Brew kombucha tea at home

Kombucha tea or “tea of life” is a fermented beverage made with black (or green) tea, sugar (or honey) and kombucha scoby. This mystical drink has a long history dating over 2.000 years ago and is drank for its health benefits, energy-boosting properties and antimicrobial impact.

These days it is becoming more and more popular, not only in niche, organic markets but also in mainstream supermarkets that present many flavours of this beverage. If you want to avoid store-bought kombucha it’s time to brew kombucha at home. You are in the right place, we are covering the basics of homemade kombucha here.

Benefits of kombucha

Kombucha is rich in probiotics, for this reason, it has all the positive effects of other fermented foods, like kefir, sauerkraut, etc, with several additional ones that are special to kombucha.

• Probiotic value
• Antimicrobial properties
• Detoxification
• Stimulate immunity system
• Energy booster

Aside from this, it can be a great alternative to sugary soft drinks as it comprises low levels of sugar but also gives the effervescent and sweet taste of a refreshing drink.

Essentials for brewing kombucha at home

Kombucha making is not complicated hence it’s been made at home for centuries. Therefore if you want to save some money or take control of choosing what you drink, homebrewing might be the answer.

Here is the list of things you need to prepare kombucha:

• kombucha scoby or starter
• 0,1 l brewed kombucha from a previous batch (no need if you have a kombucha starter)
• green or black tea
• sugar or honey
• glass jar with lid/Kefirko

Kombucha tea recipe

To begin with preparation, first, boil one cup of water and put in 2 tea bags or 2 tsp of tea leaves. Leave for 5 minutes then take out the leaves or tea bags. Then cool down and put in the sugar (or honey if you are preparing jun kombucha). Pour into the glass jar and dilute with 1 l of water. Add 0,1 l of kombucha from the previous batch then add the scoby. Finally, leave to ferment at room temperature as per manufacturer instructions, for 4-7 days. Taste as you go, to get a feeling of what a day or two fermented kombucha tastes like.

If you are using the kombucha starter, pour the 0,1 l of starter into the tea. The scoby will start to form during the first fermentation. Moreover, you have to leave it to ferment a bit longer, for 7-10 days.

Always save 0,1 l of fermented kombucha. It’s used for storing the scoby or for preparing the new batch.

Things to consider when brewing kombucha

Always prepare kombucha tea in a sterile environment. Same as with all food and beverage preparation it’s important to use clean utensils, jars, to wash hands, etc. With live cultures, this is of even greater importance since it can lead to contamination of the SCOBY and therefore ruin future batches.

You can second ferment kombucha after taking out the scoby. Add fruits you like and airtight cover the bottle, leave to ferment an additional day or two. Chill before finally serving this delicious fizzy drink. Cheers!

Get a Kombucha starter kit here:

or only the Kombucha Starter here:

Second ferment supplies are available here: