Basic Kombucha
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Prep Time:
15 minutes prep time + up to 5 weeks ferment time
Yield:
makes about 1 quart
Recipe Source:
Fermented Probiotic Drinks at Home by Felicity Evans ($18.95, The Experiment, 2018)
Ingredients
- 1 qt filtered water or spring water
- 4 green tea bags or 1 Tbsp plus 2 tsp loose-leaf green tea
- 1⁄4 cup raw or white sugar
- 1⁄4 cup kombucha starter culture liquid
- 1 kombucha Mother, a little smaller than size of your palm
Directions
Primary Fermentation
- Bring 2 cups of filtered water to a simmer. Pour into a teapot or heatproof bowl, add tea bags or tea leaves, and leave to steep for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Strain tea into a heatproof 6-cup wide-mouth glass jar and discard tea bags or tea leaves. Add sugar to jar and stir to dissolve. Pour in remaining filtered water.
- When liquid has cooled to room temperature, add kombucha starter culture liquid and kombucha Mother.
- Cover jar with a piece of cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band.
- Place jar out of direct sunlight in a cool spot where it won’t be disturbed. Leave liquid to ferment for around 4 days in hot weather and 14 to 20 days in cooler weather.
Bottling
- Gently remove kombucha Mother and reuse it immediately or discard.
- Retain 1⁄4 cup of kombucha liquid as starter culture liquid for your next brew. Mix in any sediment that has settled at bottom of jar, or leave as is.
- Put a funnel in opening of a 1-quart glass bottle with a tight-fitting lid and put a strainer on top of funnel. Pour kombucha into bottle through strainer and discard any solids.
- Continue with recipe step 2 for Green Tea Kombucha with Apple.
Notes
In kombucha brewing, the sugars convert into acids, leaving a low-sugar drink. If you want to make a vinegar or a totally sugar-free product, allow it to ferment for several weeks and use the kombucha vinegar in salad dressings.