This is your simple and easy guide on making your own homemade kombucha from start to finish! In this post you will learn how to make your own first ferment plain kombucha and a second ferment where you can make your own flavored fizzy kombucha, just like the ones you get at the store! This delicious probiotic drink is rich in gut healing enzymes and is a great refreshing alternative to soda. Let’s get started!

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What is kombucha?

Kombucha is a fermented tea (typically black tea but green tea can be used as well) that is thought to have originated in ancient China. It is fermented with a culture called a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast or also known as a SCOBY. A Scoby is gelatinous culture that usually takes the form of whatever container it is growing in. They usually start out as a small disc shaped culture with layers. As it grows, it gets thicker, and the layers can be peeled apart to make smaller scobys. This culture or Scoby floats in the tea and feeds on the sugar present in the tea, resulting in fermentation. The scoby is much like “the Mother” in some apple cider vinegars.

A healthy scoby should be a tannish brown color with thick, firm gelatinous layers. It should not have spotty white, blue, red or gray patches. This is a sign of mold, and you will want to get a new scoby. You should always store your scoby in a clean glass jar with at least a cup of plain kombucha for it to float in. I keep mine in a large mason jar with an airtight lid when I’m not using it. This will keep it “hibernating” until I’m ready to put it in some tea and make some homemade kombucha.

2-Step Process to Homemade Kombucha

The First Ferment

The first ferment is how you make plain kombucha that is not flavored or fizzy yet. But you can still enjoy it at this stage. It’s delicious over ice with a slice of lemon or lime! It takes about 7-10 days for the first fermentation, and you still get all the benefits from the probiotics present in the kombucha. But most people want that refreshing fizzy and fruity drink they are used to getting in the store. To achieve that fizzy, soda-like kombucha, you will need to do a second fermentation that takes an additional 3-5 days.

Second Ferment

The second ferment is where you will be able to achieve that store-bought, effervescent kombucha that we all love. This is my favorite part of the homemade kombucha process. This is where you get to be creative with flavor combinations with fruit, juices and even spices and herbs!

I know it seems like quite a process but it truly is very simple and once you get into a “brewing rhythm”, you can easily have a batch going at all times while enjoying your current batch. I’ll get into the way I have a batch of kombucha ongoing down below.

What do I need to Make Homemade Kombucha?

You will need a few supplies to brew your kombucha. Nothing fancy or crazy. In fact, I was able to find a large glass carafe at the thrift store! I will link a similar one to the one I found below.

Supplies You Will Need:

• Large Glass 1 Gallon Carafe – one with a drink dispenser is what I prefer because it makes it so much easier to dispense what I have “on tap”! If you don’t have this, you can still brew kombucha with a Gallon sized mason jar or half gallon mason jar-you will just need to cut the recipe measurements in half if using a half gallon.
• 6 20 oz bottles with airtight caps or lids – Personally, I clean and reuse my storebought kombucha bottles because they are the perfect size. Kirkland, Synergy and Dr. Kombucha bottles work great for recycling. In the past I have purchased glass bottles with the swing top lids (linked above) and they work great and they are pretty too!
• Narrow mouth Funnel – You will want a funnel with a narrow mouth to make it easier for bottling your homemade kombucha after you’ve flavored it.
• Medium sized pot – You will need some sort of pot to brew your tea in.

Ingredients:

• Organic cane sugar (regular granulated sugar is fine too! I’ve also seen that some people use brown sugar.)
• 12 bags of Organic Black tea (I use the Newman’s Own organic black tea. You can use non-organic, but I try to buy organic tea when I can because non-organic can contain a lot of pesticides. You can also use decaffeinated tea. I accidentally did this once without realizing it until later, and it turned out fine!)
• 1 cup plain kombucha (I usually store my scoby in a few cups of plain kombucha so that I have some on hand for the next batch. If you don’t have any, you can just use a store bought one to get it started.)
• 14 cups filtered water
• 1 Kombucha SCOBY (If you don’t want to go through the process of growing your own SCOBY, you can get one from a friend or order one online. Linked is the brand that I used.)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a medium pot, boil 6 cups of water.
2. Add the tea bags, removing paper tags if needed.
3. Allow the tea to steep for 10 minutes.
4. While the tea is steeping, prepare your large glass container that your kombucha will brew in.
5. Make sure the container you are using has been cleaned thoroughly.
6. Fill the container with 8 cups water.
7. Using a large slotted spoon, remove the tea bags from the pot of tea.
8. Add 1 cup sugar to the pot and stir until dissolved.
9. Pour the tea into the container, adding it to the 8 cups of water and stirring until well combined. Adding the tea to the cool water will help cool it down faster. Always check the water temperature before adding your scoby to make sure it’s not too hot.
10. Allow to come to room temperature or just warm. It should not be hot or the heat will kill your scoby.
11. Add 1 cup plain kombucha.
12. With very clean hands, gently add the kombucha scoby to your tea mixture.
13. Place a tea towel or coffee filter with a rubber band over the opening of the container.
14. Place in a dark area and allow to ferment for 10-14 days.
15. After, the first ferment, you can drink your kombucha as is or you can bottle it and ferment a second time to have a fizzy flavored drink that is much like the store-bought brands. (See below for second ferment process.)

How to Flavor your Homemade Kombucha

Ok, this is my favorite part of the kombucha making process! I love getting creative with all the flavor combinations. Using crushed or pureed fruit is great if you want to make it very fizzy. Remember, the scoby needs sugars to feed on and the off-gassing results in carbonation! You’ll want to use about a 1/4 cup of pureed fruit or fruit juice per bottle. If adding spices or herbs, just add a few to your pureed fruit/juice.

Here is a list of my favorite things to use to flavor my kombucha:

• Fresh Ginger – Ginger is a great way to flavor kombucha and also add a bright zesty kick! Peel about an inch of ginger and slice it into thin discs and place at the bottom of your bottle. Ginger goes great with most fruit so I like to make a combination.
• Fresh or frozen fruit – Whether it is fresh or frozen mango, berries, pineapple or citrus, I prefer to pulse in a blender until I get a puree. It’s ok if it’s a little chunky. The scoby will feed on all of that sugar in the fruit and give you a great fizzy drink.
• Whole Spices – Cinnamon sticks, star anise and whole cloves are delicious and create a beatiful warm spice to your kombucha. These pair really well with ginger.
• Fresh Herbs – Lavendar and fresh mint add a delicious and unexpected freshness to your kombucha.
• Peppers – Adding fresh or dried jalapeno peppers is probably one of my favorite ways to flavor kombucha. Try a few jalapeno slices with pineapple! I LOVE this combo. A little dried Cayenne pepper with cinnamon is also a fun and delicious combination to try if you enjoy the heat!

INSTRUCTIONS for Flavoring your Kombucha

Flavoring your kombucha is also known as the “Second Ferment” process. This is where you will achieve that fizzy soda-like drink that most people are accustomed to. Let’s get into it!

1. Line up your clean bottles and fill each bottle with about 1/4 cup of fruit juice or pureed fruit. (You can also do both crushed fruit and juice if you want!)

2. Fill the rest of the bottles with your 1st ferment plain kombucha. Try to fill the bottles leaving about 1 inch from the top.

3. Seal the bottles with airtight cap and allow to ferment undisturbed in a dark place for 7-10 days.

4. After the 2nd ferment is complete, your kombucha should be very fizzy! Be careful when opening your kombucha! They best way to open it is slowly to release all the gasses that have built up in the bottle during the fermentation process. Pour over ice and enjoy!

NOTE:

If you are just making one bottle at a time, you will only need to use about 1/4 cup of fruit or juice per 20 oz bottle.

Keep the Homemade Kombucha Process going

Once you are done bottling your flavored kombucha, you will want to reserve about a cup or two (depending on how big your scoby is) to store your scoby in. At this point, you can decide to stop the process and store your scoby for a later brew or you can keep the good times rolling…

What I do is reserve a few cups of the plain kombucha at the bottom of my glass carafe. I will brew another another batch of tea (6 cups water, 12 bags of tea) on the stove. Allow to cool and add 8 more cups of filtered water to my carafe of kombucha and scoby. I don’t take the scoby out, just add the water over the top. You never want to add hot water to your scoby because the heat will kill the bacteria you need for fermentation. Always make sure the tea is just warm or lukewarm before adding to the carafe. Now add your tea and you are ready to set aside and allow to brew while you enjoy the kombucha you’ve already made. This makes it so that you don’t have to wait so long to enjoy your next batch.

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