Over the course of our recent opening we’ve gotten a lot of questions about our meals, dietary plans, supplements, and most importantly coffee! We thought it would be fun to do a little how-to make your own….(insert whatever you like!). In this installment we are going to be discussing how to make your own…drumroll please…Kombucha!!! All our kombucha is made in house and we take great pride in that fact.
Kombucha is extremely beneficial for your immune system and gut health! You can check out one of our first blog posts to learn more about it!
We offer a variety of flavors but our most popular flavor in store right now is the ‘triple threat’! This is a combination of a lot of different fruits but mainly consists of blueberries, raspberries, and ginger! Down to its roots, creating kombucha is a very simple process. However, this is a process that takes a lot of time and requires a lot of patience. It will take you so many times to fully get it right.
Here is our beginner guide on how-to brew your own kombucha:
To start it is important to mention the materials you will need. In order to brew your own kombucha you will need a handful of supplies to get started! Don’t worry it won’t cost you an arm and a leg, but keep in mind that the more flavors you want to try the larger variety of ingredients you will need as well! What we recommend for beginners is to buy air-tight sealed bottles (we recommend at least 12 bottles), 1 gallon glass jugs with a wide mouth, black tea, tightly woven cloth (to cover the jar) and a Scoby! A Scoby is basically live bacteria and that will be the only way you create kombucha! This creates the fermentation process which creates our lovely kombucha.
1. Note: Avoid prolonged contact between the kombucha and metal both during and after brewing. This can affect the flavor of your kombucha and weaken the scoby over time. Make the tea base: Bring the water to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar to dissolve. Drop in the tea and allow it to steep until the water has cooled. Depending on the size of your pot, this will take a few hours. You can speed up the cooling process by placing the pot in an ice bath.
2. Add the starter tea: Once the tea is cool, remove the tea bags or strain out the loose tea. Stir in the starter tea. (The starter tea makes the liquid acidic, which prevents unfriendly bacteria from taking up residence in the first few days of fermentation.) 3. Transfer to jars and add the scoby: Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon glass jar (or divide between two 2-quart jars, in which case you'll need 2 scobys) and gently slide the scoby into the jar with clean hands. Cover the mouth of the jar with a few layers tightly-woven cloth, coffee filters, or paper towels secured with a rubber band. (If you develop problems with gnats or fruit flies, use a tightly woven cloth or paper towels, which will do a better job keeping the insects out of your brew.) 4. Ferment for 7 to 10 days: Keep the jar at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, and where it won't get jostled. Ferment for 7 to 10 days, checking the kombucha and the scoby periodically. 5. It's not unusual for the scoby to float at the top, bottom, or even sideways during fermentation. A new cream-colored layer of scoby should start forming on the surface of the kombucha within a few days. It usually attaches to the old scoby, but it's ok if they separate. You may also see brown stringy bits floating beneath the scoby, sediment collecting at the bottom, and bubbles collecting around the scoby. This is all normal and signs of healthy fermentation. 6. After 7 days, begin tasting the kombucha daily by pouring a little out of the jar and into a cup. When it reaches a balance of sweetness and tartness that is pleasant to you, the kombucha is ready to bottle. 7. Remove the scoby: Before proceeding, prepare and cool another pot of strong tea for your next batch of kombucha, as outlined above. With clean hands, gently lift the scoby out of the kombucha and set it on a clean plate. As you do, check it over and remove the bottom layer if the scoby is getting very thick. 8. Bottle the finished kombucha: Measure out your starter tea from this batch of kombucha and set it aside for the next batch. Pour the fermented kombucha (straining, if desired) into bottles using the small funnel, along with any juice, herbs, or fruit you may want to use as flavoring. Leave about a half inch of head room in each bottle. (Alternatively, infuse the kombucha with flavorings for a day or two in another covered jar, strain, and then bottle. This makes a cleaner kombucha without "stuff" in it.) 9. Carbonate and refrigerate the finished kombucha: Store the bottled kombucha at room temperature out of direct sunlight and allow 1 to 3 days for the kombucha to carbonate. Until you get a feel for how quickly your kombucha carbonates, it's helpful to keep it in plastic bottles; the kombucha is carbonated when the bottles feel rock solid. Refrigerate to stop fermentation and carbonation, and then consume your kombucha within a month. 10. Make a fresh batch of kombucha: Clean the jar being used for kombucha fermentation. Combine the starter tea from your last batch of kombucha with the fresh batch of sugary tea, and pour it into the fermentation jar. Slide the scoby on top, cover, and ferment for 7 to 10 days.
We hope that you guys are able to enjoy this delicious product as much as we do! Remember time and patience are the key elements to mastering the brewing process. Have fun!
Instagram post: Check out our latest blog post! We are staring a how-to series on our blog and what better way to kick it off than with brewing your own kombucha at home! Let us know how it turned out for you! #homebrewers #healthyliving #healthisyourwealth
