First Step is to make SCOBY. Found this resource and trying it out: https://www.youbrewkombucha.com/grow-a-scoby
We made our SCOBY and now it’s time to brew our Kombucha!
First Fermentation
We started with this receipe: https://food52.com/drinks/non-alcoholic/27977-how-to-make-kombucha-at-home
- 1 1/2 TBS Black Tea (used loose leaf)
- 14 cups of water (4 for tea brewing, 8 cups added with sugar, 2 cups after cooled)
- 1.5 – 2 cups SCOBY
- 1 cup sugar
We brewed the tea in 4 cups of water for 20 minutes and stirred in the sugar. Then, strained the tea into a large wide mouth jar, added 8 cups of cold water; and let cool to under 90 degrees. Then when it was cooled, we added the SCOBY and pellicle. We only had about 1 cup of SCOBY so we also added 1 cup of Love’s Kombucha we had on hand.
Instruction Note:
Wasn’t using enough water but didn’t have a full 1 gallon jar. Moving forward will do the following:
- Brew tea in 4 cups of water for 20 minutes
- Add sugar and 8 cups of water to pot
- Let cool for 30 until under 90 degrees
- Transfer tea to jar and add 2 cups of water
- Add 2 cups of SCOBY and pellicle
- Cover and tuck away for 7 – 14 days
Covered the jar with a cloth and rubber band and tucked away.
Tasted the tea after 7 days and seemed like it needed more time. The new pellicle was forming at the top and pushed that away to test it with a straw.
Checked again after 12 days and was eager to go onto the second fermentation.
Second Fermentation / Flavoring
Made enough to fill four bottles and have 2+ cups of starter tea left to grow SCOBY for next batch.
Flavors we’re trying:
- Mulling Spice
- Blackberry (added 1 TBS homemade blackberry syrup given to us by a neighbor)
- Plain
SCOBY versus pellicle: https://kombucha.com/blogs/kombucha-101-general-knowledge/what-is-a-scoby-and-what-is-a-pellicle
The plan is to not burp the bottles but leave to ferment for about 4 days : https://www.youbrewkombucha.com/why-im-anti-burp
And then move to the fridge.
