Recipe:Kombucha brewing manual - short workshop form

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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