Home Brewed Kombucha
For Christmas this year, my sneaky husband ordered a SCOBY from the UK (from here), bought a big glass jar and then secretly started brewing a batch of kombucha in his office. I have the best husband ever. He even wrapped it and put it under the tree….with very strict instructions not to shake it, touch it, pick it up or even breathe on it.
I had kombucha for the first time this past summer while we were in Boston attending the Ancestral Health Symposium (which you can read about here, here, here and here). It seems pretty widely available in the States and we found it at every health food store we went into. The only kombucha I’ve found here in Switzerland is a drink called Carpe Diem which is pasteurized and probably no longer has any of the benefits of real kombucha. I’ve been wanting to make my own, but have been a little intimidated by the whole process. Besides, all my friends already think I’m just a little crazy with the whole paleo thing. They would think I was truly off-my-rocker, lola-granola hippie crazy if I started growing bacteria cultures in my closets, right?
I’m not going to go into all of the health benefits of kombucha, I’ll leave that to the experts over at Kombucha Kamp. If you would like to learn about kombucha, have a look at their informative page here.
Here is the recipe we followed and here are some important tips to be aware of before you get started:
What You Need
- A glass container/jar of some description, we used a big glass cookie jar with a glass lid that holds approx 2 to 2.5 liters.
- Tea bags – we used organic back tea, and it is imperative that all brewing is done using a base of ‘real’ tea, be it green, black, white etc. The acids in fruit and herbal teas aren’t good for your scoby.
- Sugar. We used organic raw cane sugar. The sugar is the food for the bacteria cultures (scoby). They eat it all and not much is actually left in your finished kombucha.
- A SCOBY, of course!
- Jars or bottles to store your finished kombucha in. I use mason jars.
What to do
- Place your tea bags (we used 7 bags for 2.5 liters of water) and 230 grams of sugar in a large pot, NOT the glass jar you will be brewing in.
- Boil a kettle of water. We used 2.5 liters of boiling water.
- Pour your boiling water over your tea bags and sugar and let it steep for 30 minutes before removing tea bags.
- Stir after steeping to make sure all of the sugar is dissolved.
- Wait until the tea is cool to touch, by that I mean, if you stick your little finger in, it feels no more than barely warm, and closer to cold. This could take several hours.
- Pour your cool tea into the glass brewing jar and then slide your scoby in.
- Cover the opening of your glass jar. You can use an upside down plate or some cotton fabric (cut from an old t-shirt) secured with a rubber band. Our glass jar happens to have a lid that covers the opening but still allows air in and out (which is what you want). The idea is to have a cover that is unsealed but provides protection from dust and bugs.
- Now you need to put your kombucha someplace out of direct light (in the closet or a cupboard). It should also be kept from any extreme temperatures.
Day 7
To make different flavors, you’ll go on to complete a second fermentation:
- Once the kombucha is at a desired level of tartness/sweetness from the first round of fermentation, pour it into your bottles or mason jars.
- Next, you can add fruit slices, whole berries, fruit puree or herbs/spices (like ginger or lavender). We added mango this time around, but you can bet we will be trying all sorts of flavors! Then close the jars and re-place them in a dark, cool spot. Allow them to ferment another 5-7 (or more) days to your taste.
The ‘Mango Brew’
Flavor Combinations I’m going to try soon:
- lemon-ginger
- ginger-blueberry
- raspberry-apple
- strawberry-banana
The top layer is the baby scoby, the bottom is the original
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Ok this is my goal for this year, to try to brew at home.
We are loving it so much, that we went out and bought a second brewing jar. We’ve experimented with flavors as well (pear/ginger and raspberry).
Next month i want to start to brew Kombucha tea! Which size Scoby you recommend? Large or medium?
We started with a medium scoby and it worked just great. We now have a few more and are able to brew more than one batch at a time
Cool, gone order in the weekend or next week! Thanks!
I have 10 scobys now! Anyone want one (or two or three)?
Wow, they are multiplying! I’ve got loads of them over here, too. It makes me sad to think of throwing them out. Maybe you could make dried scoby dog treats for Dylan
I read the directions twice but don’t understand how/where you get what you’re calling SCOBY from. I know what SCOBY means but do you start with a “mother” and add it to the jar or is what you pour into the jar becoming the SCOBY? I’m very new to Paleo and haven’t come across Kombucha before now. Thanks for your help.
Hi Becky,
So, for your first ever batch, you make up the tea with sugar (steep the tea bags for 30 minutes). Let the tea cool to room temperature and slide the scoby (mother) in to the tea. Then let it sit for about 8 days and you’ll end up with kombucha. You can also buy pre-bottled kombucha at many places in the States if you don’t want to make it. I used to be a major coke zero addict and then I just started drinking water when I went paleo. Kombucha is nice because it gives me a choice other than water and it’s great for intestinal health at the same time. Good luck if you give it a try and just let me know if you have any more questions:-)
First of all, welcome to paleo!!! Yes, the scoby is sometimes referred to as the “mother”. You can purchase them online and have them sent to you. If you are in the States you can get one from this very reputable source http://www.kombuchakamp.com/ Each time you make a batch of kombucha, your scoby will make another scoby. I started with one scoby that I ordered from the UK and now I have a ton of them. If you live in Switzerland, I’d be happy to send you one