Homemade Kombucha

Before I started brewing kombucha everyone told me it was super hard and that it can mold/go bad/ taste weird sooooo easily. Well I believed them all... I was scared to death to start my own kombucha. At the same time though I was so sick of paying $3.99 for this lovely tea that I knew I would make for pennies at home...

We moved back in April, I got some amazon gift cards for my birthday so I saved them up and decided I was going to use them to get all of the starter stuff to make my own kombucha.

Well May hit and I finally ordered all my stuff and this is where my adventure started.

I Got... (links to amazon for each item)

1 starter kit from Oregon Kombucha (includes tea, SCOBY, and starter liquid)
1 glass gallon jar
1 bag of organic sugar
12 bell mason jars
12 plastic lids (found out I don't really need these!)
1 plastic strainer (I don't use this either really...)

What else you will need... 
A big stock pot to boil water
A plastic spoon
A measuring cup
** If you don't buy the starter kit**
A SCOBY
10-12 Tea bags
Starter Liquid (GT original works if you need store bought)


The Process...

So to start off I cleaned out my glass jar with vinegar and very hot water. You can also use dish soap and water to clean it but I was paranoid about leaving any soap particles behind so I did the vinegar to sterilize it all.





















Next, I poured a gallon of filtered water (I decided it's worth it to buy gallons of water from the store) into my big stock pot. I brought that water to a boil, turned the burner off and stuck my tea bag in there for 5 mins. After I took the tea bag out I added in my 1 cup of sugar. I used a plastic spoon to stir in my sugar and take my tea bag out of the water.
**If you are using tea bags, use 10-12 bags. That is what I do when I use lipton tea**

Now for the waiting time.... you have to wait until your tea mixture is TOTALLY cooled to room temperate or you will risk killing your SCOBY.

After a couple hours you should be good. Add your tea to your glass container then add in your starter liquid and your SCOBY on top. Then cover with a kitchen towel and rubber band or I used a headband!

Now the easy part, LEAVE IT ALONE!! Put it on top of your fridge or in your pantry. You could be like me and put it in the guest bedroom and just let it be for 7 days. After 7 days come check it and taste it. If it has a slight fizz and a tartness you did it! Congrats! You can now pour your tea from the spigot into your awesome mason jars. I usually leave about 2-3 cups of liquid in my jar for my next batch.

My First Batch

I have found that doing more of a continuous brew works for me. I leave my SCOBY and my 2-3 cups of liquid in my big glass jar and then when I harvest my brewed tea I replace it with a fresh batch of tea, just pour it in on top of what I have. It takes the hassle out of cleaning your jar all the time and the risk of your SCOBY molding because you touched it too much.

Now that I have a pretty fat and healthy SCOBY I harvest tea every 5ish days because if I let it go any longer it gets too tart for me. If you like the tartness you can let it brew as long as you want :)



If your SCOBY looks like this... 

THROW IT AWAY.... it molded... you either did something wrong or something got into your tea to cause it to mold. I had 2 batches mold until I found my grove...

I figured out that using cheese cloth instead of a dish towel for a cover was problem #1 and #2 our kitchen was too cold for my brew so it was taking too long for it to ferment. Kombucha brews best in 72-80 degree environments so keep that in mind. Lastly, problem #3 was that I was always looking at it and checking it... DONT DO THAT! lol


Picking your SCOBY

The left picture is the SCOBY and starter liquid I got in my OK starter pack... I was not impressed. The right is the SCOBY I got from a lady locally... It is healthy and what it's supposed to look like.

When I got the second SCOBY I didn't have any starter liquid, if you don't get any, thats ok. Buy a bottle of GT original Kombucha at the store and pour that in. It has to be the original because you don't want any of the added fruit flavors in your kombucha because it will make it mold.
** If you can't find GT Kombucha and need a starter, add a 1/2 cup of white vinegar to get your acidity you need**

My amazing kombucha with a healthy, fat SCOBY!! Oh and my extra SCOBYs just in case :) 

The lessons I have learned....

• Try to find a SCOBY locally or from a place that sells them at their prime... 
• Use a kitchen towel as a top, not cheese cloth
• Leave it alone, don't even look at it until your 7 days are up. 
• You don't need fancy tea... I went from using organic green tea to lipton black tea. I actually like the lipton way more and it makes it so much more affordable. 
• Put it in a warm environment, it will brew so much faster and taste so much better 
•  It's so easy, there is nothing to be afraid of! 

Any Questions?!? Let me know!
I LOVE kombucha so I would love to help anyone get started!!