how to make kombucha

Ok my friends, I've found a new hobby. And it's one that involves something pretty funky.

Kombucha in a nutshell is a fermented iced tea. And to make it you need a live culture called a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast).

So what’s good about it? Well, kombucha ticks the boxes for many reasons, but the main kicker is it’s a superhero for our gut. It contains good bacteria plus loads of polyphenols (antioxidants).

The other really cool thing is it's low in sugar. You do need sugar to make it, but the SCOBY is a hungry boy and he feeds on this sugar and ferments it, creating the sparkling effect! I recommend it as a healthy festive drink and making it yourself will save you a bucket load of cash. It also comes with a hangover-free guarantee!

Homemade kombucha in two glasses served with ice and sprigs of rosemary and lavender

Makes 3L

Ingredients

2.75L boiling water

6 tbsp black tea leaves or 6 tea bags

¾ cup brown sugar (150g)

1 SCOBY

1 cup (250mL) kombucha - previous batch or liquid the SCOBY is in

Method

Make big batch of tea by adding the tea leaves to the boiling water in a large pan or bowl. Stir in the sugar (you can choose which sugar you use but it needs to be sugar not a sweetener).
Once the tea has brewed to the strength you wish it to be, run it through a sieve to separate the tea leaves from the liquid and into a large kilner jar (3L minimum). Keep about 5-10cm room at the top of the jar. Allow the tea to come to room temperature.
Add the SCOBY and kombucha to the room temp tea. Place some muslin cloth over the lid of the jar and use a rubber band to hold it in place. Don’t close the jar lid.
Store in a dark place for 7 days, and watch it ferment. You don’t need to do anything! If you want to check the taste, you’ll notice on day 1 it is quite sweet, but after day 7 the SCOBY has fed on a lot of the sugar and fermented it so it should be a little bubbly and have a nice depth to it. If it tastes like vinegar, it’s fermented for too long.
The kombucha after about 7 days is ready to drink, I find it lovely served chilled with ice. You can choose to do a second ferment for another 2-4 days if you wish.
OPTIONAL 2nd Ferment: Add about ¼ cup of your favourite fruit to the kombucha. This time shut the lid tight (you don’t need the muslin cloth). Let it ferment for 2-4 days. Discard the fruit after the ferment (you’ll see the SCOBY doing his best to consume it - he’s a hungry one!)

Note: Always make sure you keep your SCOBY and about a cup of the kombucha that you’ve made. This goes into the next round of kombucha you make, and so on from there.