Our Kombucha Kits are designed to make brewing kombucha at home fun and easy. So, put on your favourite tunes, relax and brew until your heart’s content.
Before we get started
Here are a few basic guidelines for brewing kombucha:
- Please don't refrigerate your SCOBYs.
- This makes healthy bacteria and yeast lethargic which can result in failed brews. When you want to take a break from brewing, you can store your cultures in a SCOBY hotel. (details on our website)
- Avoid using metal (except for stainless steel) while brewing kombucha. Stirring or straining with metal is okay but you should not brew your kombucha in a metal pot. The acidity of kombucha can react with the metal.
- Its best to brew with Green, Black, White or Oolong tea to ensure your SCOBY is getting enough nutrients.
- You can purchase our Organic Tea Blend here
- Avoid brewing with teas that contain essential oils, as this can harm your culture.
- Avoid antibacterial soap when cleaning your material.
- Clean (or cure) equipment with boiling water, distilled vinegar or kombucha vinegar.
- kombucha vinegar is a mature, plain kombucha. Ideally 4+ weeks old.
- Take starter tea for your next batch from the top of your brew. We recommend 2 cups
- The kombucha closest to your SCOBY will have the densest population of healthy bacteria and will ensure your next batch is strong enough to ferment.
- Your brew should be left somewhere with good airflow, undisturbed and away from direct sunlight.
- A cabinet is not a good place because it doesn’t have constant airflow.
- Kombucha prefers warm temperatures between 24°C to 29° With ideal temperatures of 26°C to 27°C.
- As long as there is no mould, kombucha can be brewed at any temperature. Colder temps will require a longer brew cycle while warmer temps will finish more quickly.
- We have written a blog about kombucha mould, you can read more here.
- You can heat your jar by sticking it close to a working appliance, vent or in a warm nook. You can also get heating straps to heat your brew from the sides.
- With every brew cycle, your mother will produce another SCOBY.
- You can combine multiple SCOBYs into a single brew or
- You can separate them to experiment with different teas and flavourings.
- Or you can store them in a SCOBY hotel for use at a later time. you can learn how to make a SCOBY hotel from our blog post.
Let's get started
Kombucha brewing is a bit of a dance and each brewer needs to find their own rhythm. It may take a few batches before you find the right taste and process that works for you but keep with it! It’s all part of the fun.
These instructions are written to use with our kombucha kit. If you are using a smaller or larger brewing vessel, you can find the basic recipe down below. Please alter your recipe ratios according to your container size.
- Boil 1L (4 cups) chlorine free water.
- Add entire pack of tea into the reusable tea bag. Place tea bag in boiled water and let it steep for 10 minutes.
- If you do not have a cotton tea bag you can use any tea basket, or put the tea in loose and strain it out after steeping. Whatever works.
- Remove tea bag and discard the tea. Rinse the reusable bags and let air dry for next use.
- Pour in the sugar (1 cup) and stir until dissolved.
- If it is not already in your brew jar, pour sweet tea into your brewing jar.
- Add 2 L (8 cups) of cold, filtered water to your jar.
- At this point, your sweet tea should be cool enough to add your starter tea and SCOBY. (between 20-29°C)
- If your sweet tea is still too hot, cover jar and wait until it drops to 29°
- Pour in entire pouch of the SCOBY culture and stir once.
- It may float, sink or hang around somewhere in between. This is OKAY! Your Mother SCOBY will produce a baby SCOBY that goes across the top of your jar regardless of where the mother SCOBY is positioned in the jar.
- Follow instructions on back of pH test trips to conduct pH test. The result should read 4.5 or below. If not, add 1 teaspoon of white vinegar and test again.
- Make a note of your brewing details so that you can keep track of your favourite batches.
- Date, tea and sugar used.
- Cover your jar with the cloth and rubber band and set in a warm place out of direct sunlight.
- Sunlight is antibacterial. Since your SCOBY is bacteria this can be harmful for your culture.
- By day 5-9 your brew will have a new layer of cream coloured SCOBY across the top. This is your new culture! When you want to taste your brew, take your pipette and slide it down along the side of your jar and under your SCOBY to pull out a sip. Try not to disturb your culture too much.
- After day 5, you can start tasting your brew. Too sweet? Leave it another day and taste again. Too tart? No worries, you can sweeten it up when you bottle.
- The ideal pH of a finished kombucha is 2.5-3.5.
- Brewing time is usually between 7-21 days
Basic Kombucha Recipe (per 1L)
- 1 L water
- 4-5g tea
- We use 5g tea/ water
-
80-150g sugar
- We use 80g/L
- 100ml starter tea + Living SCOBY Culture
- You want to add at least 10% of the batch volume
Sign of a healthy SCOBY Culture
- The bacterial mat is hardy
- If you press it between your fingers it does not tear
- The SCOBY is between ¼ to ½ in thick
- Has a yellowish to light tan colour
- Yeast strands are visible (brown/black/bluish clumps)
- A new SCOBY grows with each batch.
Finding the right flavour balance
A well-made kombucha will have enough residual sweetness to be enticing and enough acidity to be lively. It’s up to you and your taste buds to decide what’s right for you.
Consumer Warnings
- This product is intended for anyone above the age of four who is not immunocompromised.
- This product should not be consumed in quantities above 4oz (115mL) per day.
- This product should not be consumed if pH is below 2.3.
- If your kombucha falls below this pH, you should use the kombucha as starter for your next batch.
Have more questions?
Take a look at our bottling & flavouring instructions. You can find more tips and tricks on our Blog.