DIY Kombucha
I started making my kombucha a few years ago before we moved to Byron so I’ve shared my learnings (and mother) with a few of my city converts already. The way it normally goes is that my friends come and visit me, they ask what’s in the crock, they’re totally repulsed by the gooey scoby (mother), they try and drink it anyway and then, they end up asking for a lesson in how to make it! My besties once nursed their scobies in the jars I gave them all the way home to Sydney – love it!
What is kombucha? Basically it’s a sugar-sweetened fermented tea that’s been consumed for centuries as a tonic for it’s many health benefits. It uses a SCOBY (aka Starter Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) or “mother” as a starter culture that feeds off the sugar in the tea to produce a slightly effervescent and sour pro-biotic drink, a little bit like sparkling apple cider. Like other fermented foods from sauerkraut to yoghurt, kombucha is purported to have gut-healing properties, which is linked to a whole heap of related benefits since most disease originates in the gut from poor digestion. It’s also believed to detoxify the body, support the nervous system and provide extra energy.
INGREDIENTS:
Kombucha Crock
Muslin cloth and large rubber band
1.5L filtered water
6-8 organic black or green tea bags
1 cup organic sugar
1 cup kombucha starter liquid
Scoby
METHOD:
Pour the filtered water into a large pot, bring it to the boil and then stir in the sugar until it dissolves.
Bring the pot off the boil, add the tea bags and steep for about 10 minutes, then remove tea bags.
Make sure the sweet tea cools completely and then add it to the kombucha crock (A faster way of cooling this is to make a more concentrated sweet tea from about 1L of water with the tea bags and sugar, then add 500ml of cold filtered water after steeping).
Add your starter liquid and scoby to the crock.
Place the muslin cloth over the top of the crock and secure with an elastic band. This allows the liquid to breathe but stops dust and bugs from getting in.
Let it ferment undisturbed for about 2 weeks and you’ll have your kombucha! You might notice the scoby sink to the bottom, start growing stringy bits and/or another film of scoby forming on top of your liquid. These are normal and signs that your scoby is thriving. What you don’t want is any mould or strange growths. If you notice these, throw it out and start again.
Taste the kombucha after 1-2 weeks and if it’s too sweet, allow it to ferment further. If it’s too acidic, then add some more sweetened tea.
When it’s ready, decant it into glass bottles and store in the fridge to stop the fermentation process. If you want it a little carbonated, bottle it when it’s still a bit sweet so that it ferments further in the bottle but exercise extreme caution when opening the bottle as you don’t want it to explode!
Notes:
You can flavour your kombucha when you bottle it. My favourites are strawberries and ginger.
Kombucha is a natural detoxifer so drink plenty of water to help with the process
You can top up the kombucha with a new batch of sweet tea once you’ve consumed about 2/3 and you should have more ready to go after a week or so. Your brew will eventually get so strong that you can top and drink as early as the next day and you’ll get into a rhythm where you just “know” when it needs to be topped up and when it’s ready.
Make sure your kombucha only comes into contact with your crock and glass, not stainless steel or plastic as it’s an “active” liquid.
Before you start your kombucha batch and bottling, sterilise your crock and glass bottles with boiling water and apple cider vinegar. Don’t use soap or dishwashing liquid as you don’t want any of chemicals interacting with your kombucha.
While you can buy your starter culture online, it’s even better if you can have a friend give you some of their mother (you can literally peel off layers) and kombucha liquid to get your kombucha batch started.
It can take the tummy a bit of time to get used to the extra burst of flora so it’s best to start off with a small does in the morning (50-100ml) and work up to three hits a day. It’s especially refreshing with some ice.