21 replies to this topic

[wharfrat]

Thanks for checking out my first attempt at making Kombucha (fermented tea). This will be a two step process, first i need to make the scoby, second i will be using the scoby to make the actual tea. Again i will post this disclaimer that this recipe is not mine, it is a universal recipe for making a scoby (mother) I will however be experimenting with diff flavors and such later on.. Below is a snippet from wikipedia on what Kombucha is and what the scoby is.

 

"Kombucha is a variety of fermented, lightly effervescent sweetened black or green tea drinks that are commonly intended as functional beverages for their supposed health benefits. Kombucha is produced by fermenting tea using a "symbiotic 'colony' of bacteria and yeast" (SCOBY). Actual contributing microbial populations in SCOBY cultures vary, but the yeast component generally includes Saccharomyces and other species, and the bacterial component almost always includes Gluconacetobacter xylinus to oxidize yeast-produced alcohols to acetic and other acids.

 

Step 1: Making the Mother (scoby)

 

Thinks you will need

1. 3 1/2 - cups of Distilled water
2. 2 Black Tea - bags or 2 tsp of loose leaf
3. 1/4 cup - Granulated Cane Sugar
4. 1/2 cup - Unpasteurized Unflavored Raw Kombucha 
5. 1 Quart glass jar (mason jar) or larger for bigger batches, just double ingredients (note: do NOT use metal or plastic)
6. Sauce pan
7. Coffee Filters, paper towels or tight woven cloth and a rubber band or equivalent

 

Just like our mycology endeavors, making Kombucha you need to start it by being some what sterile, you can not use tap water as it contains chlorine and or chloramine, the latter being much more difficult to gas out (remove) so I suggest using distilled water as not to kill off the good bacteria that develops in the brew. You can experiment with different waters but for this purpose i will be using distilled. Make sure all equipment is clean and soap residue free (use distilled water to rinse the pan and jars)

 

Getting Started

 

In a clean saucepan free of soap reside, pour in 3 1/2 cups of distilled water and bring just to boil, remove from heat. Add 1/4 cup of granulated sugar, stir until dissolved, put in 2 black tea bags and allow to steep until the water cools down.

 

 

Once cooled to the touch, pour the tea water mixture into a glass container in this case a 1 quart mason jar, leaving enough head room for another 1/2 cup of liquid so total amount will be 3/4" of head space. Again making sure the glass is clean and free of any soap residue, i boil a cup of distilled water in mine to clean and preheat the glass, using a microwave.

 

 

Once cooled to room temperature you can now add 1/2 cup of Kombucha, making sure to leave enough room for 3/4 head space, if not pour a small amount of tea out before adding the kombucha. Now we want to cover the jar with a breathable material like a tight woven cloth, paper towel or coffee filters. (DO NOT USE CHEESE CLOTH) Cheese cloth is too porous and will let fruit flies in. Now use a rubber band to hold the filter tight to the bottle. You can see I am using about 5 coffee filters.

 

Now we need to put the jar in a warm, shady place out of sunlight and where it wont be disturbed, i high shelf is good, just make sure it is open, as the tea ferments it need the air exchange from air movement.

This process will take 2-4 weeks to produce a scoby big enough to transfer to another jar to make Kombucha, Stay Tuned!

 

Next.. Step:2 -->

Edited by wharfrat, 21 January 2017 - 10:49 PM.

[wharfrat]

It has been 21 days since we started the Mother (SCOBY) and it is about 1/8" thick which is thick enough to start the Kombucha, this step will not take as long, and your SCOBY will continue to grow the longer you use it.. Time to make some booch!

 

 

Step 2: Making the Kombucha

 

Thinks you will need

1. 3 1/2 - cups of Distilled water
2. 2 Black or Green tea- bags or 2 tsp of loose leaf
3. 1/4 cup - Granulated Cane Sugar
4. 1/2 cup - Starter Liquid (from step 1)
5. 1 SCOBY
6. 1 Quart glass jar (mason jar) or larger for bigger batches, just double ingredients (note: do NOT use metal or plastic)
7. Coffee Filters, paper towels or tight woven cloth and a rubber band or equivalent

 

Getting Started

 

Making the Kombucha is similar to what we did in step 1, making the SCOBY. This time we will be adding 1/2 cup of the liquid from the starter brew instead of store bought Kombucha, we will also be adding our newly born SCOBY.
 

As in step 1, we need to bring 3 1/2 cups of water to a boil, remove from heat, add sugar and stir until dissolved, add the tea bags and let steep until cool, add tea to jars.

 

 

Now carefully remove the SCOBY from the starter jar and place on top of the fresh tea we just made then pour 1/2 cup of liquid from the starter jar into the fresh tea.

 

 

The SCOBY may or may not float to the top, either way, it is ok, even if it's on it's side it will still do it's job



Now we need to cover it up with coffee filters or equivalent (see step 1). 

 

 

This time it will only take 7 to 10 days to become a drinkable Kombucha. After 7 days, take a straw, stick it in the booch below the SCOBY and taste, if it's too sweet let it sit for longer, if it is tangy and to your liking you can drink it up or put in the fridge to get cold, or you can do a second ferment (F2), in the F2 step we can add the flavor of your choice, either a juice, fruit, or just some plain sugar. Once you are at this point you can make another batch and use the scobies we made in step 1, or we can put the SCOBY in a SCOBY Hotel (more on this in step 3). I will also be explaining the process of Continuous Brew.

 

 

Next.. Step 3: Bottling and Second Ferment -->

Edited by wharfrat, 10 February 2017 - 08:22 PM.

[wharfrat]

Now after approximately 7 days my Kombucha is perfect for my taste, nice and tart and not too sweet. Start tasting on day seven, if it is too sweet let it go a lil longer up to 10 days if needed. Now you can drink it as is, refrigerate, bottle or not, that is all up to you. I however like to flavor my Kombucha and like the fizz of a soda, the second ferment help produce the carbon dioxide needed for the fizzy drink.

 

Step 3: Bottling and Second Ferment

 

Thinks you will need

1. Kombucha from step 2
2. Bottles (pressure resistant)
3. Flavoring and/or sweetener (food for the microbes) see chart below
4. Funnel for bottling

 

To start the second ferment (f2) we first need jars clean with out soap residue and rinsed out with a lil filtered water. We will also be starting a new batch with the scobys and and some starter liquid from the Kombucha we just made, don't forget to save enough starter for the new batch. Refer to Step 2: Making The Kombucha for instructions.

 

 

Transfer your scoby and starter liquid to a new jar. Pour contents of you Kombucha into a larger vessel and add your fruit juice, fruit or just some sugar. I will be using 1/2 cup per quart of Kombucha, you can adjust to you taste. Experiment with different flavors and additives, like mint, ginger, hibiscus, whatever you like try it. For this batch I am using a pre-made cranberry juice.

 

The transfer

 

Adding the juice too the Kombucha

Bottling

 

Now we have our Kombucha bottled and sealed we will want to let it sit in a warm place out of direct sunlight for a few days to allow the carbonation to build up. The carbonation is made by the microbes eating the sugars and producing carbon dioxide. This usually takes 3 days or more depending on ambient temps. Now CAUTION should be taken as the bottles will build pressure and can bust, sending shards of glass everywhere, i suggest buying pressure rated bottles. I like the swing top EZ-Cap bottles as if the pressure builds too high it will vent past the cap. Once they have carbonated to your liking you can refrigerate them and drink up as wanted.

 

 

I was going to post more on the subject, like continuous brewing and the scoby hotel, If i have enough interest i will go ahead and do that, otherwise i'm going to leave it at this. There is tons of information, recipes out there.

 

Happy Fermenting!

Kombucha Tea Guide

 

Kombucha Measuring Guide

 

Flavoring Guide

 

Edited by wharfrat, 25 March 2017 - 04:14 PM.

[JustAnEyedea]

I have always ordered my scobies premade. I've never found a source to explain how to make them. Thanks for the write up. Now I know how to do it. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress!

[JustAnEyedea]

Won't let me "like" your post, but I like.

[wharfrat]

I have always ordered my scobies premade. I've never found a source to explain how to make them. Thanks for the write up. Now I know how to do it. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress!

you pretty much make the scoby the same way that you make the booch, it just takes a lot longer for the scoby to form, so the actual tea that was used, turns into vinegar. So you can use the vinegar for other things but would be tough to drink. standard kobucha takes 7-10 days vs. 14-30 for the scoby

[Coopdog]

Kombucha tea is very addictive! I need to start my own as well because at $4.00 a 12 oz bottle it gets expensive! Delicious stuff indeed

[wharfrat]

Kombucha tea is very addictive! I need to start my own as well because at $4.00 a 12 oz bottle it gets expensive! Delicious stuff indeed

yes it does, plus you can get a continuous pot with a spout, that you replace as you drink, say you drink 24 oz a day, you replace the 24 oz with sweet tea and the booch just continues to do it's thing.. 

[sillyrabbitcubiesR4us]

Looks like we both started at the same time! looks great wharf!

 

Okay, maybe I'm on my like 4th batch lol.

Edited by sillyrabbitcubiesR4us, 09 February 2017 - 03:24 PM.

[wharfrat]

Updated: Step 2 Making the Booch!

[Il19z8rn4li1]

I love this :)

[Il19z8rn4li1]

how your bucha come out brother man ???

[wharfrat]

how your bucha come out brother man ???

oh it turned out great, just havent had enough time to update this thread.. i'm several batches in now and experimenting with diff flavors. I will try and update it this weekend, i got picks taken just need to write it up   thanks for showing interest

[Myc]

I looked into this as a replacement for soda pops. A Friend of mine keeps kambucha at all times and is experimenting with different beverages - pineapple, peppers,.....all kinds of crazy stuff. Some of the beverages are tasty - others a bit on the "sour" side for my taste. 

Thanks for keeping this fresh on my mind. 

I know that the beverages made by my friend which contained pineapple were more appealing to my sweet tooth. There was one "sour" beverage made with hot peppers which really kicked ass too (kinda like drinking spicy pickle brine). Just throwing out some ideas as the possibilities are nearly endless. 

 

 

I like sarsaparilla, sassafras, cherry and ginger beverages. 

I also wonder about experimenting with sugared honey - instead of cane sugar. 

I like sarsaparilla, sassafras, cherry and ginger beverages. 

[onediadem]

For anyone wanting to start this up, you can usually find a baby scoby in raw kombucha that you purchase in the store. Just look on the bottom of the bottle. They are usually about the size of a pea.

[wharfrat]

UPDATE!  Thanks again for the interest, sorry it took so long to updated Step 3: Bottling and Second Ferment

[Phungivore]

if ya have dogs , they seem to love the scoby, fed them dried as well as wet to dogs cut them into strips they fought over them lol.   also can air dry a scoby for later down road if ya need take break.

Attached Files

•  Kombucha_eBook.pdf   5.24MB   258 downloads

Edited by Phungivore, 28 March 2017 - 06:18 PM.

[Il19z8rn4li1]

On the ferment note of things...  Im not setup to make bucha just yet... ive ran out of space with all my other

projects and tasks lol

 

but i do make my own yogurt regularly and its amazing.

 

I even feed it to my fowl :)   They lay eggs like crazy when you feed them yogurt and add some apple cider vinegar to their water. 

ACV.. i add like a teaspoon per gallon of water. 

[Shadowlord]

Been meaning to get into doing my own kombucha for some time now and seeing as I've managed to settle into my schedule and have some time to devote to it and a co-worker of Superliminal's has a scoby ready for us.
Reading through your excellent thread Wharf, to be ready to take full advantage and not waste this nice gift.
This indivindividual has been kind enough to share his work with us for a few weeks and now has the aforementioned scoby for us.
Looking forward to learning more.

[Nsnail]

Ah man wish I'd found this sooner! Will be keeping an eye on this.