We have written about the benefits and origins of Kombucha tea, so here is a tutorial showing how to make this nutritious probiotic drink. Before you begin though, these are a few important points to keep in mind:
- You will need a SCOBY aka Manchurian mushroom
- The scoby is quite tough, but not indestructible, so handle with care
- Scoby and metal do not go together
- Always brew in glass containers (not plastic, metal or ceramic)
- Make sure everything is clean, including your hands
- Don’t disturb the brew by moving it around
- Avoid temperature extremes
See also how to do a second ferment of your Kombucha and take it to another level.
Ingredients
- 1 healthy SCOBY symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts
- 2 litres water
- 5 teabags or equivalent loose tea
- 200 grams sugar
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Ingredients
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Instructions
- Heat the water to boiling. Dissolve the sugar. Add the tea Leave to cool (might take a few hours)
- Remove teabags or strain out loose tea. Pour tea into a glass container. Carefully rinse the scoby and add to the tea. Cover with a cloth or piece of muslin secured with elastic
Leave tea to ferment out of direct sunlight
- After about a week, dip the end of a straw into your tea and close the top end with your fingertip. This will draw up a small amount of tea for you to taste. If you like it, the kombucha is now ready or you may want to leave it to ferment longer to develop on the tart side. The longer you leave it, the more vinegary it becomes so you have to play around with the taste a bit.
- When you judge the tea to be just right,remove the scoby, decant kombucha into bottles and refrigerate, keeping a bit of the tea back as a starter for the next round.
You will see a new baby scoby will have formed which you can then separate from the old one to make 2 batches the next time. Alternatively, spread the love and give one away.
Check your scoby for signs of mould - bubbles are fine, black patches are not.
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