Kombucha hails from China and Russia, where people started making it thousands of years ago. Kombucha is a probiotic drink, loaded with B vitamins and enzymes, and supports liver function and detoxing. It is said to help heal cancer and gut dysbiosis. Sour and slightly sweet, it will balance your blood sugar and strengthen your immune system.

What you need

While you can make Kombucha in a large bowl, the easiest way to make it is in a drink dispenser with a spigot. Look for a 2-3 gallon glass dispenser with a plastic spigot (do not get a metal spigot since the acid from the Kombucha will leach metal). If you plan to make a lot you may want a 5-gallon container.
Also get some flip-top bottles to store your Kombucha in. Any other type of bottle closure will not keep the fizz in and your Kombucha will be flat. Tinted glass bottles are best to protect the light-sensitive B vitamins, but clear glass is ok if you store them in a dark place. Finally you will need the Kombucha mother, or scobie, and some finished Kombucha. The scobie is a culture of lactobacteria and yeasts that will metabolize sugars into beneficial acids.

Making the Tea Concentrate

First, make a tea concentrate. The concentrate is then diluted with water and placed in your container with the scobie. You will need black or green tea in bags, and sugar and water. Use organic unflavored black or green teas (non-organic versions are high in fluoride). The sugar should also be organic, non-organic sugar is high in pesticides and may be GMO. Do not use honey since the antibacterial properties of honey will not allow the Kombucha scobie to grow. Use pure water free of chloride and fluoride (not city water).

The amount of concentrate you make is up to you. It stores well in the fridge for about two weeks. Use a ratio of 2:1:2 for: cups water : cups sugar : teabags. E.g. to make 12 cups of concentrate use 12 cups water, 6 cups sugar and 12 water. To reduce the caffeine content of your tea by about 40%, place tea bags in a cup and fill with boiling water. Let steep for a couple of minutes, and then discard the tea bags. Bring the water to a boil and dissolvethe sugar in it. Then turn off the heat and add the “decaffeinated” teabags. Let steep until the tea is at room temperature.

Starting your Kombucha Batch

Find a dark but ventilated place for your container (the culture should be kept away from light but needs air).

Place your scobie with a quart of finished kombucha in your container. Dilute the tea concentrate as follows:

3 cups of concentrate for evey 13 cups of water. Double or triple this amount depending on how much kombucha you want to produce. Adding more tea will take longer to ferment. Once you have added your diluted tea to the container, cover the top with a dishtowel and secure with a rubber band. Do not use the lid, the culture needs oxygen and will mold if you close the container. The dishtowel keeps out fruit flies while letting air in.

Let your first batch ferment for about two weeks. The scobie will grow a “baby” that covers the entire surface area.

Start tasting your batch after about ten days; your batch is ready when it tastes like kombucha. How sour you let it get is up too you. If it still tastes like sweetened tea, your batch needs to ferment longer. Subsequent batches will take less time to ferment as your scobie grows and ferments faster, likely only a few days depending on how much tea you add. Batches also ferment faster in the summer than in the winter with the higher temperatures.

Harvest and Flavoring

When your batch is ready draw the kombucha out into flip-top bottles until the remaining liquid is at the level of the spigot. The remainder will keep fermenting but that’s ok. When you’re ready to make your next batch just add fresh tea. You can now add flavors to your kombucha. Add half a cup of juice to a quart bottle (grape, guava or pomegranate work well), or add little juice concentrate (e.g. blueberry, cherry or elderberry). You can also add diced frozen fruits like strawberries or raspberries; or add diced ginger with ½ tsp sugar. To make an unflavored kombucha, just add ½ tsp of sugar. Now close your bottles and let ferment in the bottle for another 2-4 days. During this secondary fermentation the kombucha will become fizzy. Store in the fridge to stop the fermenting process.

Troubleshooting

If your batch ferments too long (you have been on vacation or forgot to harvest) it will turn very sour and eventually become vinegar. If this happens, don’t worry, just draw off the liquid to the level of the spigot, and start a new batch with fresh tea. Kombucha vinegar can be used for cooking, cleaning or as a natural weed killer on your patio.

The container can produce Kombucha for a long time without needing to be washed. A healthy scobie will keep any pathogens at bay. If fruit flies happen to get into your container you will need to start over. Wash the container well and get a new scobie. If you see any signs of mold developing on your scobie you also need to start over. This is due to the culture not getting enough air. As your scobie grows you will need to trim it occasionally to slow down the fermentation.