How to make kombucha – beginner’s guide

How to make kombucha

If you are like me, my first experience with kombucha was delightful, but expensive, making me wonder how to make kombucha at home. Looking up how to do so online can seem ominous with all the ratios and a bacteria and yeast culture to care for to boot! Today, I will walk you through a journey to show you how easy and fun it is to care for a SCOBY (I will tell you more about a SCOBY a bit later 😉 ) 

What is kombucha?

But first off, what is kombucha? Most of us experience it as a delightful fizzy drink that is naturally carbonated. They are refreshingly bottled in a variety of fruity flavors to tantalize the taste buds. But what is it?  Well, in a nutshell, kombucha is made through the fermentation of sugar and tea using bacteria and yeast. This particular culture is called a SCOBY, which stands for “symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast”. If you are like me, this may sound very weird at first. But don’t worry, it is a natural process similar to the fermentation of milk into yogurt or cabbage into sauerkraut.

Kombucha is made through a 2 part fermentation process. The first process is the fermentation of sugar & tea. And the second fermentation is with your added fruit for flavor, which causes carbonation and gives kombucha its great fizziness. What I love about this is most types of fruit can be used to add a delightful flavor while providing a healthy alternative to soda.

Why drink kombucha?

When it comes to drinks, one of the first things we migrate towards is flavor. Does it taste good? Thankfully the sky’s the limit to what flavor combinations you can try! Everything from blueberries to cherries, hibiscus flowers to lemon ginger can be used for the second ferment.

If you are like me, one thing that draws me to soda is the fizziness. And water doesn’t always cut it when there is a craving for something with a zing. But with the natural carbonation of kombucha, it can get just as fizzy as any soda! When using high-sugar content fruits such as watermelons, the carbonation can build up so fast as to pop the tops off your jars.

What is a SCOBY?

So, what exactly is a SCOBY? A SCOBY is the key to how to make kombucha. The acronym stands for a Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast. This may sound odd, but it is a beautiful orchestra of activity between bacteria and yeast. It is slimy in texture with a tan color on the bottom and white around the top. If you look at the side of a SCOBY, it has several layers almost like that of a puff pastry. Instead of being nice and flaky though, it is thick and slimy. Mmmmmm delicious! 😛

One fun thing about a SCOBY is it grows to the diameter of whatever container you place it in. Our jar is a 2-gallon container with a large lid, and “Hortense” our SCOBY has grown to cover the whole top! (Yes, I do name my SCOBY as it is like a pet 😉 ). The SCOBY is the engine behind the making of kombucha and the size of the SCOBY directly impacts the volume of kombucha you can make in each batch. 

SCOBYs’ are resilient. Anytime I go on vacation, I don’t even worry about the SCOBY. The goal is to simply keep it out of sunlight and it will be ready to use when you arrive back from short trips. If you are going away for longer than 2 months, I like to create a hotel, where the SCOBY can live for up to 6-10 months without regular feeding. This hotel is simply peeling off the top growing layer of the SCOBY and placing it in fresh tea in a smaller container. The SCOBY keeps for many months in this environment until you need it again.

Where to get a SCOBY?

So where can you find a SCOBY? The best way is to ask a friend! SCOBYs grow so quickly and all that is needed to get started is a small piece and a bit of time. If a friend has one available, also ask for 2 cups of their first ferment of kombucha as this has a great content of bacteria and yeast to begin the growing process of your new SCOBY. If none of your friends have one available, you can also purchase the starter culture online. Kombucha Scoby Starter Buying a starter takes a bit longer, but works just as well. Simply follow the instructions, and you will be well on your way to making your own kombucha in no time.

How to make kombucha – Starts with tea

To begin, you need a vessel for the first fermentation of kombucha. The size can be whatever size container you have available. ½ gallon quart jars or larger water dispensers work great. The volume is determined based on how much kombucha you would like to drink. I have found 2 gallons to be about perfect for myself. But then we do drink kombucha every day.

Next, you make some sweet tea with either black or green tea to fill the container to within 4 inches of the top. For the sweet tea, you can vary the recipe based on personal preference and the sugar source is not terribly important. Honey, coconut sugar, and refined sugar have all worked great for me. I suggest not going less than 2 tablespoons of sugar per quart of tea though as this is needed to feed the SCOBY. 

The type of black or green tea is another influencing factor that is fun to play with. Earl gray tea adds a lovely floral note. Or oolong tea offers a sweet, grassy to a bit of a toasty note to the base of the kombucha flavor. There are so many teas to choose from and it is a delight to experiment with! If you are using loose leaf tea, I like to use about 1oz of tea per gallon of water. Or roughly 3-4 tea bags per gallon.

Resting

Now that you have sweet tea made, let it cool to room temperature. Next, transfer it to your vessel of choice and place the SCOBY with the first ferment fluid in the jar. The SCOBY may hang slightly skelter in the tea for a bit, but eventually, it will float to the surface and you will see it begin to rapidly expand.

The next step is to simply cover the top of the vessel with a cloth and rubber band it around the top of the container. This is to allow oxygen in while keeping contaminants out. Oxygen is important as it helps create aerobic bacteria that needs oxygen and is beneficial to the SCOBY.

Waiting is the second hardest step. For this next step cannot be rushed in the kombucha making process. Place the SCOBY and tea in a dark area away from sunlight (closets work great). The period of time to wait varies depending on the size of the SCOBY and how cold or warm the house is. I have found a safe rule of thumb to be 7 days during the summer and 10-14 days during the winter. Our temperatures vary significantly as we heat and cool as little as possible, so your results may vary less.

After waiting 7-14 days, your SCOBY has finished the first fermentation process.

Second Fermentation

The second fermentation is when my favorite stage begins – flavoring. Anything from fresh fruit, frozen fruit, juices, hibiscus flowers, and / or spices are added to begin the flavoring and carbonating stage. I like to use Swing Top Glass Bottles or any round glass bottle that has a top that can screw down nice and tight. This is to capture the carbonation during the second fermentation to give kombucha it’s characteristic fizz. 

To begin, I like to place the fruit/flavor of choice and any desired spices in the bottom of the jars. My favorite is simply hibiscus flowers, which add a floral and fruity flavor. The amount of fruit you use isn’t a precise science when beginning, but can be calculated to determine how much flavor you like in your kombucha. Personally, I like to fill the jars so that the bottom is just covered. This has provided the perfect ratio of flavor to kombucha used. 

Building carbonation

Now that you have the ingredients added to the jars, take the SCOBY out of its vessel and place it in 3 cups of the current kombucha fluid and place it in a bowl and set it aside. This frees up the vessel to be used to distribute the kombucha to the jars. I like to use a funnel with a filter to ensure accuracy and prevent particles of the SCOBY from entering the jars. It is important not to fill the jars all the way to the lid. Rather, I like to fill them up to the neck of the jar, or roughly 3-4 inches from the lid. This provides ample space for carbon dioxide to build up and expand to begin the carbonation process.

At this stage that you restart stage 1 of the fermentation process by making another batch of tea, letting it cool to room temperature, pour it into the vessel and add the SCOBY with the leftover kombucha liquid. Place it in the dark and you are all set for the creation of next week’s kombucha!

Burping and Refrigerating Kombucha

Making kombucha creates carbon dioxide as a by-product, which can build up some pressure. With this pressure, it is important to burp the jars periodically to prevent excess pressure from building. I have found burping every 12 hours to be about perfect to get good carbonation while preventing too much pressure from building. Burping also helps feed the fermentation process as the oxygen is used by the SCOBY to feed on the sugar to produce more carbon dioxide. I have forgotten to burp the jars before and made quite the mess with an exploded jar in the closet!

I love that an established SCOBY makes kombucha ready for refrigeration after the 4th burping or roughly 48 hours! This preserves the flavor and carbonation and makes the kombucha ready to use at any time. It is good to note that since the bottle isn’t pressure sealed, the carbon dioxide does dissipate over time. After about 2 weeks, the kombucha will still have good flavor but much of the carbonation fizzles out.

Recipe in short

In short, here is the recipe for how to make kombucha yourself:

1. Acquire a SCOBY 
2. Make a black or green sweet tea and let cool
3.  Fill a jar or vessel of choice with the room temperature sweet tea
4. Add the SCOBY to the jar and rubber band a cloth over the mouth of the jar
5. Let sit in a dark cool area for 7-10 days for the 1st fermentation
6. Place the SCOBY with 3 cups of the 1st fermentation tea in a bowl
7. Add flavor ingredients of choice to bottle-top jar or canning jar & fill with 1st fermentation from the vessel
8. Seal the jars and place in a dark area
9. Burp the jars every 12 hours for 48 hours
10. Refrigerate and use within 10-14 days
11. Restart at step 2 and repeat as desired

I hope that this helps you learn how to make kombucha and that you find as much joy in making kombucha as I have. Have fun and drink on! Interested in more beverage recipes? Check out our other blog posts.