8 cups water
1 cup loose tea leaves or 6 tea bags
2 cups sugar*
1 cup juice (optional)
1 healthy Kombucha culture
2 cups Kombucha
*I use organic turbinado sugar-can use 1/2 honey & 1/2 sugar, pure cane or brown
Materials:
- large pot for boiling water/brewing tea
- large glass jar
- cheesecloth for straining and to use as breathable lid (can also use clean towel or coffee filter as lid)
- elastic band or string
Everything must be clean. Glass jars should be run through the dishwasher if possible. Even cheesecloth used for straining may be run through the dishwasher.
Instructions:
To brew kombucha, one must make a batch of weak to moderately-strong tea sweetened with sugar.
The tea is then placed in a large glass container and allowed to cool to room temperature.
At this point I add a cup of juice, usually pomegranate or apple, to the tea – this is optional as juice may also be added to the final kombucha.
Next, place the kombucha culture in the tea and cover the container with an air permeable barrier such as cheese cloth or a coffee filter.
Within seven to 15 days, the kombucha organism will have converted the tea into a fluid that has a palatable balance between sweet and sour. The amount of sourness is directly related to the length of fermentation; the longer the tea ferments, the more sour and less sweet it will be. Also the bigger the culture, the quicker it will ferment.
When fermentation has reached a satisfactory taste, the liquid is strained and bottled. At this point, various fruit additions or flavorings may be added to impart a desired flavor.
As with beer, the bottles are usually conditioned at room temperature for a week to allow yeast cells to produce carbonation. Most people will refrigerate kombucha prior to consumption giving the drink a refreshing sensation not unlike any other carbonated beverage.
At this point, the organism can be placed into a new batch of tea with a small amount of liquid from the previous batch, which helps to reduce contamination by keeping the pH low.
Each successive batch often produces a second membrane, referred to as a “Daughter”. The mother and daughter may be separated which allows the possibility of creating a new kombucha colony.
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