How to make your own homemade kombucha

Kombucha is an ancient beverage created through the natural fermentation of green or black tea and sugar or panela, carried out by a colony of bacteria and yeasts called Scoby. During the fermentation process, the Scoby uses almost all the sugar and produces bubbles that turn kombucha into a delicious drink.

Among its main benefits are:

• Improves digestion
• It is energizing and stimulating
• Improves the immune system

The flavor of kombucha can vary greatly depending on how long it ferments, from 7 to 20 days. If what we want to achieve is a milder flavor, we should let it ferment for a shorter time. To achieve a more intense and vinegary flavor, less sweet, we will let the kombucha ferment for longer. Keep in mind that temperature will play an important role in how quickly fermentation occurs. We recommend tasting it every day so you can find the fermentation level you like best.

What do you need to make kombucha at home?

• Sugar: Sugar is essential for making delicious kombucha. We advise you to use white or brown sugar or panela.

Do not use any sugar substitutes, keep in mind that the scoby needs it, it is its food source. If you give it something other than sugar, you can weaken it.

In this way, you should avoid stevia, honey, agave syrup or coconut sugar.

• Water: We recommend using filtered or bottled water, never tap water as it contains chlorine and other components that can weaken the scoby.

• Tea (black or green): It should preferably be loose leaf tea with no mixture or added flavor. For the 2nd fermentation you can use whichever you like.

• Scoby: A scoby is a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast. It is responsible for converting tea into kombucha, so it does all the magic. It has a gelatinous appearance, usually beige or cream colored. It is common for the scoby to float at the top of the container. Although it can also sink, it is nothing bad.

To make kombucha you need to ferment tea, this is the process:

1st Fermentation: Usually lasts between 7 and 12 days, during this time, the sweet tea ferments, as a result, you’ll have kombucha with natural flavor and little gas.

2nd Fermentation: It’s optional, it’s used to add some flavor, you need to bottle it hermetically and leave it between 2 and 4 days at room temperature. Also, this is how you get bubbles.

First Fermentation:

This is the recipe we make, it has changed over time, based on testing, you can use other quantities or methods, the ideal thing is that you adapt it to your taste.

Whatever the quantity, you must use 1 scoby. The starter culture is kombucha with no added flavor.

Water	Starter culture	Tea (green or black)	Panela
4 liters	200 milliliters	40 grams	250 grams

Utensils

• Teapot and strainer
• Glass jar with 4-liter capacity
• A piece of cloth to cover. It can be a coffee filter or a clean cotton cloth
• A rubber band or elastic

Preparation

1. Heat the water and when it boils, turn off the heat and add the tea, wait about 10 or 15 minutes for it to infuse, then make a second infusion with these same leaves.

2. Add the sugar or panela to 500 milliliters of water and stir until it dissolves.

3. Strain the tea very well and pour it into the glass jar, it is important to wait until it reaches room temperature before adding the sugar or panela and the other elements.

4. When it has cooled, add the starter culture and the scoby.

5. Cover the jar with a clean cloth, so it fits snugly, secure it with an elastic band or string.

6. Let it rest at room temperature in a shaded place with air flow, for approximately one week.
7. You can taste the kombucha from the fifth day onwards, the more days pass, the more acidic its flavor will be, since it will have less sugar, it should be to your taste.

Now it’s ready to drink, if you want to add flavor and make it more carbonated, you must do the second fermentation.

In the second part of this blog that we will publish next Saturday, June 19th, you will find this section in detail.