I was given my first SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) the other week and have today put my first batch of raspberry flavoured kombucha in to the fridge for a ready supply of chilled homemade goodness. I have, up until now, only fermented milk and water kefir. If I had appreciated how incredibly easy it was to make kombucha I would have done this ages ago!
Step 1: get a SCOBY – any one who makes their own kombucha will have baby SCOBY being produced all the time. This one cycle has started the growth of a new SCOBY
Step 2: I boiled about 2 litres of water and added this to a pan of 6 green tea bags and 170 g granulated sugar.
I left this in the pan to cool to room temperature.
Step 3: Add the sweet green tea to the kilner jar that has the SCOBY + liquid it came in
It is important that no metal utensils come in to contact with the SCOBY or liquid it is in. Because it is a living organism, it needs to ‘breathe’ so cover the top with muslin.
Step 4: Leave it to brew for 7 – 28 days. The longer you leave it the more acidic the ferment will become. I was advised to taste it every day and when it no longer tasted like tea but was fruity, it was ready. I could then choose to let it brew longer for a stronger flavour. By day 4 the tea taste had gone. I left it to brew for 8 days – I will probably leave it longer as I, and my gut, become accustomed to it.
Step 5: Using plastic utensils drain the majority of the liquid into a glass container that has a grolsh type top – i.e. creates a good seal. The SCOBY and its liquid is now ready for the process to start again i.e. Steps 2-4
Step 6: The decanted kombucha can now be put in the fridge and be drunk – the longer it is left…the fizzier it will get. This is the point at which I decided to flavour it. I popped a handful of fresh raspberries in to the bottle and sealed the lid. Every day I ‘burped’ the liquid i.e. opened the lid to let the pressure of the building gas be released.
I left this on a kitchen work top for 4 days. I have tasted it today and it has a mild fizz and is now in the fridge to drink.
Raspberry kombucha
My next step is to experiment with longer period of brewing the SCOBY in the liquid before I remove ii and experiment with flavours – the tea i use and the flavours I add.
What flavours have you tried? What would you recommend? What didn’t work so well?