How To Make Kombucha Tea at Home

Cooking Lessons from The Kitchn

I've been addicted to kombucha from first sip. It wasn't really the probiotics or other health promises that did it for me — although I'll take those, too! It was the way it tasted: like tart green apple mixed with sour stone fruits, but with an underlying sweetness that keeps it all together. And fizzy! I couldn't believe that something this delicious could actually be made from tea, of all things. Or that I could make it at home with a few very basic ingredients.

What Is Kombucha Tea?

Kombucha starts out as a sugary tea, which is then fermented with the help of a scoby. "SCOBY" is actually an acronym for "symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast." It's very close cousins to the mother used to make vinegar.



Let's talk about that scoby — you can see what it looks like in the picture above. It's weird, right? It floats, it's rubbery and a bit slippery, brown stringy bits hang from it, and it transforms sugary tea into something fizzy and sour. It's totally weird. But if you take a step back, it's also pretty awesome.

There are a lot of theories about why the bacteria and yeast form this jelly-like layer of cellulose at the top of the kombucha. The most plausible that I've found is that it protects the fermenting tea from the air and helps maintain a very specific environment inside the jar that is shielded from outsiders, aka unfriendly bacteria. I think of it as the mobile home for friendly bacteria and yeast, happily traveling from jar to jar of kombucha.

Make your own scoby! Here's how:

How To Make Your Own Kombucha Scoby


Which brings us to the next question: What's actually in kombucha? Kombucha is indisputably full of probiotics and other happy things that our intestines love and that help boost our overall health. Claims that kombucha cures things like arthritis, depression, and heart burn have less of a proven track record, but hey, our bodies are all different and I say go for it if it works for you.

Brewing Kombucha Safely

While the home-brewed nature of kombucha makes some home cooks nervous, it's unlikely that kombucha will ever make you sick. I spoke with Eric Child of Kombucha Brooklyn when I first started working on my homebrewing book, True Brews (Ten Speed, 2013), and he said something that has really stuck with me: "Kombucha has been around for a very long time and been brewed in environments that were even dirtier than our own."

Like all things, you need to use common sense when brewing it and pay attention to what you're doing. It's natural to feel nervous and unsure at first. Bottom line: If the scoby is healthy, then the kombucha will be healthy. (See the Troubleshooting section below.)

Is There Alcohol in Kombucha?

Kombucha does contain a little bit of alcohol as a by-product of the fermentation process. It is usually no more than 1%. Unless you drink a lot of glasses back to back, you won't feel the least bit tipsy. But people with alcohol sensitivities or who avoid alcohol for other reasons should be aware of its presence.

I'm breaking the kombucha-making process into very small steps here. It looks long and complicated, but this is actually a very straightforward and streamlined process. Once you get into the rhythm of it, bottling a finished batch of kombucha and preparing the next only takes about 20 minutes every seven to 10 days.

Where to Find Kombucha Brewing Supplies

You can use regular, store-bought tea and sugar for brewing kombucha. You can pick up a scoby from a kombucha-brewing friend or even make your own:

If you're having trouble finding a scoby or any other supplies, check out these sources:

Learn more about making kombucha and other fermented beverages in my book!


How to Make Kombucha Tea at Home

Makes about 1 gallon

What You Need

3 1/2 quarts water
1 cup sugar (regular granulated sugar works best)
1 scoby per fermentation jar, homemade or purchased online


Stock pot
1-gallon glass jar or two 2-quart glass jars
Small funnel




Recipe Notes

  • Covering for the jar: Cheesecloth is not ideal because it's easy for small insects, like fruit flies, to wiggle through the layers. Use a few layers of tightly woven cloth (like clean napkins or tea towels), coffee filters, or paper towels, to cover the jar, and secure it tightly with rubber bands or twine.

Troubleshooting Kombucha


This post was originally published July 2012.

(Image credits: Emma Christensen)