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Kombucha How To

Kombucha is a fermented tea beverage which has probiotic and a range of other health benefitis. It tastes great, too. It is the result of a co-culture fermentation between various types of bacteria and yeasts, which forms a biofilm (SCOBY) on top of the culture. it is easy to make and a good first fermentation project. supplies: 2 liter wide mouth glass jar (or bigger) green or black tea, plus optional extra herbs sugar, approx 1/4 to ½ cup (50-100g) per liter clean cloth and rubber band sealable glass bottles preparation time: 45 minutes fermentation time 1-3 weeks


  1. Obtain a kombucha SCOBY with some kombucha liquid from the Kulturkollektionen (www.biologigaragen.org)
  2. Boil 2 liters (or volume of your jar) of water and add the tea (make a strong cup, but to taste). Let steep 15 minutes or so.
  3. Remove tea bags and add the sugar (1/4 to ½ cup (50-100g) per liter of tea). Stir to dissolve sugar.
  4. Let it cool to room temperature. It is important that it is not too hot or you could kill the culture.
  5. Add cooled tea to the glass jar, leaving room to add the SCOBY and kombucha liquid, with a little extra head space.
  6. Add the SCOBY and kombucha liquid. in general add 10% by volume of kombucha liquid from the previous fermentation to the next batch.
  7. Cover the top of the jar with a clean cloth, and rubber band it over the top. this allows the fermentation to breathe, but keeps out flies.
  8. Put in a dark place, and let sit for 1 week.
  9. Taste your kombucha with a clean spoon and harvest when it tastes good to you. The longer you let it sit, the more sour it will get. How fermented you want it varies greatly according to personal taste.
  10. When the kombucha tastes good, pour the liquid into sealable glass bottles and store in the fridge. in a few days they will carbonate naturally. share and enjoy.

Remember to keep around 10% of the liquid with the SCOBY to start your next batch. Prepare a new batch of sweetened tea, and add it back to the SCOBY in the jar. Repeat and enjoy! Continuing the process: adjust the amount of sugar you add to taste, the more sugar the stronger the kombucha will get. Experiment with adding different herbs to your tea mixture. Sometimes the SCOBY will sink to the bottom and a new biofilm will form on the surface of the liquid. You can separate these and give one to a friend. be creative and let us know what you come up with.

WARNING! Don’t store kombucha in a sealed bottle out of the fridge for more then a day or two, they can explode!