The Best Kombucha

So, kombucha is one of the most forgiving ferments you'll ever work with. Over the years, I've tried multiple methods and the following practical guidelines yield what I've found to be the best results!

Ingredients & Supplies for the Best Kombucha

Black Tea - 6 teabags
Sugar - 1 heaping cup
Kombucha SCOBY - procure from a friend or grown your own!
Kombucha - 1/2 cup
Water

Gallon size glass bowl
Masking Tape
Kitchen Tea Towel
Rubber Band

Kombucha bottles
filter
funnel

Instructions for making

The Best Kombucha

Start by bringing 1 gallon of water to a full boil. Boiling the water helps eliminate chlorine in the water which will hinder or prevent fermentation. Add 1 rounded cup of sugar and stir well. Allow the sugar mixture to return to a boil. 

Add 6 regular tea bags to the sugar water. I use the inexpensive, tagless black tea bags most of the time but loose leaf tea can be used as effectively. Let the tea and sugar water gently boil for about 10 minutes. Tea aficionados often recommend not boiling tea, but I've found the stronger flavor to be preferable to merely steeping.

Remove the tea from heat and without removing the tea bags, allow to cool for 2 to 12 hours. You can brew your tea in the evening and then let it sit overnight and finish the process in the morning.

Remove the tea bags or strain out the tea leaves and pour the cooled sweet tea into the gallon glass bowl. (Do not use metal or plastic.) Add 1/2 cup of kombucha to the mixture. Lay the Kombucha SCOBY on top of the sweet tea. It should float but don't worry if it sinks; it will make no difference in the final product. Try to spread the SCOBY out flat to cover the maximum surface area. If you are using a smaller SCOBY from a different size brewing container, that's fine; it won't affect your kombucha.

Wipe the edges of your brewing bowl dry and tape two pieces of masking tape across the top of the bowl in the form of an X. The masking tape will prevent the tea towel cover from sagging in on top of the brewing kombucha.

Lay the tea towel over the top of the bowl and secure with a tight rubber band. The tea towl cover will allow the gas created in the fermenting process to be released but will keep bugs and dust out of the brew. (Fruit flies especially love kombucha!)

Set your glass bowl in a warm, dark location where you can leave it undisturbed. Most ferments don't like to be jostled around during the brewing process. Allow it to sit for 5 - 10 days. The time it takes will vary depending on many factors including:

• the room temperature
• the strength, age and size of your SCOBY
• the amount of starter kombucha you add
• the degree of sourness that you prefer

After 4 or 5 days, taste your brew. Just uncover the tea towel and moving the SCOBY aside, dip in a teaspoon. The kombucha needs to be just a little bit sweeter than you would like the finished product to taste.

When the kombucha is fermented to the desired doneness, you are ready to bottle! So now a word about the

best kombucha bottles

You can use almost any glass container to bottle your kombucha, but the best carbonation will occur if you choose a bottle with a narrow neck and a tight seal. Bail top bottles are perfect for this. If you have a capper, beer bottles can be used as effectively. Growlers and gallon wine jugs also work well although carbonation develops somewhat better in a longer neck bottle.

Uncover your glass bowl and remove the masking tape. Lift the SCOBY off the kombucha and set aside for your next batch. If you aren't going to use it right away, be sure it is covered with kombucha so it won't dry out. Strain the kombucha to remove any strands or sediment. I use a fine mesh, reusable coffee filter. Cheesecloth is also a good option. 

Pour the strained kombucha into bottles using a funnel if necessary. You can add flavorings to the kombucha at this point but I think the best kombucha is plain. Leave about an inch of airspace in the top and seal the bottles. Set aside at room temperature for 1-2 days then refrigerate.

Kombucha will keep for weeks in the refrigerator. If left unrefrigerated, it will ferment more and become increasingly sour. Each batch of kombucha tends to be a little different in flavor so expect some variation and enjoy drinking the best kombucha ever!

Practical Tips and Techniques for Ongoing Kombucha Brewing

• Don't separate your SCOBY with every batch. Allow the layers to build up over 4-6 batches before pulling them apart. A thicker SCOBY makes a better tasting kombucha.
• Wash your brewing bowl/container and change out your tea towel with each batch.
• You can experiment with different flavored teas but give your SCOBY restorative batches of plain, black tea.
• Your SCOBY or brewing kombucha can be transferred at any point in the process to the refrigerator to slow down fermentation. Bringing it back to room temperature speeds the fermentation back up.
• For more time saving tips (but not necessarily the very Best Kombucha, see my blog article "So You Think You Don't Have Time to Make Kombucha?"
• Find an abbreviated version of Kombucha making instructions in my very practical post "Basic Kombucha Recipe."