I Love Kombucha

Making kombucha puts me in my happy place. I love the yeasty smell, the process of preparing the sweet tea, feeding my SCOBY’s, Tira, Misu and the Twins, (yes they have names) and drinking tart, flavorful elixir. Years ago, I began my kombucha adventure with a gallon size pickle jar and conjured up a SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast) from a purchased raw, organic kombucha drink. It takes a few weeks for it to become a viable SCOBY, but definitely worth the effort, An even easier way to start your own kombucha adventure is to ask a friend to share their SCOBY, purchase one from a local kombucha brewer or buy your SCOBY online.

These days, I have upped my game to a 3 gallon continuous brewing system that allows me a greater amount of kombucha, with less effort. I’m all for working smarter! My pickle jar still gets some action as I use it to make hard kombucha, lovingly called boochabeer. More on boochabeer in another blog!

I make my sweet tea in two different sized containers, a gallon size pickle jar and a half gallon mason jar. Which size I use depends on the application. I like using both green and black tea and white sugar. For one gallon, I measure one cup of sugar into it, add boiling water to about 3/4 full then stir until dissolved, Then I add 6 each of green tea and black tea bags. I cover the jar with a coffee filter and rubber band. You can also use a bandanna or tea towel, but not cheese cloth as the weave is to open and will attract fruit flies. Once the jar is cool, discard the tea bags, (better idea is to compost) and add your SCOBY with roughly 1/2 cup kombucha from a previous batch. If this is your first round of brewing, use all the kombucha that came with your new SCOBY.

I usually wait 7 days for the tea to ferment, but start sampling at 5 days so you can get an idea of how your brew is going. To sample uncover your jar and push a straw along the side of the SCOBY to sample the tea below. Once in, cover the straw top with your finger to keep the tea in the straw and pull it out and release the straw’s contents into a cup. After a couple tries, you should have enough tea to taste. If its still really sweet, sample again in a few days. If it is slightly sweet, but there is a lot of tartness as well, you are ready to bottle and drink or prepare for a second ferment. Check out my next blog on the 2nd ferment.