Kombucha Recipe

I’ve been making my own Kombucha for years, and it’s usually better than any you can buy in a store. Plus, the store-bought Kombucha is expensive while mine’s close-to free. Kombucha scobys multiply, and I always keep a scoby hotel in a separate jar in case something goes wrong with a brew. But I have several extras now, so if you want one, let me know. I’ll mail one to the first few people who ask.

Phase One:

1. Start with a Kombucha Scoby that has been given to you. Put it in a one-or-two gallon glass jar, and make sugared tea to pour over it. Here’s how to make the first batch:
2. Brew organic green tea (5 bags) with spring water in non-metal container. (I heat the water in a tea kettle, then use a Pyrex or ceramic bowl to brew the tea.) Let the tea brew for five minutes.
3. Add one cup organic sugar and stir with clean wooden spoon until dissolved.
4. Let tea cool to room temperature.
5. Stir with washed wooden spoon.
6. Pour solution over scoby in the glass jar—add the rest of the spring water—this recipe is enough to make one gallon.
7. Cover the jar with a cloth—I use a fine-weave cotton dish towel and secure it around the edges with a large rubber band.
8. Keep the jar in a room-temperature area away from light. I put mine in a kitchen cupboard.

Phase two:

1. After your Kombucha tea in the gallon jar (covered only by a cloth so it can breathe) has steeped for a week, you will pour the brew into separate bottles, leaving only enough in the large glass jar to cover the scoby (a cup or two). For the single-serving bottles, I use bottles with a built-in porcelain/rubber stopper). Stella Artois bottles work well.
2. Sterilize bottles. Okay to use dishwasher to sterilize but I hand-wash bottles first to make sure the inside is clean.
3. Wash hands with Apple Cider Vinegar.
4. Wash funnel with Apple Cider Vinegar.
5. Wash wooden spoon.
6. Pour liquid into bottles up to neck.
7. Add fresh fruit or organic juice, but leave two inches of space at the top (That two inches of space is very important. If you don’t leave enough space for the brew to ferment, the bottle will explode!) The fun part of brewing your own Kombucha is experimenting with different flavors of juice or fruit. You can also try using edible essential oil flavorings, like lavender. (Lavender and lemon are a favorite combo of mine.)

Phase three:

1. After you’ve filled your single serving bottles, you’ll need to replenish the base to cover the scoby and start a new batch.
2. Brew organic green tea (5 bags) with spring water in non-metal container. Have a gallon of spring water to top up the container.
3. Add one cup organic sugar and stir with clean wooden spoon until dissolved
4. Let tea cool.
5. Stir with washed wooden spoon.
6. Pour solution over scoby—add spring water if needed.

Phase four: Several days later (halfway through the week)

1. Burp bottles.

At the end of the week, your bottled Kombucha is ready to drink! Then you’ll store the small bottled servings in the refrigerator and start the whole process all over again.

To start an additional batch, because over time more scobys will grow:

1. Wash hands with apple cider vinegar
2. Sterilize a new glass container
3. Add scobie and cover with some of the existing base.
4. Add a gallon of base.