HEY ENOYTHELIFERS,
Welcome to the first episode of Enjoy the Kombucha. In this episode, we share our weekly ritual of decanting and brewing Kombucha.
If you don’t know what Kombucha is then this is the blog for you because we simply explain what kombucha is, why it’s good for you, and how to brew it. In the next episode, we’ll show you how to brew kombucha from scratch using a do it yourself home kit that we can provide for you, so stay tuned.
Kombucha is produced by fermenting black or green tea* and sugar using a culture of bacteria and yeast called a SCOBY which stands for symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. Pretty cool huh? It’s a wonderfully refreshing drink full of good bacteria that helps balance your own natural gut bacteria and keeps your digestion working smoothly. (*Green tea kombucha is made with honey and is commonly called Jun. But other teas are use for brewing kombucha also)
Jump to Recipe
At first it’s a bit spooky and has a unique smell but you’ll soon discover this delicious fermented soda is something your body needs and craves In this blog post and video episode we’ll show you our weekly ritual of decanting and brewing kombucha and in the next episode we show you how to start making your own kombucha from scratch, but you can start now because we are giving you the recipe.
Jump to Recipe
Some people like to drink Kombucha raw, but we like to add different fruit juices so, today we’re making strawberry, pineapple, mango, in the video, but here I have orange juice, strawberries, blueberries, are some of our favorites! But really the sky is the limit on flavoring your booch. *Note 2.
Before we start the decanting process, we’re gonna prepare the tea and sugar mixture, for a new batch of kombucha.
To brew two gallons of kombucha, we’ll take two cups of sugar and 6-8 bags of black tea, below you are going to find the recipe for one gallon of kombucha. So I basically just double the recipe.
And we’ll mix it with four cups of boiling water, and now we’ll let that brew, while we start decanting, now it’s time to bring out the kombucha
Jump to Recipe
1st Fermentation: In this instant, already fermented tea, is been here for a week, so now it’s ready for decanting, the first step for brewing a new kombucha, is to extract a little, starting liquid, from the top of the SCOBY, we’re just gonna take, one and a half – 2 cups, of natural kombucha, so, lets put this on the side.
2nd Fermentation: Starts NOW! Make sure you mix it well and now we’re ready to decant, which is basically, extracting the fermented tea from the SCOBY, we start by adding a quarter cup of fruit juice to the bottles, and then we extract the tea and fill the bottles. This is just raw kombucha, no flavor, it already taste so delicious. When you finish put the bottles of kombucha with juice in the fridge to stop fermentation.
The more they are in the pantry outside of the refrigerator the more it generate carbonation and they taste less of fruit flavor. Remember that this is alive! They even can explode at the time of opening the bottle if you live it outside to long or you shake it… Do Not Shake Kombucha! Just stir it. We like a lot of fruit flavor on our kombucha so our 2nd fermentation happens inside in fridge.
So now we’ve finished decanting, and it’s time to start a new batch of kombucha. A new 1st fermentation. *Note 1
Now it’s time to take the tea out, and add the sugar into the tea, make sure that the sugar is completely, dissolved in the tea, add some water, no, this is the sweet tea ready for the SCOBY, let’s put it in.
After we add the sweet tea, we add two gallons of filtered water.
So, the fermentation can start, I add my starter liquid, just in the top, where the SCOBY is at, this is basically brewing a new batch of kombucha. *Note 1
Then we cover it and let it ferment in a cool dark place, and that’s it. *Note 3
Its Ready.
You can Enjoy the Kombucha raw or with flavors. Cold taste amazing!
Now we can enjoy our delicious, refreshing strawberry pineapple kombucha. In the video, but in this pictures we made blueberry and strawberry. Also we were enjoying some watermelon!
This is our weekly ritual of decanting kombucha, it’s so delicious.
In the next episode, we’re gonna show you how to start your own kombucha, from scratch, so you can enjoy this amazing natural soda, anytime you want. If you liked this video, hit that subscribe button and tune in for our next episode, of enjoy the kombucha.
NOTES
Note 1: If you starting from scratch you just need a Raw unflavored Kombucha, it will form the Scoby it just take longer to harvest the fermented tea the first times.
Note 2: The flavor is absolutely free to choose from cold press juiced fruit *Like us! or box juice! You can use frozen fruits, herbs, you can make so many diferent combinations and flavors that really the sky is the limit.
Note 3: There is no mistake with Kombucha! The only thing that can happen is that the sweet tea will become vinegar, we can also use that vinegar to make home made cleaning products, or salad dressings! And you can start over again. The scoby hotels are containers with old kombucha scoby’s that remain together they produce the most delicious vinegar, and it very low maintenance. Also of course you can give one scoby to a friend or loved one and they can start there own Kombucha brewing!
Share the Love, I always say that the mother kombucha gives a lot of baby kombucha so you can share the benefits to others.
Here is the recipe to start your Kombucha at home:
Homemade Kombucha
Equipment
- 1 Gallon Glass Jar *Food safe
- 1 Kettle or Pot
- 1 Long Handled Spoon
- 1 Cloth Cover or coffee filter *No Cheesecloth
- 1 Thermometer strip *Not required
- 1 Funnel *Not required
- Ph strips or Ph meter *Not required
Ingredients
- 4-6 Bags Black Tea or spoons of loose leaf black tea
- 1 Gallon Water cool, chlorine-free
- 1 Cup Sugar cane sugar
- 1-2 Cups Starter Liquid Mature Kombucha no flavor
- 1 Full size Scoby *See Note 1
Instructions
Brewing / 1st Fermentation
- Place the tea in a pot, bowl or other heatproof container.
- Heat 4 cups of the water to just boiling and pour it over the tea. Let steep for 10 to 15 minutes, and then remove the spent tea leaves or bags.
- Add the sugar in to the hot tea and stir until completely dissolved: then add the remaining water.
- With clean hands, place the Scoby in the sweet tea. Pour the starter liquid on top of the Scoby.
- Cover the Glass vessel with the breathable cloth or filter.
- Allow the sweet tea to ferment for 7 to 21 days.After 5 days, it's okay to begin tasting one a day. To taste remove the cloth cover, and insert a straw and take some past the Scoby in to the brew.
- Once the brew reaches the flavor you like is ready to harvest. You can use the Ph strips to determine the acidity of the tea. Take notes and find out which times and Ph labels work for your specific palette.
Temperature and Placement
- The brew prefers warm temperature around 75 to 85ºF (24-29ºC)
- Airflow
- No exposure to sunlight
- Convenience, we keep ours in the pantry at thekitchen.
DECANT / 2nd Fermentation
- Before bottling or flavoring, collect at least 1-2 cups of starter liquid for the next batch from the top of the brew.
- Remove the scoby to another clean bowl add thestarter liquid, cover with a clean towel and set aside.
- Start Decanting. The rest of the kombucha is ready for drinking; you can drink it directly from the bottle or bottling with or without flavors.
- We love to cold press fresh fruits, add the juice to the bottles and fill the rest with the fermented tea. *Note 2
- To start the next batch, use one or both of the Scoby's, either the original or the new one form the previous batch with the starter liquid. The culture may be used to start another batch or placed in a Scoby Hotel. *Note 3
- Enjoy the first batch while the second brew is in progress!
