Ingredients:
- Eight tea bags or two tablespoons (8 grams) of loose leaf green, black, white or oolong tea, or a combination of teas.
- One SCOBY. If a SCOBY isn't available, purchase online. If you're feeling zesty, try making one with some raw apple cider vinegar or unflavored kombucha.
- One gallon of filtered or purified water. If filtered water is unavailable, boil 1.25 gallons of water for 15 minutes to kill the chlorine.
- One cup sugar cane or honey
- One 1-3 gallon glass or ceramic jar. Stay away from plastic or crystallized glass as these can leach into your kombucha.
Directions:
1. Heat the gallon of water in a pot over the stove until bubbly—no need to boil.
2. Put tea in a tea infuser or tea bag and put in the pot of heated water.
3. Let tea steep for 10 to 15 minutes
4. Take tea and squeeze out into the pot, being careful not to burst open the tea bags if you're using them.
5. Pour in sugar and stir until dissolved.
6. Let the pot sit until it reaches room temp, or until warm to the touch but not hot—putting a SCOBY in hot water can kill it.
7. Pour tea and sugar into a jar and add SCOBY.
Tips:
- Depending on the temperature of your house, your kombucha can be done in anywhere from one to three weeks, but usually closer to one if your SCOBY is fairly thick.
- Green tea makes a thicker SCOBY but tends to have a little bit more of a sour punch to it.
- If using raw apple cider vinegar or a plain raw kombucha, pour 1/2 to one cup into your tea and sugar. This takes longer to brew versus using a SCOBY. The taste should be between sweet and sour when it's done and can be flavored with anything you want after that. Feel free to let it go longer if you like sour and be sure to taste test periodically to make sure it's the taste you want.
Note: If flavoring kombucha, remember to take out the SCOBY and one cup of finished kombucha for your next batch. Flavoring will throw off the SCOBY's taste it gives the kombucha. The cup of finished kombucha acts as a starter or primer for your next batch but is not necessary if the temp is above 60 degrees.
For more information on how to flavor or get that carbonation, I would love to chat at the local farmers market!