Image Credit
**This post has been entered in Frugal Fridays at Life as MOM!**
When I first wrote about Kombucha, I had only just started brewing it. I had been drinking it for a few months and was so intrigued with it that I just couldn’t wait to share! Of course, telling all of you how to brew it when I’d only made a couple of batches is basically the blind leading the blind…not the best idea, right?
Anyway, now I’ve brewed countless batches. In fact, I brew 5 gallons about every two weeks, and have done so for almost 6 months! I have a better idea of what I’m doing now, that’s for sure. 
I thought it was time for an update, time to share with you what I have learned.
Kombucha is a bit finicky. One batch can be excellent, and the next batch only so-so. I always love it and drink it, regardless. But I’ve figured out a few things that help to keep the kombucha pretty tasty, week after week.
First, let’s go over the basic procedure again:
- 1 gallon filtered water
- 8 tea bags (individual)
- 1 cup sugar (white is fine)
- 1/2 – 1 cup plain kombucha
- 1 SCOBY
- 1 gallon-sized glass jar
- 1 tea towel
- 1 rubberband
First, boil some of the water. Add the tea bags and steep for 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags and stir in the sugar until completely dissolved. Pour the tea into the glass jar and add the remaining water (this is to cool it quickly; you can boil all the water and just wait for it cool down on its own; it just takes longer). Once it is cool, add the brewed kombucha to the jar, too (this is so the pH is lowered and mold doesn’t grow). With clean hands, place the SCOBY on top of the tea. It may sink down in; this is fine. Put a towel over the top of the jar and secure it with a rubberband. Kombucha requires oxygen to brew but you want to keep the bugs out (if you put an air-tight cover on it, it will turn to alcohol!).
Leave the kombucha for 5 – 14 days, depending on the strength you like, the ambient temperature, etc. We like 9 – 12 days the best, and I usually bottle at either 11 or 12 days.
So now I have a few tips for you! And then I’ll get to the bottling part.
1) Use a “fresh” SCOBY
For my first couple of batches, I had the SCOBY sitting in the fridge for a week or two before use. This seemed to produce a bitter, yeasty kombucha. I have not had this problem since I began doing my brews consistently, always starting either immediately or within a couple days.
2) Brew for the shorter lengths of time at first; then extend it as you adjust
You may find that, if you choose to leave your brew for 12 days the first time out, that it is too strong in both flavor and potency (effects) for you. Try leaving it only 5 – 7 days at first, and slowly increasing the time as you get used to both drinking and brewing. Kombucha can cause powerful detox in new drinkers. Even though I’d been drinking it several weeks when I began brewing, I still sometimes had headaches and stomachaches when I tried to brew mine too long initially.
3) Add up to 2 cups of brewed kombucha to each new batch; the more you use, the more consistent your brew
The more kombucha you use from your previous batch, the more consistent your brew will be. This means solid flavor, good carbonation, and more. I found my brews were frequently lacking flavor and carbonation when I used only a small amount (the required 1/2 cup) of brewed kombucha in my new batch.
4) When bottling, leave a bit of space at the top so that carbonation can form
Carbonation was also lacking when I completely filled my bottles. Leaving a tiny bit of head room for the gases to expand in helped this problem.
5) Bottled kombucha should, ideally, “age” about 3 days at room temperature and an additional week in a cool place.
We also noted that the best flavor and carbonation were developed after 3 days sitting at room temperature and an additional week in the fridge. We always found that the “early” bottles we drank were disappointing, but by the time we reached the end of the batch they were pretty good! In an ideal world I’d get ahead of it so I’d always have “old” bottles to drink, but we just drink too much of it for this to happen!
6) Kombucha seems to really like lemon juice.
I’ve noted lately with some of my new flavor experiments that the kombucha seems to really like lemon juice. In the flavors which used the lemon juice, the baby SCOBYs (the gelatinous side, not the brown stringy side) grew very quickly and very large once bottled. 5 – 10 times as large as in other flavors!
7) Don’t strain your kombucha before bottling
Removing all those beneficial floaties can leave you with fewer benefits and less carbonation, so don’t do that!! You can remove some of the floaties at the time you’re ready to drink it, if they bother you.
Bottling the Kombucha
I have made several different flavors of kombucha now: grape, strawberry, cranberry, lemon-lime, and “gingerale.” Our favorites are grape and gingerale! The strawberry and cranberry flavors were actually really underwhelming. The flavors were so faint it was hardly even worth it. I definitely didn’t notice the overpowering, bitter cranberry flavor when I used that, even though it was 100% cranberry juice.
To bottle, you need to do these things:
- Set up a workspace with all your tools, realizing it’s going to get messy. I put a towel down before I set my stuff up (picture below).
- Set the SCOBY in a small container and cover it with some kombucha.
- Pour 1 ounce of juice into each 16-oz. bottle (or, if you bottle in larger containers, a proportionate amount). You can skip this step if you want plain.
- Fill the bottles almost all the way with kombucha.
- Screw the caps on tightly.
- Set the bottles aside to age 2 – 3 days before placing in the fridge.
- Restart your new batches.
Done! This process should take you approximately 10 minutes per gallon.
For flavors:
Grape: 1 ounce 100% organic grape juice
Strawberry: 1 ounce pureed strawberries (can use frozen, but thaw first)
Lemon-lime: 1 tbsp. EACH lemon and lime juices, freshly squeezed
Gingerale: 1 tbsp. EACH lemon and lime juices OR 2 tbsp. lemon juice + 2 – 3 slices fresh ginger
Cranberry: 1 ounce 100% organic cranberry juice
You can use 1 ounce of any fruit juice you’d like. These amounts are all for 16-oz. bottles.
Like what you've read? Subscribe so you never miss a post! You can also follow us on Facebook or Pinterest. Thanks for reading!
TESTING!
Thanks for the update. I bought a SCOBY from Cultures for Health and so far have not had good results. The SCOBY has not reproduced yet either in the initial rehydration stage or in the subsequent batch. Following their instructions it can take up to 30 days for this to happen, but the Kombucha was so strong that we couldn't drink it and still had no baby. Did you start with a dehydrated culture? Maybe it just takes several batches for it to start reproducing? The only thing it did was create some white foam on the top and lots of brown stringy particles on the bottom of the jar.
I have been brewing kombucha for about the same amt. of time as you, but haven't really ventured out into too many flavors. I ALWAYS add pieces of fresh ginger to my 2nd ferments, and I have experimented with also adding nectarine slices and most recently concord grapes. I love it, but am the only one in the family who does! So….I have sold some to fellow CSA members, and get to drink as much as I want!
So…if I let my kombucha brew for, say, 3 weeks, is it still usable or did I kill my SCOBY? I haven't tried bottling it like that yet, what kind of bottles do you use?
Great post! Lots of clear tips for the homebrewers out there.
If anyone is looking for more info on Kombucha, including interviews, flavoring tips and recipes, I run a blog called Kombucha Kamp. It's free!
I'll be back here to check out more tips. Cool blog!
Thanks Kate!
Hannah Crum
P.S. Hey Karolee,
3 weeks, a month, 2 months, it doesn't matter how long you brew, you'll never kill the SCOBY as long as you keep it wet with Kombucha or even sweet tea. Be brave and take a sip of the "old" Kombucha – you might like it! As for bottles, any bottles around the house that will hold carbonation. You can invest in Flip Top bottles if you decide you like them.
(Sorry Kate, can't help but help.)
Do you know how the taste of Kombucha compares to water kefir?
I recently started brewing kefir and it's awesome! I'm wondering if there is any difference between the two.
Thanks!
Johnlyn,
It's definitely different. We never perfected the water kefir and it's been awhile since I've had any. It always seemed more "yeasty" to me. The kombucha tastes more like pop, with a vinegar-ish aftertaste. Home-brewed kombucha has much less of that than commercial, though, and is sweeter. I personally prefer kombucha but there are many who feel the opposite! Depends on your tastebuds and what fits in your lifestyle (i.e. kombucha takes much longer to brew, water kefir is fast, etc.).
Christy,
I didn't use a rehydrated culture, no. I got a "regular" one. But I'd just keep brewing with it, knowing that your first few batches probably won't be as good as later batches. Keep any babies that do start to form and keep brewing with those too! That's what that white foam and brown strings are — the beginning of a new culture!
Hannah,
Thanks for helping!
Karolee,
As Hannah said, as long as it's in tea, no, you can't kill the SCOBY. It might be pretty sour and vinegary now, but you can always taste it! The more I brew, the longer I leave it. I only liked it at 7ish days at first, but now I routinely leave it 12 or so. It's cooler now, too, of course, and that factors in. I have old G.T. Dave's bottles I often use, and also clear flip-top ones from a home brewing store. I like both. The flip-top ones will be easier to come by, what with the recall right now!
What recall?
Make Your Own Kombucha
Some call it a tea, some call it an elixir, some just call it hard to find. For many, it's a miracle. It's been used around the world for hundreds of years to help restore balance and vitality.
Thanks for the tips! I've been straining mine before bottling because I was having some serious floaties. I'll stop doing that and try straining just before drinking.
My favorite flavor is the strawberry! I put about 2-3 whole strawberries (fresh or frozen) in a 16 oz bottle before pouring the kombucha on top. The kombucha turns a pretty red-pink color and tastes wonderful to me. When I use the frozen strawberries, I don't even thaw them. It doesn't seem to hurt my kombucha.
I was going to ask you if yours has a big of a vinegarish taste–mine certainly does but since I'm new to kombucha I didn't know if that was to be expected. I've been making water kefir sodas for about a year and it definitely has a more yeasty taste, less acidic. Right now I'm experimenting with some Yerba Mate kombucha instead of tea, so far so good!
Heidi,
Yes, somewhat vinegar-ish is normal. Depending on how long you brew it, it will be more or less. Sometimes mine is a bit sweet, sometimes not so much. I prefer it less so!
Curious – I am yet to brew my own & have been tasting the different flavors of GT – do you always have that yeast smell? It always smells – like something going bad. Do I need to get used to this?
Hi Kelly, that happened to me at first, and still occasionally does. It seems to happen when the carbonation isn’t right, which is another indication that the fermentation didn’t go quite right (not “bad,” just not as tasty). Brewing in an ideal temperature (70 – 75 degrees) environment, not letting it ferment quite as long, and doing a second ferment with a bit of extra sugar seems to make a big difference.
Kelly, oops, didn’t see you meant in G.T.’s. They changed the way they’re making it to guarantee that it will be under the 0.5% limit on alcohol. They are probably letting it brew less time and leaving it with less sugar and less time in the second ferment, which would make sure the alcohol level is lower…and favor the yeast side and less carbonation. Not dangerous, as I said, but maybe not as tasty. I don’t like their new method nearly as much as their old. When you brew at home you can control that.
Does it matter what kind of tea you use? Can I use decaf?
I am new to brewing Kombucha and have just started my second batch. Is it OK to use water from my well that goes through a Brita filter or do I need to buy distilled water?
My first batch is sitting at room temperature for 3 days and then I’ll put it in the fridge for a week. Can’t wait to try it!
If it is filtered in some way it should be okay! Especially from a well since it won’t be fluoridated.
Does my second brew need to ferment as long as my first?
No, just a few days for the second ferment.