Kombucha is an elixer of life!
A fermented tea that is both delicious and health-supportive.

80% of our immune system is in our GUT.
Kambucha Tea is an anti-aging probiotic digestion aid which strengthens the immune system and lowers blood pressure. It is high in glucaric acid, contains glucosamines which help prevent joint pain and arthritis, and increases seratonin which improves brain function and relieves stress.

How to make Kombucha Tea at home
Recommended dose is about 200ml a day, but you can double or triple that if you really like it.
Note: this recipe guide is collated from various sources and my own experience.
It won’t take long to find your own methods.

Getting started
- 1 SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast)
Your SCOBY will double in size within the month, so you can separate the new SCOBY layers to double your supply of tea.

Glass jars and bottles
- 3.5 litre (1 gallon) glass fermentation jar
- Three x 1 litre (1 quart) swing-top water bottles

Ingredients
Two litres boiling water for tea.
- 8 tablespoons loose-leaf -- black tea, green tea, or a herbal mix,
e.g. A.Vogel's "GoldenGrass Cleansing Herbal Infusion"
- 1 cup sugar (regular raw organic sugar).
- plus, 2 cups starter kambucha (from last batch of kombucha or store-bought kombucha – unpasteurized, neutral-flavored)

Instructions
Note:
i. 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.
ii. Do NOT use plastic when making your Kombucha as plastics can leach unwanted elements into your Kombucha. You're making a healthy, live, raw, beverage, the last thing you need is to taint it with unhealthy chemicals. Also, for the same reason, it is best to use *organic* raw sugar to avoid any pesticides.

1. Make the tea base:
This is the most time-consuming part because you need to wait until the tea is cool. Best to make the tea several hours before the final preparation. Let the tea steep for 10 minutes.

Note: Since most porcelain pots hold only 1 litre, make two pots – add the 8 teaspoons of tealeaves to the first pot and let steep for 10 minutes, then pour tea into a heat-proof jug (add a little cold water first if not heat-proof) then add sugar and stir till the sugar is dissolved. Then, again, fill tea pot with hot water and let it steep in the same leaves for 10 or 20 minutes before straining the tealeaves. Let the tea cool completely.

2. Transfer to the large jar(s) and add the starter tea:
Once the tea is completely cooled, place in the large jar, and stir in 2 cups of 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. Add the scoby:
Gently slide the scoby into the jar with clean hands. Use a double-layer of tightly woven cloth (e.g. cheese-cloth, clean table napkins or tea towels), or paper towels, to cover the jar, and secure it tightly with rubber bands or twine.

4. Ferment for 7 to 15 days:
Keep the jar at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, and where it won't get jostled.

5. The scoby can 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 (don’t dip metal spoon into jar). When it reaches a balance of sweetness and tartness that is pleasant to you, the kombucha is ready to bottle. (I left one batch for 6 weeks and got a great vinegar for salad dressings.)

7. Before proceeding, prepare and cool another pot of strong tea for your next batch of kombucha, as outlined above.

8. Remove the scoby:
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.

9. 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 flavouring. (Alternatively, infuse the kombucha with flavorings for a day or two in another covered jar, strain, and then bottle.) Leave about a half-inch of head room in each bottle.

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 15 days.

11. 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. Refrigerate to stop fermentation and carbonation, and then consume your kombucha within a month.

12. Optional flavoring extras for bottling:
1 to 2 cups chopped fruit, 2 to 3 cups fruit juice, 1 to 2 tablespoons flavored tea (like hibiscus or Earl Grey), 1/4 cup honey, 2 to 4 tablespoons fresh herbs or spices

Recipe Notes
– Covering for the jar: Cheesecloth is not ideal because it's easy for small insects, like fruit flies, to wiggle through the layers. Use a few layers of tightly woven cloth (like clean napkins or tea towels), coffee filters, or paper towels, to cover the jar, and secure it tightly with rubber bands or twine.

– Batch Size: To increase or decrease the amount of kombucha you make, maintain the basic ratio of 1 cup of sugar, 4 teaspoons of loose black tea, and 1 cup starter tea per large 3.5 litre jar. One scoby will ferment any size batch, though larger batches may take longer.

– Putting Kombucha on Pause: If you'll be away for 3 weeks or less, just make a fresh batch and leave it on your counter. It will likely be too vinegary to drink by the time you get back, but the scoby will be fine. For longer breaks, store the scoby in a fresh batch of the tea base with starter tea in the fridge. Change out the tea for a fresh batch every 4 to 6 weeks.

– Other Tea Options: Black tea tends to be the easiest and most reliable for the scoby to ferment into kombucha, but once your scoby is going strong, you can try branching out into other kinds. Green tea, white tea, oolong tea, or a even mix of these make especially good kombucha. Herbal teas are okay, but be sure to use at least a few bags of black tea in the mix to make sure the scoby is getting all the nutrients it needs. Avoid any teas that contain oils, like earl grey or flavored teas.

– Avoid Prolonged Contact with Metal: Using metal utensils is generally fine, but avoid fermenting or bottling the kombucha in anything that brings them into contact with metal. Metals, especially reactive metals like aluminum, can give the kombucha a metallic flavor and weaken the scoby over time.

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Troubleshooting Kombucha
– It is normal for the scoby to float on the top, bottom, or sideways in the jar. It is also normal for brown strings to form below the scoby or to collect on the bottom. If your scoby develops a hole, bumps, dried patches, darker brown patches, or clear jelly-like patches, it is still fine to use. Usually these are all indicative of changes in the environment of your kitchen and not a problem with the scoby itself.

– Kombucha will start off with a neutral aroma and then smell progressively more vinegary as brewing progresses. If it starts to smell cheesy, rotten, or otherwise unpleasant, this is a sign that something has gone wrong. If you see no signs of mold on the scoby, discard the liquid and begin again with fresh tea. If you do see signs of mold, discard both the scoby and the liquid and begin again with new ingredients.

– A scoby will last a very long time, but it's not indestructible. If the scoby becomes black, that is a sign that it has passed its lifespan. If it develops green or black mold, it is has become infected. In both of these cases, throw away the scoby and begin again.

– To prolong the life and maintain the health of your scoby, stick to the ratio of sugar, tea, starter tea, and water outlined in the recipe. You should also peel off the bottom (oldest) layer every few batches. This can be discarded, composted, used to start a new batch of kombucha, or given to a friend to start their own.

– If you're ever in doubt about whether there is a problem with your scoby, just continue brewing batches but discard the kombucha they make. If there's a problem, it will get worse over time and become very apparent. If it's just a natural aspect of the scoby, then it will stay consistent from batch to batch and the kombucha is fine for drinking.

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