Basic Kombucha

Typically for a gallon of strong kombucha, steeping 4 teabags in 4 cups of water and adding some sugar (¼ to ½ cup) is sufficient to dilute it, but depending on the strength, a higher amount of freshly brewed tea may be used. Always cool the tea (and any other hot ingredients) to room temperature before mixing it with kombucha, because excessive heat will kill the bacteria.

Yields: just under 1 gallon of kombucha

Ingredients

• 1 kombucha SCOBY
• 1 (scant) gallon bottled spring water(don’t use water from your faucet because it probably has chlorine and/or fluoride in it).
• 10 black tea or green tea (no frills) tea bags*
• 1 cup cane sugar

*Be sure to use tea that is either 100% black or 100%green. Many companies add orange peel to black tea, which has essential oils in it that are not good for brewing. Stick to the 100% pure teas for the best results.

You’ll also need:

• Large pot for boiling water
• Large (1 gallon or more) glass jug/container for fermenting the kombucha
• Long-handled spoon for stirring
• Stick-on or floating thermometer
• Cheesecloth or breathable dish towel
• Stretchy rubber band
• A glass pitcher or other efficient method of transferring the kombucha from the jug to bottles or the dispenser you will be using to drink the kombucha out of
• Small fine strainer (we use a metal coffee strainer)
• Glass bottles with sealable lids. Both screw-top and flip-cap bottles work, and dark glass works best because kombucha does not like sunlight.

Optional Tools:

• Distilled white vinegar for cleaning your kombucha jug
• Heating device such as an electric heating pad. These work great for helping to maintain the temperature of your kombucha if your house is cold during the winter.
• Space blanket. May be used to trap in heat. During cold spells, wrapping the kombucha jug with a heating pad and securing it with a space blanket works wonders.

Instructions

1. Add water to a sanitized pot before boiling.
2. Sanitize everything you are using to make kombucha. You can do this by running it through the dishwasher, hand-washing in very hot water with soap, or by coating it in distilled white vinegar.
3. Boil water. If you are making 1 gallon of kombucha, you do not need to boil the entire 1 gallon—just enough (½ gallon or so) to brew the tea. This way you can add the remaining water to cool the tea once it’s brewed.
4. Once water has reached a boiling point, remove it from heat and add tea bags. Steep the tea for 8 to 10 minutes and then remove the bags.
5. Add the cane sugar and stir well to dissolve.
6. Allow the tea to cool to roughly 75° to 85° (or if you only boiled half a gallon of water, add the remaining half gallon of cool water so that the hot water cools faster).
7. Once the tea is in the optimal temperature range, add the SCOBY (if this is your first time making kombucha and you bought your SCOBY online, simply remove it from its package and slip it in).
8. If you have a sticky thermometer that can be stuck to a surface, stick it on the outside of the jug (optional).
9. Cover the jug with cheesecloth so that the kombucha can continually breathe.
10. Secure the cheesecloth with a stretchy rubber band.
11. Place jug in a dark place, such as a closet, that stays relatively warm and is not disturbed by people and light.
12. Allow kombucha to brew for five to seven days (the longer it brews, the more sugar it eats and the stronger it is).
13. Continually check the temperature of the kombucha. For best results, it should stay in the 70°F to 85°F range. If it falls below 70°F, it’s not a huge deal, it will just take longer for the kombucha to brew. If the kombucha gets above 85°F, the ferment may die. If you see any mold (it will look like bread mold…green/white and fuzzy circles), discard the SCOBY and the whole batch of kombucha.
14. When your kombucha is ready, remove the cheesecloth.

NOTE: You will notice your SCOBY is bigger—it will grow to the width of the container it’s in and a second SCOBY will form. SCOBYs will always continue to grow. Once a SCOBY gets to be a couple of inches thick, I recommend peeling a layer or two off and either discard it or give it to a friend along with some starter liquid so that they can brew their own kombucha.

15. Now that your kombucha has completed the first fermentation, you can either bottle it and be finished or add ingredients by following the recipes in this book. I find it is easiest to pour the kombucha liquid out of the jug and into a smaller pitcher. Using the pitcher, it is easy to pour the kombucha into bottles.
16. Once you have bottled the kombucha, you can either take a break, leave your SCOBY and starter liquid in the jug covered with cheesecloth and bound with a rubber band, or you can brew a new batch. As long as SCOBYs are in a healthy environment, they can sit for months at a time between batches. When taking a break, simply leave the jug in a warm (70°F to 85°F), dark place that doesn’t get disturbed often, just as you would if you were brewing a batch. Be sure to inspect the SCOBY before brewing a new batch, especially if it has been sitting for more than a couple weeks. For every one inch of SCOBY, I typically save about two inches worth of starter liquid.
17. If you choose to add ingredients for a secondary fermentation, follow the recipe instructions and leave the bottles of flavored kombucha at room temperature in a dark place for two to three days. During this process, the bacteria and yeast cultures eat the sugar you added (fructose from the juice or cane sugar) and continue to ferment. This makes the kombucha a little stronger and fizzy (“effervescent” is what the industry calls it). It is important to note that a small SCOBY will form in each bottle during the secondary fermentation, which can be strained out before drinking.
18. Place kombucha in the refrigerator for 24 hours before consuming for the best results. The cooler temperature will slow the fermentation (although the kombucha will continue to ferment), and refrigerating it seems to help in achieving a bubbly drink.
19. Get creative with your flavors, pat yourself on the back, and enjoy.

 

 

Lemon Ginger Kombucha

Lemon ginger kombucha is very handy to have on hand during cold and flu season! Not only does kombucha help boost the immune system, but both lemon and ginger are also great for fighting colds. Plus, the beverage tastes great! When combined, lemon and ginger yields an almost creamy flavor, soothing the bite you’d expect from the ingredients on their own and leaving your palate happy!

Yields: just under 1 gallon of kombucha

Ingredients

• 4 cups water
• 3 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• ½ cup cane sugar
• ¾ gallon kombucha

Instructions

1. Add the water and grated ginger to a pot and bring to a full boil. Reduce the temperature to medium and keep the water bubbling for about 5 minutes to infuse the water with ginger flavor.
2. Remove pot from heat and add the lemon juice and sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
3. Allow the pot to sit until it cools to room temperature. This will allow the ginger to infuse the tea with flavor.
4. Once ginger tea is cool, add it to a pitcher or jug and combine it with the kombucha Depending on the size of your pitcher, you may need to do this in halves.
5. Stir kombucha and ginger tea together and then pour it into glass bottles. Try to get as much of the ginger in the bottles with the kombucha as possible. Secure with a tight cap.
6. Leave bottles in a warm, dark place for two to four days to allow it to undergo secondary fermentation. Refrigerate kombucha to slow the fermentation once the second ferment is complete.
7. When you’re ready to drink the kombucha, strain it into a glass using a fine strainer to get the ginger pulp and newly grown SCOBY out. Discard the pulp and enjoy your healthy beverage!

 

 

Basic Jun

Because you will need to save some of the starter liquid (I usually save two inches of starter liquid for every one inch of SCOBY) and the SCOBY takes up space—a 1-gallon batch of jun will not yield a useable full gallon—you will get more like ¾ of a gallon, which is why all of the recipes in this section call for ¾ gallon of jun. Follow all safety precautions when brewing jun as you would when brewing kombucha, making sure to always brew using glass containers. Also, be mindful of the temperature range of your home so that your SCOBY and jun stay healthy.

Yields: ¾ gallon of jun

Ingredients

• 1 jun SCOBY plus starter liquid
• 1 (scant) gallon spring or well water
• 8 to 10 green tea bags
• ½ to 3⁄4 cup honey

Note: The supplier of your jun SCOBY will likely include a page of instructions. Use the portion of water, sugar, and tea that your supplier recommends, especially if the SCOBY is small, as 1 gallon may be too much to start with, depending on the diameter and thickness of your SCOBY.

You’ll also need:

• Large pot for boiling water
• Large (1 gallon or more) glass jug/container for fermenting the jun
• Long-handle spoon for stirring
• Stick-on or floating thermometer
• Cheesecloth or breathable dish towel
• Stretchy rubber band
• A glass pitcher or other efficient method of transferring the jun from the jug to bottles or the dispenser you will be using to drink the jun out of.
• Small fine strainer (we use a metal coffee strainer)
• Glass bottles with sealable lids. Both screw-top and flip-cap bottles work.
• Dark glass works best because jun does not like sunlight.

Instructions

1. Heat half a gallon of water in a pot on the stove until it boils.
2. Remove the pot from heat and add the tea bags. After a couple of minutes, pour in the honey, stir, and allow the tea to continue to brew another 5 to 8 minutes.
3. Remove the teabags from the pot and discard them.
4. To bring the temperature of the water down, add the other half gallon of water to the pot of tea.
5. Using a thermometer, test the temperature of the tea. It needs to be between 75-85°F for proper brewing. Your goal is to keep the jun within this temperature range while it is brewing, although it will survive temperatures that are not too far outside of this range.
6. Once the tea is in the optimal temperature range, pour it into a large glass jug or jar. Add the jun SCOBY with the jun starter fluid (junstarter fluid is simply brewed jun).
7. Cover the jug with a cheesecloth or kitchen towel fastened with a rubber band. Place the jun in a dark and warm (between 75° and 85°) place for five to seven days. The longer the kombucha brews, the less residual sugar content it will have, and the stronger it will be. The jun is ready when it no longer tastes like tea sweetened with honey and has a desirable strength (to your taste).
8. Once the jun has finished fermenting, you have two options. You can either stop here, bottle, and refrigerate it, or you can add more tea with honey, fruit, herbs, and/or flowers to flavor the jun and allow it to go through a secondary fermentation process. If you choose to flavor the jun, follow the recipes in this section (or try the recipes in the kombucha section, replacing any sugar with honey!). 9. Begin a new batch of jun by starting the whole process over, or cover the jun with a cheesecloth and store in a warm, dark place until you are ready to brew your next batch.

 

 

Watermelon Lime Jun

During the summertime, agua fresca, which is a pureed fruit beverage, is refreshing and tasty. This jun recipe is simply puréed seedless watermelon with lime and honey to add a crisp, refreshing flavor. Because watermelons yield a high volume of fruit and they’re easy to find in the summer, this is a great recipe to make in a large batch to have on hand during the heat of the year.

Yields: ¾ gallon of jun

Ingredients

• 5 cups seedless watermelon, chopped (about 3 cups worth when puréed)
• 2 limes, juiced
• 3 tablespoons honey
• ¾ gallon jun

Instructions

1. Add the chopped watermelon, lime juice, and honey to a blender and blend until completely smooth.
2. In a large pitcher, combine the watermelon purée with the jun and stir well to incorporate.
3. Pour the watermelon lime jun into sealable bottles and secure their lids.
4. Leave bottles in a warm, dark room for two to three days.
5. Refrigerate the bottles prior to drinking and use a fine strainer to remove any SCOBY that has formed during secondary fermentation.

 

 

Water Kefir

Ingredients

• Hydrated Water Kefir Grains
• ¼ cup organic cane raw sugar per quart of non-chlorinated filtered water

Note: do not use honey, use only filtered water. You can use tap water but need to boil it and cool it. It will remove the unwanted chlorine.

Instructions

1. Dissolve the sugar in small amount of hot water in a small clean bowl. Place in a glass jar. Let it cool for a few minutes.
2. Fill up the jar with at room temperature filtered water.
3. Add the hydrated water kefir grains. Cover the jar with a cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band Let sit at room temperature on the kitchen counter for 24 hours up to 48 hours. Temperature should be kept between 70-75°F. Leaving it longer will increase the sugar fermentation process and reduce the carbohydrates.
4. Strain the water with a fine mesh strainer in another jar. After 48 hours, strain the water kefir grains through a bamboo or mesh strainer (don’t use metal if you can help it!) pouring the liquid into another container. I use a half gallon jar for the first process and strain into two-quart size jars.
5. Restart the process by dissolving more sugar in water, adding cool water and adding Water Kefir Grains.
6. To make the Water Kefir carbonated, pour a couple ounces of fruit juice into the strained water kefir you just strained. I’ve found Grape, Pomegranate, Apple and Cherry to work the best. I don’t recommend citrus for this part, as it makes stringy yeast like things that are not tasty! Once you’ve added the juice, cover the jars tightly with an air tight lid and leave on the counter an additional 1-3 days before drinking or refrigerating. Repeat the process!

 

 

Peach Soda

Peaches lend a soft and sweet flavor to kefir soda and the pulp helps the soda get very effervescent! After this beverage undergoes secondary fermentation, be very careful when opening the air-tight bottles, especially if they are flip-cap bottles. Pressure will build during secondary fermentation and may result in the soda fizzing over when opening if the bottles are left for too long at room temperature.

Ingredients

• 2 large ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and chopped
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup sugar
• 8 cups water kefir

Instructions

1. Add chopped peaches and water to a small saucepan. Cover it and cook on medium until it comes to a full boil.
2. Reduce temperature to a gentle boil, leaving the pan covered until peaches lose their form entirely, about 30 minutes. Mash the peaches and stir the fruit occasionally to help the process and cook uncovered for the last 10 minutes to help reduce the mixture. You want the substance to be thick and fairly smooth, but a little chunkiness is okay.
3. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Remove the pan from heat and allow the peach mixture to cool to room temperature.
4. In a pitcher or jug, combine the peach mixture with the water kefir and stir well.
5. Pour into sealable bottles and leave the bottles sealed at room temperature for two to three days for secondary fermentation.
6. Place bottles in the refrigerator to stop the fermentation.
7. If your soda has small chunks of peaches or pulp, you can strain the beverage prior to drinking. Serve cold and enjoy!

 

 

 

***These recipes and more are found in Louise Davidson’s Fermented Beverages for Healthy Guts: 50 Easy Fermentation Recipes – Kombucha and Jun Teas – Juices – Kefir – Lacto-Fermented Lemonades – Yogurts – Smoothies -Sodas. To get your own copy, click on the cover below or click here.

To download a copy of the featured recipes, click here.