I don’t know how long ago my friend Jane showed me how to make Kombucha, but it was probably about ten years ago. (Jeeze: maybe it was 15.) I stopped making it for a while, but now I’m back doing it again because I love it so much. It’s so easy to make and so much cheaper than buying it.
I also have one great hassel-saving step that makes it even easier. More on that below.
Jane and I started making Kombucha when hardly anybody in the US knew anything about it. We’d heard that people in areas of Russia — who had very low cancer rates — had been drinking it for millennia. Naturally, we were interested(!). Today, there’s tons of information out there about Kombucha, like the fact that it’s filled with probiotics, enzymes, antioxidants, and other healthy stuff.
I started drinking it both because I thought it was good for me and because I love it.
But lately – since finding out the shocking! news that I’m just on the border of being prediabetic — I’ve been drinking it because it’s a delicious drink that’s very low in carbohydrates. An eight-ounce glass has only 7 grams of carbohydrates and 30 calories! For comparison consider this: 8 ounces of fresh orange juice has about 25 grams of carbohydrates and 110 calories. Eight ounces of coke (cans are 12 ounces) has 27 grams of carbohydrates and about 100 calories.
So, Kombucha is a win-win for me! I love it.
I don’t get fancy with my brew, only because I like it just the way it is. Other people flavor theirs with herbs or fruits. Others brew it a second time, after bottling, to carbonate it more. Mine is slightly carbonated as it is and tastes nearly identical to Synergy’s original flavor.
Kombucha is made with sweetened black tea and a starter ( just like vinegar is made) that causes fermentation. The starter is called a SCOBY, or the mother. People mistakenly call it a mushroom, but it isn’t a mushroom at all. SCOBY stands for “symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast” and that’s what it is.
The hardest part of making Kombucha is getting your hands on a good SCOBY. But, once you get one, you never have to get another because they grow and can be divided to create new ones. They look like layered, slippery pancakes, and “babies” can be horizontally sliced off easily. You can use the same one over and over, peeling off layers for additional brews, or to give to friends.
If you don’t have a friend you can get a SCOBY from, you can buy one from a reputable brewery, like these guys. Or these guys.
STEP BY STEP RECIPE
Yield: 4 quarts of Kombucha
EQUIPMENT:
A 32 oz. Pyrex measuring cup
A gallon-sized glass jar
A long kitchen spoon
A tea ball like this one
Some cotton cloth material, like this, cut into a square just big enough to cover the top of your glass jar
An elastic band
A glass storage bowl
Storage bottles
A funnel
INGREDIENTS:
3 1/2 quarts of fresh water
2 cups of already brewed Kombucha
2 heaping tablespoonfuls of black tea, or eight black tea bags
1 cup refined or organic white sugar
A starter SCOBY
DIRECTIONS:
Note: My hassle saving step is that I boil only 4 cups (1 quart) of water, instead of boiling all 14 cups (3 1/2 gallons). I then brew the tea in that smaller volume of water, rather than in the whole (almost) gallon. It’s much easier. I brew the tea in a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup. See below.
Wash the gallon jar, the measuring cup, the tea ball (if you’re using loose tea), and the long spoon in very hot soap and water. Dry with a very clean towel. Set them out to be used.
Bring about four cups of water to a boil in a clean stainless or glass kettle.
Place the tea ball of loose black tea, or the teabags, in the measuring cup.
Pour the boiling water over the tea in the measuring cup.
Brew it for 15 minutes.
Remove tea ball or bags with clean spoon.
Add sugar to brewed tea and stir.
Let cool.
Pour 2 ½ quarts of water into the gallon jar.
Add the cooled, brewed tea into the gallon jar.
Pour 2 cups of already made Kombucha into the gallon jar.
Stir.
With very clean hands, slide your SCOBY from its holding place (I use a glass storage bowl) into the gallon jar, trying to get it to float on the top. If it doesn’t, don’t worry.
Place the cloth over the top of the jar, secure with a rubber band, and put the jar either in a warm dark cabinet or, if you don’t have room in a cabinet, put it on your countertop and drap a kitchen towel over it. Don’t disturb it for a few days, if possible.
Start tasting it for readiness a week after you made it by siphoning some out of the jar with a new straw.
When it tastes how you like it (which could be a week to 10 days, or more), remove the SCOBY with very clean hands, and place in a bowl with 2 cups of the Kombucha.
Using a funnel, pour the Kombucha into bottles. I use quart bottles, pint-sized bottles, or some old Synergy bottles I’ve saved. Store in the refrigerator and enjoy, while you make your next batch.
To learn how to do a second brew, check this out. To buy a SCOBY or learn more about the whole process, check out this place and this one.
