Recipe:Kombucha brewing manual - short workshop form

Kombucha Manual - short workshop form

This manual will teach you how to prepare and harvest your first batch of kombucha, helping you to continue to brew the kombucha on your own.

• culture/brew volume Vc = 1 litre

active culture

• piece of kombucha SCOBY (mother) (1-5% (w/v)) = 10-50 g

• kombucha beverage (5% (v/v)) = 50 ml

ingredients

• black tea (0.6% (w/v)) = 6 g

• brown cane sugar (6% (w/v)) = 60 g

equipment

• 1.5 l culture container (glass, wide mouth)

• water kettle or pot for water boiling

• scale

• strainer

• spoon

• 250-1000 ml measuring vessel

• cheesecloth or muslin

• 3 l pot

working manual

Starting new batch of kombucha

• bring 250 ml of water to boil

• transfer the boiled water to the pot, add 6 g of tea and leave to steep for 5-10 minutes

• strain the tea leaves and dispose them

• add 60 g of sugar to the liquid and stir to dissolve

• add 500 ml of cold water and mix, checking the temperature aiming for lukewarm

• transfer the tea sugar syrup to the culture container

• add 50 ml of kombucha starter

• fill up to the final volume of 1 l with cold or lukewarm water

• add the SCOBY (young white side up)

• cover the top of the container with a breathable screen to protect against flies (especially fruitflies)

• leave the culture to ferment at room temperature (15-25°C) for 4-7 days out of direct sun

• start to taste after 3 days

• once the beverage tastes fermented and to your liking, harvest it (see section below) and start a new batch of kombucha with your freshly harvested kombucha mother, repeating the process above

Harvesting kombucha

• once the kombucha tastes to your liking, it is time to harvest it

• prepare the pot and fix the strainer on top

• lay out the cheesecloth or muslin on top of the strainer

• strain the liquid from the harvesting batch through the strainer and muslin, dispose the debris

• add sugar and flavouring agent (for example ginger infusion) to the strained brew, to your liking

• transfer to swing-top bottles, or any bottle which can be closed properly and move them to the cold (4°C - fridge)

• drink preferably after a week or so, allowing the flavours to combine (sweetness is decreasing with prolonged time of storage)

• kombucha fermented for 4-7 days is quite light, drinking 1-2 dl per day is fine for most people. Drinking more causes health problems after a longer period of time (eg. 8 months). note: the maximum recommended amount of tea / day is 0.5 L, but for 'standard' tea!

• you should stop drinking kombucha after 6 months for 2 months to give some time for your body to rest and clean itself. if you continue drinking it for too long, you will get permanent headache and probably digestion problems.

• well-stored kombucha can taste great even after half a year

Secondary fermentation

• if you prefer your drinks fizzy, sweeten the harvested brew a bit more than you like and transfer it to the bottles

• seal them and leave them to secondary ferment at room temperature for 1-2 days (20-30°C), creating the fizzyness by capturing fermentation-produced carbon dioxide

• you can fill some kombucha into a soft plastic bottle to gauge the developing pressure more easily