Homemade Kombucha: A Beginner's Recipe

Kombucha Guide in 10 Steps to the Drink: Let's Go!

1. First, bring 1 liter of water to a boil in a large pot. Then you can add either 8 g of black or green tea and let it steep for 12 to 15 minutes (while the water simmers gently).

2. Then strain the tea and add 100 g of sugar. The sugar should be stirred until it has completely dissolved in the tea.

3. When making kombucha yourself, it is very important that you let the sugared tea cool down to at least 25 degrees room temperature in a glass vessel. The sensitive Scoby must not be immersed in hot water. The living bacteria and yeasts, as well as proteins, can be destroyed this way.

4. Now add 100 ml of the starter liquid to the tea mixture.

5. Then carefully add the previously gently rinsed Scoby to the vessel.

6. You can now cover the opening of the brewing vessel with a breathable cloth and secure it with an elastic band.

After completing these first steps of the kombucha instructions, the Scoby (at a comfortable room temperature) now has about a week to process the ingredients of the tea, so to speak, "eat them up". If it lies at the bottom of the vessel, the Scoby will grow somewhat larger and usually form further Scoby offshoots. However, the Scoby often floats and over time a thicker kombucha mushroom forms at the top edge of the glass.

1. Once the kombucha mushroom has reached the correct fermentation level after about 7 days (depending on preference and taste, we recommend a pH value between 2.9 and 3.1), you can carefully remove the Scoby from the kombucha liquid and rinse off any tea residues with lukewarm water.
   
2. You can store the Scoby in some bottled kombucha liquid (new starter liquid) for the next round of making kombucha yourself.
   
3. Before you bottle the kombucha, we recommend filtering the liquid through a very fine sieve or, alternatively, through a layer of paper towel to remove any small Scoby pieces. However, this is not absolutely necessary.
   
4. Afterward, the kombucha should be left at room temperature for another approx. 2 days in a closed bottle for secondary fermentation. This is when the natural carbonation can form.

Yay! You have now fermented your first kombucha yourself and can enjoy a similarly delicious and refreshing drink as our Kombuchery Kombucha.

Factbox – Making your own Kombucha

Yield: Following these instructions, you will get about 1 liter of kombucha. With a well-maintained SCOBY, you can then prepare further batches. How long a culture can be used or stored depends on hygiene, acidity, storage, and the condition of the culture.

Nutritional values per 100 ml:
Fat < 0.5 g
of which saturated fatty acids < 0.1 g
Carbohydrates 3.6 – 11.8 g
of which sugar 3.6 – 11.8 g
Protein < 0.5 g

Preparation time: approx. 20 minutes (plus cooling time for the tea)

Fermentation time: approx. 7 days (depending on the desired pH value)

Tips & Tricks for Kombucha Fermentation

Even though it only involves a few ingredients and a short working time, carefulness, hygiene, and the quality of the components are crucial for successful kombucha fermentation.

Starter liquid for kombucha

The amount of starter liquid should be sufficiently large and completely cover the culture. A sufficiently acidic environment can make the growth of many undesirable microorganisms more difficult, but it cannot completely rule out mold formation.

As a rule of thumb for making kombucha yourself: 100 ml of starter liquid per liter of tea.

The more acidic the starter liquid, the more it lowers the initial pH value of the new batch. A sufficient amount of starter liquid creates more favorable conditions for fermentation. However, the growth of a new SCOBY can vary from batch to batch and cannot be guaranteed.

Do’s & Don’ts in Tea Selection

• Do not use tea with a high proportion of essential oils or artificial flavors (e.g. fruit tea, sage tea, or lemon balm tea).
• Prefer loose tea over tea bags.
• If you use fruit tea or other tea besides black, green, or white tea – only mix it in – do not use it pure!

Hygiene & Cleanliness

To minimize the risk of undesirable microorganisms or foreign bodies, you should carefully clean all used items and your hands. It is best to use vinegar to clean all items and tools. You can also clean your hands with vinegar water.

The best water for brewing tea

The composition of the water used can also influence taste and fermentation. Whether additional filtration is useful depends on the tap water and its composition. Drinking water can generally be suitable for fermentation; if in doubt, you can find out about the local water quality or use suitable filtered or still water.

Kombucha Storage & Kombucha Care

No blanket shelf life of six months can be given for homemade kombucha; it depends, among other things, on hygiene, acidity, bottling, and storage. Bottling kombucha does not automatically stop the fermentation process. Over time, kombucha becomes somewhat sourer and develops more sparkling natural carbonation.

Kombucha should ideally be stored in a cool, dark place. The best place for this is the refrigerator or a cold cellar room. Here, kombucha is exposed to only a few external influences and can be stored in peace. This can extend its shelf life by some time. Constant cooling slows down the fermentation, and the kombucha only slowly becomes somewhat sour.

Brewing kombucha again: Can I make my own tea mushroom?

You can also grow your own kombucha mushroom without a starter kit from the internet. The ingredients are the same, and it just takes a little more time and patience.

With tea, cane sugar, and our Kombuchery Original as starter liquid, the kombucha mushroom can form all by itself within 7 to 21 days, depending on the conditions.

It's exciting to watch how small foam bubbles form on the surface of the liquid. These become denser over time until the kombucha mushroom slowly becomes visible. Patience pays off! Making your own kombucha is really exciting!

FAQs: Making your own Kombucha Drink

How much kombucha can you drink?

With kombucha, it's like with all other foods: you shouldn't overdo it with consumption. Start with a small glass per day and see how the kombucha affects you. After a few days, you can drink more.

A universally applicable maximum or optimal daily amount cannot be determined for kombucha; individual tolerance can vary.

Can you split the kombucha mushroom?

You can separate individual layers of the kombucha mushroom with clean hands. Simply pull them apart very carefully. Or take a commercially available pair of scissors cleaned with vinegar and carefully cut the SCOBY into pieces. You can use the individual pieces to make a new kombucha in the brewing vessel or give them away.

Which tea is suitable for kombucha?

For making kombucha yourself, black tea is particularly suitable, but oolong tea or green tea are also a good choice for successful fermentation. A combination of green and black tea is also one of many possible alternatives.

Our favorites:

• Black Tea Golden Monkey: Darjeeling, Friesenmischung (Assam, Ceylon, Indian Himalayas)
• White Tea: Silver Needle, Shou-Mei, Oolong Tea
• Green Tea: Sencha & Matcha, New Spring, Chun Mee

Sugar in Kombucha

The added sugar is mainly needed by the microorganisms during fermentation. Yeasts and bacteria need sugar as a food source for metabolic processes. In the end, depending on the fermentation technique, a sugar content of 3 g to 12 g sugar per 100 ml of kombucha remains. You can also experiment with the type of sugar yourself.

If you prefer your kombucha to be tarter and less sweet, you can adjust the recipe and fermentation time. The required initial amount of sugar depends on the culture, batch, and fermentation conditions; therefore, a general minimum amount of 80g per liter cannot be specified for every batch.