Kombucha 101
Presented
by
Heather
Brown, LMT/Health Coach &
Ally McPhee, Holistic Health Coach
515.689.2001
Ingredients and items needed:
·
Kombucha SCOBY (make or buy on AMAZON
or get from a friend)
SCOBY= Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria & Yeast
·
1 gallon glass jar or large beverage
dispenser (use glass not plastic)
·
14 cups of water total
·
5-8 black or green tea bags (or loose
tea plus a tea infuser or pouch for loose tea)
·
1 cup of white sugar (need a Jun Tea
SCOBY if you want to use honey)
·
Rubber band
·
Bandana or old t-shirt cut into a 5-6”
square
Optional--in a few weeks you will need:
·
6-12 fermentation bottles (AKA Swing
top bottles) for 2nd fermentation process
·
Fresh fruit or fresh juice for
flavoring process
Instructions (watch kombucha demos on YouTube, if needed or see
link below):
- Make kombucha SCOBY, if
needed. See this link for recipe and video:
- In a
large pot, bring ALL or HALF of water to boil and turn off heat. Add tea
and sugar, stir and let cool completely: place in a sink filled with cold
water to speed things up, or let sit overnight.
- In a glass beverage dispenser or gallon
jar, add kombucha SCOBY and 2 cups of
previously made kombucha, if you have it. Strain the cooled tea (plus
plain water if you only boiled 7 cups of water vs 14) using a mesh
strainer into the gallon jar or dispenser.
- Cover
jar opening with the bandanna or old t-shirt securing with a rubber band
and put in a place with temperatures above 21C or 70F (I leave mine on a
kitchen counter) to ferment for 7-10 days. It is OK if SCOBY isn’t
floating at the top (it will later).
- After
7 days (less in summer) start tasting kombucha via a straw. If it isn’t sweet, has a
tangy taste, fizzes as you pour and SCOBY is floating at the top, then
your kombucha is ready.
- Pour
using a funnel into airtight
fermentation bottles and enjoy.
- To
make next batch of kombucha, start with step 2.
Store: Keep at room
temperature for up to a few weeks. Longer in the fridge (kombucha is less fizzy
when refrigerated).
A “mother”, also known by
the acronym SCOBY, is a Symbiotic Culture
of Yeast and Bacteria. ... This “mother” is responsible
for the miraculous fermentation that takes place, turning ordinary tea into
sparkling, tart kombucha. If you're an old hand with the SCOBY, you know all
about it.
