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I've been making Kombucha for about a month now, and I'm currently on my 4th gallon. I didn't see anything here on SA about making this fermented tea, and obviously I now consider myself an expert on the topic, so I thought I'd make a post about it! Welcome to the Kombucha thread! What is Kombucha you may ask? You must not live on the west coast  Kombucha is a fermented tea that is said to have many benefits, mostly for gut health - lots of probiotics and vitamins. A culture of bacteria and yeast is added to a sweet tea. The culture (SCOBY) eats the sugar in the tea and ferments it. Apparently this has been made for around 2,000 years, and boasts the following (unproven) benefits: - Improved Digestion - Weight Loss - Increased Energy - Cleansing and Detoxification - Immune Support - Reduced Joint Pain - Cancer Prevention Most of that is probably bullshit - luckily, it also tastes awesome and is a good replacement for cola (in my life at least). What is a SCOBY? It's a Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast! Below is a very bad photograph of a SCOBY, sitting in a few cups of Kombucha. You can buy a SCOBY online through Amazon, I bought this one twice (once from seller "ScobyKombucha", and once from seller "Fermentaholics". I'd recommend ordering from Fermentaholics, as the SCOBY was easily 3x thicker than the other.   Basic steps to make a 1 gallon batch of Kombucha: - Heat up 8 cups of water and throw in 8 black tea bags or 2 Tbsp of loose leaf tea - you can use green tea or other teas but I've read to always include at least some black tea as well. I have a batch going now that is 6 green tea bags and 2 black tea. - Add a cup of sugar to the hot tea and stir it in until it's dissolved - Take the tea off the heat, remove the tea bags if you want to and let it cool - I usually let it sit for a while and then I dump it into the glass jar with a bunch of ice cubes because I'm impatient. The longer you leave the tea bags in the stronger your tea will be. - When your sweet tea is around room temperature (not warm!), top off your jar with more water, then add your SCOBY and 2-3 cups of Kombucha (maybe less works, but my first batch went moldy from not enough so I use this much). You can also use straight vinegar instead of booch apparently but I've never tried that. I just used some store-bought Kombucha on top of the liquid that came with the SCOBY and it worked fine for my second try. Now I use 2-3 cups from the previous batch to start the new one. - Cover the jar with cheese cloth and/or a coffee filter to keep junk from getting in. I now use coffee filters to make sure that gnats and fruit flies can't get in and mess up my stuff. I saw a fruit fly buzzing around the mouth one time and I've been paranoid since. - Let the tea sit in a location out of direct sunlight, from 68-85°F, for 7-30 days. As it sits in the jar, the sugar is being eaten by the little fellows that live in your gross SCOBY, so as it sits in the jar it get's progressively less sweet and more vinegary. I've pulled batches at 7 and 9 days so far and they've been pretty sweet. I'm going to experiment with length to see how much the taste is effected.  So now you've got a gallon of Kombucha, congratulations! You can drink the whole thing now if you want to, or you can do a second fermentation to add flavors and fizziness. You can add flavors in pretty much any way you'd like. So far I've used ginger, frozen fruit, dried fruit, honey, and various juices. Ginger is the best all-around so far IMO, and pineapple has a lot going for it as well. Acai berry can go gently caress itself. The second fermentation will use the sugars in the fruits to create a fizzy drink, so you want a bottle with an airtight seal. Use about 10-30% flavoring and fill the rest of the bottle with your fresh Kombucha, leaving about an inch of air space at the top of the bottle. Leave them sealed for two days or so, though less is fine and longer is probably fine as well. The bottles can build up a lot of pressure in just a couple of days, so be sure to uncap them carefully. When you're happy with how they taste, filter the fruits out and put the bottles in the fridge to enjoy later. The fruit that you just filtered out is awesome in a smoothie by the way, though it looks pretty gnarly after a couple days soaking. Here are a few bottles in the second fermentation stage. The SCOBY is sitting in a bowl with a few cups of Kombucha, waiting to be added to the next batch.  Some flavors I've tried and liked: Ginger lemon and ginger blueberry pineapple strawberry lemon Raspberry lemon ginger Pineapple Ginger and a little honey Some flavors that I plan on trying soon, based on storebought flavors: Beet juice & ginger Cayenne Lemon (I've tried mango habanero and it was awesome) The flavored Kombuchas are great as mixers as well, we've started drinking Vodkombucha quite often at our house. How to make Vodkombucha: Put some vodka in your Kombucha. I have two 1-gallon glass jars that are dedicated to Kombucha now. Each will fill about 8 16oz bottles while reserving enough Kombucha to start the next batch, so I'll have about 16 bottles every ~10 days. That's pretty awesome when you compare the cost to buying bottles for $3.50 at the grocery store. After the initial purchase of the SCOBY and glass jar (~$12 maybe?) you're looking at only the cost of tea, sugar and water each time you want to make a batch. do u like funky tea too, or what? Did I miss some really obvious questions? Probably! Astonishing Wang fucked around with this message at 20:34 on Jan 13, 2017 |
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Jan 13, 2017 20:11
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Submarine Sandpaper posted:Will it ferment at ~ 60 degrees? I won't have a 68 degree enclosure until I finish building my proofing box I've seen recommendations to use a heating pad under the bottle if your temps are too cool. I think that lower temps would just make it take longer to ferment, but I may be wrong and there might be a temperature under which the process won't happen. If you put the kombucha in the fridge is slows down the process a LOT.
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Jan 13, 2017 21:53
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Chard posted:Does it smell much while fermenting? I'd like to try this but if it stinks up the joint, maybe not. I can only smell it if I have my head directly over the jar - nothing to worry about! It's a faint vinegary smell.
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Jan 13, 2017 22:57
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Craigslist here in San Diego has a bunch of people selling scobys, it might be worth checking!
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Jan 14, 2017 00:01
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 The latest batch includes: Strawberry Lemon Orange Lemon Mango Ginger Mango Orange Berry Ginger Strawberry Mango Strawberry Lemon is the favorite from this batch - orange doesn't seem pair super well with the Kombucha funkiness. These flavors were all just chunks of fruit mixed with juiced citrus, I want to start trying purees and using some of the zest from fruits.
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Jan 17, 2017 17:47
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This is a lot different than beer or fruit juice, and it's not a lot of work once you know what's going on. I think you're on the wrong forum for a question like that  Why do we cook when we can just buy food? I'm making a gallon at a time, and it's decanted into the individual bottles with fruits and stuff. It takes a few minutes to clean bottles and prep fruit, but it's not hard work and it doesn't take long. This is a low-waste process too, all of the fruit that I use to flavor the teas goes into the blender for smoothies! Astonishing Wang fucked around with this message at 21:02 on Jan 18, 2017 |
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Jan 18, 2017 15:41
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So yesterday I made some kombucha that is sweetened to the point of missing the point   I had 2 gallons of Kombucha ready for bottling so I wanted to try some new recipes! I made a couple of what I guess you would call purees(?). I heated a small sauce pan with some frozen cranberries and some water, once the berries were thawed I mashed them up and added a little bit of sugar. I did the same with an orange, some lemon juice and ginger, and another with berries. I blended the cranberry mix in the food processor but I don't think I'll do that in the future. Mashing up the berries seems good enough. I tried the orange/lemon juice mix today and it's very refreshing and tastes almost peachy. I let this batch of tea ferment for ~10 days and I like it better than the 7-day version. It's a little less sweet so you can taste more of the vinegary bite. Also I was up at a cabin in Idyllwild and Kombucha was $5.60/bottle at the grocery store. Astonishing Wang fucked around with this message at 18:50 on Jan 23, 2017 |
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Jan 23, 2017 18:36
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No problem, from what I've seen it doesn't matter if it floats or not. One person said that it's because of the temperature differential between the SCOBY and the tea. I've had it stay sunken the whole time though, so that doesn't make sense.
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Jan 29, 2017 03:34
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If it molds you'll definitely know. My first batch got moldy because I didn't have enough base liquid. The mold is fuzzy on top of the tea. The healthy SCOBY gets gray sections that are mold colored but aren't fuzzy.
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Jan 29, 2017 04:09
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Cannon_Fodder posted:Thanks for making this! I've never tried it with store bought booch, but it's definitely possible. It looks like it takes a while longer, but it would be a lot quicker after the first batch or two. http://www.paprikahead.com/2009/07/how-to-brew-your-own-kombucha-from.html Friendly tip for anyone new to the kitchen and/or kombucha: if you're making dinner while making Kombucha, be sure to rinse your knife between chopping onions and chopping mangoes. I have a batch of slightly oniony mango Kombucha 
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Feb 15, 2017 22:21
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I froze a bunch of lemon juice into ice cubes for future use. 1 lemon juice cube is TOO MUCH LEMON for a 1 liter bottle. I didn't think it would be. Guava paste turned out to be an awesome flavoring. I found it at the dollar store - it's guava with a bit of sugar and citric acid(I think) added. It's a gnarly sticky goo consistency, like a thick jelly/jam4. I used about a tablespoon of it and it completely dissolves into the booch and tastes good. I also bought some of the little boxes of 100% juice fruit punch to try out. It's alright, not amazing.
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Feb 22, 2017 20:52
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You might want to consider using coffee filters instead of cheesecloth if you've ever seen gnats in your house. They can get through a couple layers of cheesecloth but not the coffee filter. Let us know how the first batch comes out!!
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Mar 2, 2017 19:32
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How long would you say is too long? I guess it would probably be up to your taste buds? The longest I've gone so far is 12 days, but the recommended time is always 7-30 days.
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Mar 2, 2017 21:42
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The perfect recipe for a 16oz bottle is ~3/4oz of lime juice and about a half-inch of fresh ginger. Lime is better than lemon IMO as it's sweeter. Also Ginger Lime sounds a lot tastier than Lime Ginger. Something about the way the words bounce. e: if anyone has a Marshall's store around them I've found great deals on bottles. ~$6 for a gallon, and $2 for 32oz wired rubber-stopped closure. Whatever you call those things..
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Mar 6, 2017 17:39
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Cannon_Fodder posted:Welp, I forgot to buy PH strips. I'll have to find a store with some (there's some brew stores around). gently caress that poo poo I've never used one. Is your water super funky? You can find them at any place that sells pool supplies too. Or a nursery/garden center.
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Mar 7, 2017 00:48
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Cannon_Fodder posted:
I decanted two of my gallon jugs yesterday and tried a few new flavors. I bought a bag of mixed frozen fruit and a bottle of Concord Grape juice. Flavors I'm trying this round: Peach Strawberry Pineapple Peach Concord Grape Strawberry Blackberry Raspberry 
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Mar 29, 2017 17:14
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Concord grape came out pretty well, using about 3oz. of juice in a 16oz bottle. Mixed berry (strawberry, raspberry, blackberry) came out very well, using about 10 berries per bottle. It got pretty explosive after two days without burping the bottle. I had to cover the cap with my hand to keep the strawberry guts from exploding all over the kitchen.
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Mar 31, 2017 16:23
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Cannon_Fodder posted:The first one I made was with an Amazon scoby. I have 3 more jars that are still fermenting with some friend-of-a-friend sourced scoby. Cool! I'm curious to see how it works out with a big batch. That's probably an easier long-term way of doing it than a bunch of individual batches in smaller jars.
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Mar 31, 2017 16:50
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This is a reminder to not put a glass bottle of super hot tea into a sink full of ice water to cool it down. The bottom will crack and it'll start leaking tea into the sink, and you'll burn your dumb hands trying to pick up the hot bottle of tea to save it. Also, I found some dried hibiscus flowers so I'm going to try making some Jamaica kombucha. I also bought some lavender but I don't know about using that as a flavoring.
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Apr 4, 2017 23:28
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I've had success with black and green teas. The only thing I've heard about it is that you should try to keep feeding a SCOBY the same type of tea to keep it healthy - one SCOBY for green tea, one for black, etc.
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Apr 13, 2017 17:02
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I'm a bad booch daddy and I let this last round go too far to the vinegary side. Here are some things you can do with over-aged kombucha, aka Kombucha vinegar: 1. Hair Wash/Tonic/Rinse 2. Facial Toner 3. Cleaning Fluid 4. Salad Dressing 5. Marinade I decided that my preferred method of dealing with the sour kombucha is to FLUSH IS DOWN THE loving DRAIN. To remove clogs and stuff RECIPE/USES – Kombucha Kleaner Use full strength in a spray bottle on all surfaces. Wipe clean with a soft cloth – no rinsing needed. Add a drop or two of tea tree oil or lavender oil for anti microbial properties and a pleasant scent. Spray down showers and tubs to reduce soap scum. Add ½ cup of Kombucha vinegar to the wash to brighten colors and soften clothes. Remove mineral deposits from your coffee maker or dishwasher – run 1 cup of Kombucha vinegar through a cycle. Add ½ Kombucha and ½ water to a bowl. Boil in microwave. Wipe microwave clean. To keep the drain running – Pour baking soda down a drain, follow with Kombucha vinegar. When foaming stops, rinse with hot water. Repeat until clog is loosened. I'll definitely be trying out the marinade options, and probably salad dressing as well. I'll report back with any successes.
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Jun 19, 2017 19:26
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Planet X posted:I'm curious to know how long you generally do secondary fermentation - 3 days or so? I usually let the second fermentation go for about two days but I've pulled it after only one. Strawberries are probably my favorite fruit to add so far. It's hard to beat the sweet and mellow flavor. Pineapple is pretty good too. I've been buying frozen fruit when I see it cheap, but fresh always seems better. Astonishing Wang fucked around with this message at 21:38 on Jul 11, 2017 |
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Jul 11, 2017 21:35
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I just use growlers now and leave them in the fridge. I almost never add sugar, it just seems counterintuitive since I'm trying to stay away from soda. I assume most fruits you'd add would have enough sugar.
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Jul 11, 2017 22:51
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It seems like the scobys are pretty resilient. Clean your shitter with the vinegar 😊
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Jul 14, 2017 19:31
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Gosh dang folks, I found a new favorite flavor. I got some plums from a friends tree and ended up freezing some. I chopped them up and put them in the booch and it tastes super good if you're a fan of plums. The tea that I've been using for the last few batches is an earl grey with bergamot - I bought a box of ~1 lb. of loose leaf tea, and I've been using about 1/4 cup per batch.
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Jul 18, 2017 17:49
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I'm using the cheapest poo poo I can find - this was like $5/lb at the Asian market
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Jul 19, 2017 20:27
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Oh man, does someone like something that you don't like?
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Sep 18, 2017 06:09
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My SCOBY held up to about 2 weeks in a moving box, and is now churning out booch in Mexico.
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Oct 14, 2017 05:17
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OG scoby has died a terrible disgusting death involving flies and tiny worms. New scoby has been obtained and I'll make sure the next batch is better sealed so flies can't get in  YEAH IT'S STILL A MIRACLE DRINK, gently caress YOU!
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Dec 12, 2017 19:59
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Awesome! I've used a bunch of fresh ginger but never candied. That sounds great! I started a second ferment today - a growler of strawberry lemon and a smaller bottle of blueberry lemon - both were grown in green tea. I'm going to pick up some more black tea soon so I can mix it up.
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Jan 14, 2018 19:26
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Dogwood Fleet posted:This looks like a combination of making soda and making beer. Can I die from drinking this because it looks disgusting but I almost want to try it. I guess there are probably ways that you could die from this if it goes really wrong. Don't drink anything that looks grosser than the pictures you see here in this thread.
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Jan 15, 2018 19:48
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A couple of new recipes that I tried and liked - I blended the ingredients and mixed them into the Kombucha for a second fermentation. Serrano Lime ------------------------------------ 1/2 Serrano pepper Juice of 1 lime ~30oz. of Kombucha This one may need a little more lime, and I think I'll try with Jalapeno next time. I think the Jalapeno flavor will work a little better. Apple Ginger ------------------------------------ 1/2 Apple 1" ginger ~30oz. of Kombucha This one is awesome - the apple flavor is subtle and the ginger really shines.
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Jan 25, 2018 04:33
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Do you make your own or are you buying the candied ginger somewhere?
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Jan 26, 2018 22:05
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gamingCaffeinator posted:One of my boyfriend's friends gave me a four-pack of kombucha beer (Elderwand by Unity Vibration) for Christmas and it's piqued my interest. Is there anything I should know to avoid if trying the normal stuff for the first time? I don't intend to do any homemade until I know if I like the non-beer type. Elderwand is loving magic though. The only boozy kombucha I've had was from BoochCraft and it was awesome, but it's not as tasty just because of the alcohol - the regular kombicha will taste better generally.
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Feb 1, 2018 04:43
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That's awesome! Let us know how the flavors work out. I make about 2 gallons a week and I'm usually running out a couple days early 😫
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Feb 12, 2018 20:27
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I blended the juice of about 6 passion fruit ("Maracuya" here in Baja), 6 small guavas, and 3 pears into a puree and strained it, splitting between two 64oz. glass growlers. The flavor came out very nice - it's tangy from the somewhat sour passionfruit, but the guava and pear smoothes it out well. The other flavor I did this week was strawberry and ginger. For that one I blended about 10 strawberries with 2" of ginger root. That one came out pretty well too  I made a ginger beer this week that came out pretty well - I may mix that with some booch for the next round.
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Feb 22, 2018 07:02
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I've only used black and green teas - let us know how it works!
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Apr 27, 2018 01:01
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I just came back from 2 months of travelling and was happy to find my SCOBY alive and well. I left it out in the same slightly cool dark place where I usually brew my batches. The liquid is very vinegary. I saved the biggest chunk of mother and split it between two new gallon batches of black tea, and tossed away the rest of them. What do you guys do with the vinegar? 
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May 15, 2018 18:30
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