Chloe K's Kombucha tips

This is a document from my friend Chloe K. about her kombucha process. I have put it here for histories sake so I don’t loose it.

Morning! As requested, here’s a brief run-down of the kombucha process: 

Begin with 4 simple ingredients:  Tea: it needs to be an unflavored, “true tea” blend. People commonly use: english breakfast, oolong, green tea, or any blend/combination of those. While black tea is best for SCOBY health (due in part to the SCOBY feeding off the caffeine), green tea gives the best flavor.  The higher quality tea the better the base will taste and the true kombucha brewer’s flex is to bottle and serve a delicious plain kombucha. HOWEVER, if you’re ballin’ on a budget and/or like to add a lot of flavors (I’m guilty on both accounts) a simple, pre-bagged tea will be more than sufficient; for a one gallon batch I like to use between 12-14 tea bags, depending on taste and SCOBY heath (if you’re not seeing a nice opaque colorless film on top at the end of your brew you may need to up your tea).  Sugar: While my personal preferences are for organic and fair trade, chemically speaking any white sugar will do. People have experimented with other sweeteners, but the only other really successful one is honey. Honey kombucha is DELICIOUS, but brewers often steer away as it is highly costly. (Side bar: green tea base honey sweetened kombucha is called Jun and it’s often referred to as “The Champagne of Kombuchas.) As for the quantity of sugar, that will depend on: desired sweetness in final product, ambient temperature (which fluctuates seasonally), and anticipated length of brew cycle. In the winter, when ambient temperature in my house was a non-optimal 65 degrees, I was using 2.25 cups; in the summer when the brewing shelf is an opposingly non-optimal 80 degrees, I’ve been sticking with 3 cups. Either way I have it on a 7 day brewing cycle. (And while we’re talking about temperature, my optimal temp would be EXACTLY 72 degrees. I’ll stand by that number, but that’s more kombucha 202 level knowledge.) SCOBY: This is the active culture that turns that overly sweet tea into kombucha. Visually they’re not great to behold: they’re semi-opaque, tea-colored, slime patties with yeast strands hanging off the older layers. Like the rings of a tree can give indications of growing conditions for that season, each brew cycle SHOULD add another layer to the SCOBY and new growth will indicate brewing conditions; not that that’s necessary information, but it is FASCINATING! The easiest way to obtain a SCOBY is to talk to your kombucha-brewing friends, there always seems to be SCOBY to spare. If you’re out of luck, it’s actually quite simple to grow your own from store bought kombucha:  Find a totally unflavored bottle of kombucha (this will probably be the hardest part, TBH). Then dump it in the brewing container and feed it some sweet tea and come back in about 2-3 weeks. The still active cultures will have created your own SCOBY! And with the SCOBY you’ll want some tart kombucha/starter liquid to be sure the SCOBY is in a PH balanced environment that will keep it healthy.  Water: This is sorta a given, but water will be used to make the tea. No need to be fancy about this one. 

The “Simple” Process:  1. Boil water. Add sugar and tea. Remove from heat and let it steep. Let this “starter tea” cool to room temperature before adding to the SCOBY container. (You’re trying to avoid pasteurizing the SCOBY.) 2. Let sit with the SCOBY for ~7 days. Taste at regular intervals so you can become familiar with how fast the SCOBY is working and stop the fermentation when it’s just a bit sweeter than you want it.  3. Drain out kombucha liquid, leaving like 1/6 of the liquid in with the SCOBY for the next batch. Now is when you add your flavors and let it infuse for ~3 days. 1. Use really any fruit or herbs you want for flavoring. Fresh fruit works best, frozen is also quite good; crush it up a bit before adding to encourage maximum flavor transfer. Some good dried herbs to use in kombucha are: ginger, lavender, and/ or mint; if you have a favorite herbal tea, a few of those tea bags might be a good addition.  4. After 3 days, strain out chunks and bottle. This last step is just to get carbonation, so an air-tight seal is ESSENTIAL. Old kombucha bottles work great and are a very affordable option, just be SURE that they’re screwed on as tight as possible. Wire “swing tops” make you look very legit and will always get a great seal, just be sure they’re “fermentation grade”, no dinky cheap imitations, those will shatter.  5. After 7 days the bottles SHOULD be carbonated, but it’s helpful to pop one open to check. It should make a fizzing sound like opening a pop. It MAY overflow like a baking soda volcano, so if it’s been particularly warm I’d recommend opening it outside. If they’re carbonated to your satisfaction, put them in the fridge to stop fermentation. Bottles will stay good in the fridge for 2 weeks; after that they’ll still be good, but you may notice a difference in taste since they’re still fermenting, just MUCH slower. Kombucha never goes bad, it only gets funkier. 

Anyways Katie, let me know if you have any remaining questions.