Kombucha Tea Recipe

Your guide for making your first kombucha tea at home.

Download:  Our Free Kombucha tea recipe.pdf

  • Step one:- Gather  the equipment and the ingredients for brewing kombucha.
  1. Sugar: We will need one tablespoon of sugar per cup of water. In a 0.5 gallon (2 liters) jar, you have 8 cups of water.
  2. Tea bags: You can use approximately 3 bags of black or green tea for a brewing vessel of o.5 gallon  (2 liters) capacity.
  3. Kombucha Starter  AND the  SCOBY ( the gelatinous mass).
  4. Measuring cup.
  5. 1 gallon of water:  Use purified water.
  6. Stainless pot or tea kettle:  NEVER USE ALUMINUM.
  7. Brewing recipient:  USE ONLY FOOD GRADE GLASS JAR OR FOOD GRADE PLASTIC JAR. The best and easiest to find is a recycle 0.5 gallon (2 liters) pickle jar. NEVER USE METAL container.
  8. Coffee filter or clean Cloth.
  9. Rubber band.
  10. Measuring tablespoon.
  • Step two: -Sanitize the equipment and brewing recipient

Kombucha recipe sanitation

Sanitation is very important for brewing kombucha

When making your kombucha use the same sanitary precaution you use for preparing your food. Wash your hands and all the equipment. Be sure you do not have soap residues left on your hands or the brewing equipment. After washing, use some white vinegar to rinse the brewing jar.

 

  • Step three: -Preparation of the kombucha brew
  1. Boil 8 cups of water.
  2. Add the tea bags to the pot.
  3. Infuse during 6 minutes, then remove tea bags.
  4. Add the sugar.
  5. Let the  brewing solution cool down to room temperature.
  6. Fill the brewing jar but,  leave 1.5 inches (4 cm) from the top.
  7. Add the kombucha scoby AND starter liquid.
  8. Cover with coffee filter and secure with the rubber band.
  9. Place the brewing recipient  in a warm location and away from direct sunlight.
  10. The first week, do not move or disturb the brewing recipient.

Kombucha continuous brewing jar

 

  • Step four: - Adjust the brewing time of the kombucha

Depending on the room temperature where your kombucha is located, about 7 to 18 days  a film is formed on the surface of the liquid in contact with the air. It is a young kombucha scoby. Normally, your kombucha tea is ready.  One  the seventh day, you use a baster to take a sample of the brewing  tea by moving slightly the kombucha scoby. Taste the liquid if it is too acid, then reduce your brewing cycle of some days.  If it is too sweet, allow to brew for  more days.  Normally, the pH of your completed kombucha must be between 2.8 to 3. It will take two brews before your kombucha culture is stable in its new environment. For a better quality, we suggest that you drink only the tea from the second brew.

If you are new to kombucha, at the beginning do not drink more than 8 ounces (230 ml) per day. With time and adaptation of your system, you can slowly increase the quantity. However, 8 ounces (236 ml) per day is sufficient to benefit from the functional and probiotic properties of the drink that you have prepared.

Kombucha drinking

The Kombucha - a probiotic functional food (Page 3)