Back in May, I began making Kombucha, under the tutelage of a good friend.
Update: Someone suggested that honey, being anti-microbial, would kill the scoby. I haven’t seen that happen, but further reading has shown me that it can happen over time. So for that reason, I don’t recommend using honey and I have stopped experimenting with it myself.
I alternate between using plain green tea and jasmine green tea for the tea base. I can’t describe the resulting taste of the jasmine tea, except to say that it is different, fragrant and worth trying just to see if you like it. We do.
For each gallon of tea, you need:
- 6 tea bags (organic green tea or organic jasmine green tea or other tea you prefer)
- 1 cup raw, organic Rapadura (unrefined cane sugar)
- a little less than 1 gallon of pure water (start with 1/2 gallon)
- starter scoby (Kombucha mushroom)
- mature Kombucha tea (about 10% as much as each jar’s volume)
- 1 gallon jar or 2 half-gallon jars
- wooden stirring spoon
- 2 or 3 clean bath/beach towels
You will use 1/2 gallon water, 6 tea bags and 1 cup sweetener per gallon of tea you’re brewing. Put water and tea bags in a big pot. If using Rapadura, add it now. Bring to boil. Remove from heat. Cover. Allow to cool to room temperature. To check, insert a clean finger into the tea — do you get burned or do you feel comfortable?
Photo below shows the tea coming to a boil.
Get your jar(s) ready. Put the scoby and enough mature Kombucha to barely cover it (about 10% as much as the jar’s volume) in the jar(s). Cover with a towel to keep out fruit flies, dust, or other contaminants.
Back to the cooled down tea. With clean hands or a utensil, stir the tea. Remove the tea bags, squeezing out any excess (no waste!). Dip in a serving ladle or mug and taste the tea. Try to remember how it tastes, how sweet it is. This will help later on. Divide up the brewed tea equally among the jars. Use a glass measuring cup, a mug, or anything else that will help if the pot is too heavy or unweildy to pour directly from it to the jars.
Fill up the rest of the jar with pure water to within 1 inch of the top, at the place where the neck of the jar begins narrowing, but isn’t too narrow. This where the scoby will float and grow; it will fill the entire circumference available to it. If you fill the jar too high, it will limit how wide the scoby can grow. Use a wooden spoon to stir the liquid make sure the water is distributed evenly with the tea. Turn the scoby so the lighter side is floating toward the top. If it isn’t floating at the top, don’t worry, it will rise on its own.
Photo below shows my 7 gallon-size jars that I keep in rotation in order to have brewing a constant supply of Kombucha. The photo reveals various stages. The three jars furthest to the left are the most mature. The mushroom is floating at the top and you can see the youngest parts (lighter, almost white colored) growing at the top of the floating mushroom. The next two jars to the right were just filled with fresh tea, and you can see that their mushrooms hadn’t yet risen to the surface. Finally, the two jars on the far right are empty except for a bit of mature tea and the scobys — they are waiting for new tea to fill them.
Arrange jar(s) on a clean beach/bath towel in a warm place of your kitchen (near a heating vent or cookstove) where it (they) can rest undisturbed for several days. Wrap the towel up and over the jar(s). Lay another towel across the top. The Kombucha needs to stay warm and be able to breathe, while being protected from dust and other contaminants.
After 3 or 4 days, unwrap the jar(s). Feel free to do it sooner, depending on how warm your house is. The warmer your house, the faster the tea brews. Does the scoby look healthy? Has it risen to the top surface of the tea? Is it growing a lighter-colored layer on top of the older, darker part? Is its surface smooth? Are there little brown sugar castings (that is what the scoby leaves behind as it eats the sugar)? Are there little bubbles in the tea (natural carbonation)?
My friend who taught me how to make Kombucha said that they only bad thing for which you must watch is fuzzy mold (like on bread). This has not happened to me yet, and I pray that it won’t.
Now taste the Kombucha. Remember how it tasted on the first day? Very sweet likely, with not much else distinguishable. What you’re looking for now is that it has a kick to it, like a wine cooler. It will still taste sweet, but not sooo sweet. Just mildly sweet and then have a bite to it. It should also be naturally carbonated and if you feel a good urge to burp, yay! If it tastes sour, it has likely brewed too long.
If it has brewed too long and tastes too sour, continue on with the directions to pour the tea off into storage containers, but add more sweetener to taste and let it re-brew for a few days.
If it is still very sweet with no kick, wrap up the jar(s) again and let the tea keep brewing a few more days. Check it daily to see if it is done yet.
If it is ready, you’re ready to pour it off into storage containers. Otherwise, let it go a few more days. I believe the average is 5 to 7 days or longer. My tea tends to be done in 4 or 5 days.
Using a funnel to strain out the scoby solids floating around in the tea, pour the contents of the jar into a storage jar. This Norpro 5 1/2-Inch Stainless Steel Funnel with Detachable Strainer
The now almost-empty jars should be lightly covered with towels as they wait to brew a new batch of Kombucha. It will be fine for many days, but why wait to start more of this delicious tea?
New scobies will grow in the storage container. There is more sugar to eat in the tea, and the scoby particles that are too small to be caught by the funnel are still there and more than happy to do that job. So as you pour off smaller amounts for your daily drinking, strain once again with the Norpro funnel. I typically keep a carafe full of tea out on the counter for people to drink throughout the day. I fill it up as it gets emptied.
Photo below shows a 1-gallon storage jug and a carafe full of just-strained Kombucha for our immediate drinking.
And here I’ve just poured my Kombucha which I will drink while I eat breakfast.
Here are a couple of other notes.
After brewing numerous batches, the scoby can be quite large. I keep my scobys about 1-inch thick. When they grow thicker than that, I peel off the bottom layer (keeping the newest growth in the jar) and feed it to the goats. Some of our goats absolutely love to tear into those mushrooms. Or you can compost it. Or you can share it with someone who’s wanting to start brewing their own Kombucha.
Also, I don’t wash my jars in between batches. I will wipe down the outside of the jar(s) after pouring off a batch. As long as the Kombucha keeps producing well, that means there is a healthy culture growing in the jar. If I had a bad batch (not just sour, but bad/moldy), I would wash and sterilize and start over.
This is so great. I ordered 8 gallon jars from Azure, thinking I would use all for storage, but have 4 with nothing to store… I think I have a use for them now! Where is a good place to buy my first scoby?
Hi, Jen! I just emailed you about sending you a part of one of my growing scobys. Love, Wardeh
Jen,
My emails to you aren’t getting through. I will be happy to send you a part of the one of my growing scobys for the cost of shipping. I’d have to pack it in a flat rate box and send it priority, which could be $8 or $9.
I feed my extra scobys to the goats, so I have enough to share. I’ll probably have more in a week or two. Please email me at info @ gnowfglins dot com with your address. Do you have another email besides the one you used for this comment because it is rejecting my emails saying I am a virus?
Love, Wardeh
Wardeh – Well, I think I messed up my first batch! I thought it was just extra tangy, but my husband spit it out… I did have it fermenting for 7 days. I honestly just kept on forgetting to taste it. So now I’m thinking of just starting over… SIGH!
Ok, just tried my second batch and compared it to some store bought (I had never had any besides the other sour batch) and this one was better. It’s not as fizzy as the store bought, but I like the flavor… thanks!
Hi Wardeh! I would love to start making my own batch. My son has a rash on his arm for months now, and I would like to use the tea for its health benefits.I was wondering if u could send me a Kombucha mushroom. My e-mail is olivian_1@hotmail.com. I would greatly appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Keya
Keya,
I will send you an email on Monday, perhaps sooner.
Ok! That would be great.
Thanks,
keya
I was introduced to K-Tea when I visited my sister in Virginia and was given a mushroom. Then I ordered and just received a continuing canister from GetKombucha.com and it holds 2 Gallons. I need a simple to follow – as I am a simple thinking person (dyslectia) I have about a gallon of K-tea ready – about 2c of starter tea and the new mushroom that came with the canister and some recommended tea (loose in a bag). Please help me with a 2 gallong recipe and then when it is ferminted right and I bottle 1 1/2 gallon off how do I replenish? do I just repeat the recipe? Thank you!!!!
Lynn,
My recipe (above) is for 1 gallon of Kombucha, so you would double it. Meaning, use 1 gallon of water, 12 tea bags, and 2 cups of sweetener to make the tea. Since you’re using loose tea that came with it the kit, are there directions for how much to use? If it were me, I’d start with 1/2 cup of loose tea per gallon. I would adjust in the future depending on how I like the taste.
Let the tea cool. When only slightly warm, put it into the canister along with the starter scoby and the 2 cups of starter tea. Then add more water, up to 1 gallon, until the canister is full. Keep it warm and allow it to “cook” for up to a week, give or take. When you’re happy with the taste, pour off all but 2 cups of the tea, leaving the scoby in the canister, too.
Repeat the process with a new batch of tea. Enjoy!
Love, Wardeh
I’m so glad I found this website! My in-laws drink this daily and I’m wondering how much of this tea can they actually drink. I know you mentioned something about drinking it throughout the day or with your breakfast, they only drink about 3 or 4 ozs. 2 times a day. Can they drink more than that?
Monica,
The literature on Kombucha is very experiential and less scientific. For me, I had to work up to having 8 ounces per day because I got lightheaded. Now, I don’t get lightheaded anymore. My husband drinks about 8 ounces three times a day and it has been very beneficial for his overall health. One thing to keep in mind is that the more you drink of K-Tea, the more water you should also drink. Because of the detox action of the K-Tea, you could get dehydrated if you’re not careful.
So unfortunately, I can’t confirm whether what they’re doing is allowable or not. It certainly seems like a modest dosage. Their own bodies should tell them whether it is working for them or not.
Love, Wardeh
Hi there-
Great site with some great tips and advice. I’m in the process of getting myself to prepare my first ever batch of kombucha. I grew my mother from a bottle of GT’s Raw Kombucha (gingerade). I heard you could do this, and indeed it did grow a mother (quite a healhy one at that). My quandry is this. I presume since it took nearly 10 days at room temperature to grow, that the original tea is quite fermented and possibly vinagarey (sp?). I see that most recipes recommend using either a cup of old tea to add to the new batch, or you can substitute about a 1/4th of a cup of distilled vinegar as well. I was thinking of meeting these guidlines half way, and adding a half cup of my old tea to my batch, but was worried it might introduce some bad stuff to my batch.
Any ideas or thoughts on this matter?
Regards,
Rob
Use the old Kombucha, vinegary or not. The new Kombucha needs those bits of scoby that are floating in there, not any level of sugar. Hope it works out for you! -Wardeh
My mother got me started on this tea a few years back, I was a believer of the tea. However a few years back I moved and the container that the mother mushroom was in became cracked, and there were glass shards in the tea, need not to say I dont have my mushroom or tea any more and over the past few years forgot about it. I just came apon your site and got excited about the tea again.. Do you know where I can obtain a mushroom, or recipe to create my own… I hope to hear back from you.
thanks for your time.
steve szymanski, anchorage alaska…
Steve, I emailed you.
-Wardeh
I checked my email and havent seen your email, If you could please email me again, I am sorry about that… I apprecieate your time and information… thanks again…
steve szymanski,
anchorage, alaska
I’ll send again, Steve! -Wardeh
Do you have any recommendations on doing a half recipe?
Also, I had a tea bag explode on my culture and it seems to be absorbing it. I have made a batch of tea since then and it turned out fine. Any thoughts on that?
Stefanie,
With regard to the loose tea leaves, that is fine. That happens to me also. They just become part of the scoby — isn’t that what you’ve seen? I wouldn’t be concerned at all if your batches are tasty and smell good.
For a half recipe, start with 3 tea bags, 4 cups of water, 1/2 cup of sweetener. Make the sweet tea. Add it to a half-gallon jar, along with some mature K-Tea and the scoby. Add water to almost the top. I hope this will help you and that I understood your question correctly.
Love, Wardeh
Yes, the tea leaves are a part of the scoby! I am glad to know it’s okay.
Does the half recipe cut the fermenting time in half as well? I made one and I estimated it will be ready after four days. What do you think?
And a big thank you for responding so quickly and I hope to try some of the recipes on this blog soon.
Stefanie
Stefanie, halving the recipe won’t shorten the amount of “cooking” time. Sorry! It still needs that long to develop. Of course, depending on the conditions, it could be faster. For instance, if you keep your house really warm.
Love, Wardeh
Does it matter if you use raw agave or honey if you are going to boil it anyway?
Kelli
kelli, ill share my own experience: since i use good ‘raw amber agave’ almost exclusively, when i make kombucha i just make the tea and let it cool before i add the agave. it mixes in fine and turns out great.
but i doubt it would matter if you boiled it because it will all get eaten up by the scoby anyway and chemically changed.
however, it would be a shame to use truly raw honey which is so healthful and so expensive, if you are going to boil it!
gab
That’s an awesome suggestion Gabrielle — to add the agave after boiling. I am going to change my tune immediately! Thanks.
Kelli — it is a good point. You’d want to avoid boiling anything as good as raw honey. I’d still have a hard time purchasing non-raw honey myself.
So I think the best thing to do is do what Gabrielle does.
Love, Wardeh
[...] Gabrielle commented that she waits on adding raw agave to tea for making Kombucha until after the tea has boiled and [...]
Gabrielle, yesterday I made tea for four gallons of Kombucha and added the agave after the tea had cooled. So far so good. I feel really good about it, too! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. I learn so much from you and others.
Love, Wardeh
[...] young ladies are coming over this afternoon to learn how to make Kombucha. Last week, at their house, I gave them a taste of it, and they liked it, even though it was a bit [...]
[...] But for a few years now, I have used raw, organic, agave syrup pretty much everywhere else — Kombucha, on top of porridge, in tea, and other baked [...]
Hi Wardeh,
I was just reading about your no sugar challenge, and noticed that you were still drinking Kombucha. I have been brewing and bottling my own kombucha for a while, and also thinking about reducing my sugar intake. I’m curious – what’s your opinion on the residual sugar content in a batch of kombucha? I understand that the sugars are eaten during the fermentation process, and sometimes even turn to a bit of alcohol, but Im not convinced that it’s all gone, even after 10-14 days. What are your thougths?
Courtney
Courtney – Hi! We brew our Kombucha until it is very sour. Even so, I think there must be some left. We’re okay with it because of all the benefits of drinking Kombucha. If you’re wanting to reduce sugar intake, take a look at foods with sugar that don’t have other benefits outweighing them. In our case, we were eating a ton of sweets, something sweet everyday. Be sure to let me know what you decide; I’m very interested in hearing more from you. I learn so much from others!
[...] tablespoons Kombucha, kefir, yogurt, buttermilk, or whey (may also use lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, but they will [...]
Hi Wardeh, Oh my goodness, I just found your blog a little while ago and it is sooo interesting. I have tried Kombucha but, like you said, it made me light headed and I thought because of that I shouldn’t drink it so I stopped. I have always heard too, that it is so good for us but not heard enough to really know why. Do you have any info coming up in future blogs (I, of course subscribed just now too) telling why it is so good? How do I get a mushroom? And where do I get the gallon jars? Can it be refridgerated or should it be kept at room temperature to drink? This is so wonderful, can’t wait to hear from you. Thank you, Michelle
Hi, Michelle! You are so sweet! I really can’t tell you whether or not to stop drinking the Kombucha. Sometimes it affects me more than others, but I do keep drinking it. I just make sure it is at a time when I can sit down or lay down for a bit afterward. There is so much information about why it is good and I will try to do a post soon about that. I would be happy to share a scoby with you; I only ask reimbursement for shipping. Please use the contact form to send me your address and we can make payment arrangements. I get gallon jars from Azure Standard; I believe it is the best price anywhere, but that assumes they deliver nearby, otherwise shipping could double the price. You can refrigerate the Kombucha or refrigerate it. Most of the time, we drink it at room temperature. Then it is usually bubbly – the fridge stops the bubbles.
Hope to visit with you again soon!
hi,
i just found your place, looking for a recipe for kombucha, make with honey.
i saw that you were doing that then quit because someone thought it might kill the scoby. i note that it did not kill it when you were using it, and i used to make it with honey, but lost my starter and recipe, hence my search on the web.
what i wanted to mention to you is that perhaps honey is not “antimicrobial” in its own right. it is a very thick sugar solution, and the concentration of sugars may be what gives honey its antimicrobial and humectant properties. once diluted, it is not likely to be antimicrobial…….
think for a moment of fruit leather, or dried fruit. it does not mold or rot, and that is because the natural sugars are at a high enough concentration to make it a hostile environment for microorganisms.
i think you should feel safe in using honey, and if you were to keep one or two of your jars going with honey kombucha, you would not be risking all…..
thanks for your recipes
canyonwren
canyonwren´s last blog post… Silverjack and Cimmaron
Canyonwren – I love your thinking! It would be a good idea to do a long-term experiment with honey side by side with the other sweeteners. I might do that. Thanks for suggesting it and adding your reasoning.
Hi Wardeh,
Have you tried the double fermentation method using fruit juice in the second step? I read an article over at foodrenegade and wondered if you have tried it. http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-to-brew-kombucha-double-fermentation-method/
The process looks like it can take up a lot of space. Where exactly do you keep your jars? Is it a corner of your kitchen counter or in a cabinet, or cupboard?
Marg´s last blog post… Picking saskatoons
Oh, and are you still using agave to sweeten?
Marg´s last blog post… Picking saskatoons
Marg – Ha, ha! So you did! My bad for forgetting that detail. I am so forgetful about some things. I’m glad you showed me this.
I have never done the double fermentation – if you try it, be sure to let me know how you like it? I have friends here who have done it.
I am using agave until my supply runs out, then I’ll be using evaporated cane juice. We brew our Kombucha really sour so I speculate that most of the fructose is consumed by the scoby by then.
Wardeh,
My first batch has been brewing for about 10 days. I did a taste test and it is all doing pretty well. My jars are different sizes (one is gallon and three 1/2 gallon) so they are all a little different. Only one has a really well formed new scoby, the others are still pretty thin. Anyway, just wanted to share that batch #1 seems to be successful! Thanks for your instructions and tips, they have been helpful!
Blessings,
Sara
Sara – That’s wonderful! Give those others time. If you’re seeing a thin scoby forming, that is a good sign. Sometimes they take more time, as you said.
[...] and will always have some that’s ready to drink. You can find good directions of how to do it here and here; but if you start looking around, you’ll find there are infinite variations on the [...]
Hi,
Someone gave me a mushroom which has grown too large for any jar.
Is it ok to cut it?
Hi again,
I read all the above comments.
I had been wondering about many of those points and found it very helpful to hear what people have said.
I also have those questions about sugar. I know my liver doesn’t like it.
I know that sugar as such robs the body of calcium. Do you know anything about Kombucha in relation to osteoporosis? I have heard that cider vingar is bad for the teeth – makes them rot. What will it do to the bones, if that is true. Vinegar is supposed to clear the joints. It will dissolve an egg shell, what about bones..?! Will Kombucha have negative effects on bones through too much acidity? On the other hand, when there is still some sugar left, it may also affect the bones..? I would love to hear some research results on this.
Thanks again, Star.