How to Make Your Own Kombucha
You don’t have to be a trippy yoga-teacher or cult-leader type to love what tastes like the lovechild of sweet tea and champagne. One of my favorite drinks is kombucha. Until fairly recently, it wasn’t a thing most places outside Southeast Asia. Now it is one of the fastest growing bottled beverages in the world. But many people don’t even realize that making kombucha at home is easier than you might think. And don’t get me started on the money you can save, but basically you can brew an entire batch for the price of one bottle of booch!
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As a nutrition coach, I’ve noticed that a lot of the clients who start with me haven’t been eating enough probiotic foods. Did you know that traditionally, about a third of the human diet across most cultures is fermented? In Sudan, 60-70% of traditional cuisine is fermented, from sorghum beers and vegan meat substitutes to fermented sauces and pastes. Yumazing! [1], [2], [3]
Basically, fermented foods help you break down, digest and absorb what we eat. It’s always good when your body isn’t just a middleman between the grocery shelf and the sewer! In my opinion, the best fermented foods for you are those you make yourself in your own home. It goes back to the idea of terroir, a winemaking term that roughly means “tastes like the place it’s from.” There are also theories about how bacteria and yeasts specific to your locale can help you adapt to the environment you live in. While the idea hasn’t been proven in a research study (to my knowledge), it may be worth considering. [4], [5]
One of the coolest things about kombucha is the amount of polyphenols and antioxidants it has. Sure the probiotics are a plus, but that's what people usually talk about. What we need to talk about is how fermentation takes the nutrient status of a food and literally pimps it the f out! I'm talking glutathione,
So here’s how you make your own locally:
Supplies
1 large glass or ceramic container (plastic and metal can leech into ferments)
Wooden spoon, whisk or other utensil for stirring
Cheesecloth or paper towel
String or rubber band
Bottles that can take some pressure (don’t use any funky shapes unless you want them to explode and make you hate your life)
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
3-5 bags green tea
12 cups chlorine-free water (see “Chlorine” at end of post for options)
16 oz kombucha
1 SCOBY (optional)
Instructions
Heat 4 cups water to scalding hot or just below boiling (190-200 Fahrenheit. This doesn’t have to be exact, but the closer the better).
Pour about half over the tea bags and steep for 3 minutes or longer (I have left them in there for hours). Let cool to room temperature before you gently press and remove them.
Pour the rest of the water over the sugar and stir it until it is completely dissolved. Set aside until it is room temperature. You may want to cover it to keep stray bugs away.
Combine all the ingredients at room temperature in a glass or unleaded ceramic container.
Cover with a cheesecloth or paper towel and fasten it in place with a rubber band or string. Your brew needs to be able to breath.
Keep it in a place where it will get air, and be aware that temperature will affect how quickly fermentation happens. Cooler temperatures will slow it down and warmer temperatures will accelerate growth (extreme temperatures can kill bacteria). Anywhere from the mid 60s to high 80s Fahrenheit is good.
Taste or pH test every few days to make sure it’s coming along. It can take anywhere from 3 to 14 days to ferment your brew. There are a lot of variables, so it’s important to keep checking.
Once it reaches 2.5-3.5 pH or it tastes like green tea and white wine had a delicious baby, it’s ready to bottle. The lower the pH, the more acidic it will be, and if you like a sweeter taste, closer to 3.5 would be better. Fill the bottle up, but leave just under an inch (2-3 cm) at the top. If you want to flavor your kombucha by doing a second ferment, leave an extra inch or so. There’s a recipe for second ferment syrup below.
Second Ferment (optional)
This is your opportunity to get creative. You can tweak and repurpose this recipe to come up with delicious twists on a classic kombucha recipe.
Ingredients
2-3 tbsp sugar
1 cup water (dechlorinated)
1/2 cup blueberries
1 cup sliced ginger, or 1 tsp fresh rosemary or basil (optional)
Instructions
Blend everything together and strain through a mesh strainer. Add the liquid to your bottles for a nice second ferment!
You can do a second ferment with just about any juice, as long as it has sugar in it. One of my favorite combinations is lime and fresh mint. Just use the juice of 1 lime, 2-3 Tbsp. sugar and mint!
Chlorine
Chlorine slows or stops bacterial activity, depending on its concentration in the water. So we don’t really want chlorine in our water for fermenting, to say the least. Most tap water has chlorine in it, which kills pathogens and makes it safe to drink, which is amazing but also a bummer if you are specifically trying to break some booch. Here are some ways to make sure the chlorine in your water is low enough to encourage bacteria and yeast to grow.
Reverse osmosis filtration
Distillation
Boil for 15 minutes to evaporate the chlorine
Leave still water uncovered for 24 hours to evaporate chlorine
*Some municipalities use chloramine, a form of chlorine that can’t be removed through evaporation. Check with your local water company if you’re not sure. It’s usually as simple as emailing someone.
[1] https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8276.2007.00998_5.x
[2] https://adams.marmot.org/Record/.b35582698
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234677/
[5] https://vinepair.com/articles/wild-ferment-natural-wine/