250ml of starter tea in a clean jar and set aside in the fridge so you can use this for your next batch.

2. Using a funnel & strainer, tip your unflavoured kombucha into glass bottles, leaving approximately plenty of space (or just below the neck of the bottle) to add your flavouring.

3. Add about 1:9 ratio of fruit juice : kombucha. If you have around 900ml kombucha in each bottle, then add 100ml of fruit juice - you can google lots of kombucha recipe ideas, from ginger to pureed fruit to syrups. I’ve personally used and loved lychee and elderflower syrup. But there are soo many options out there and this is where kombucha making gets fun!

4. With the two bottles of kombucha, pop the lids on and let them sit for 2-4 days. With the second fermentation, the longer you let sit, the fizzier kombucha gets. However, kombucha only gets fizzy if your bottles are absolutely airtight and if you are wanting very fizzy kombucha, make sure you keep an eye out on your bottles so they don’t explode. You may have to ‘burp’ your kombucha daily to make sure the build up of fizz is safe.

5. Once you’re happy with the taste and fizz of your second fermentation, pop the kombucha bottles in the fridge to stop it from fermenting further as well as getting more fizzy. Your kombucha is now ready to drink!

Just for a guideline on how long I ferment my kombucha for - I’m in Melbourne Australia and have been making it over the tail end of summer. I do my first fermentation over 7 days, and my second fermentation over 2 days. In winter, I’ll be expecting for it to take closer to 14 days for the first fermentation as the temperature drops.

When I first started making kombucha, I spent a lot of time procrastinating as I didn’t want to get it wrong and couldn’t figure out how long each fermentation should take. In the end, I just went for it. After all, the two fermentations are more about taste and flavour so just go for it and as you start to get an idea of the taste profile you prefer, you can start adjusting your fermentation times to suit.

I hope this helps and happy kombucha making! I’m still a beginner, but I thought I’d share how I currently am making it, as a lot of you have been asking on Instagram! Maybe one day I’ll do an updated post with some more advanced tips and tricks.