Basic Kombucha

 Kombucha

1 gallon recipe 

Kombucha.  You either love it or hate it.  If you love it you know how expensive it is at the store!  Did you know how easy it is to make???  

Kombucha is just a ferment starter, black tea, sugar, water, and the extra flavorings.  Don't worry, the sugar gets mostly eaten by the scobi so it is a low sugar drink.

What's a SCOBI???  Its a probiotic healthy kombucha starter that looks like an alien.  It is a living organism.  Here is the absolute nicest, most g-rated scobi picture I can get...  believe me it goes down hill from there....  and they are still good and TOTALLY healthy!  

Here's a more typical scobi:

All that funk is the good stuff you want.  

Here's my starting point...  8 tea bags per gallon.  One cup of sugar, and one scobi and one cup of starter.  That't it!  So easy!  Then you need patience.  That's hard... and to decide on your flavors, the more patience, then to decide on your pretty jars.   That's hard too.  But making Kombucha is easy!

Here we go!

Local friends near Olney/Rockville MD, let me know if you need a scobi starter! Just comment below and I will get you one just as soon as I can!

Ingredients:

1 gallon jar 

(or smaller, but you need one scobi and one cup of starter per jar)

8 bags of black tea

1 C. sugar 

(white granulated works best - don't worry - the scobi eats it and leaves you probiotics and very little residual sugar)

1 scobi 

(can be purchased off Amazon or made this way with store bought komucha:    https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-your-own-kombucha-scoby-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-202596 - If you have a friend who makes Kombucha - they will want to help...  or local folks hit me up...  I often feed them to the chickens because I only need a small number.  

Clean breathable cloth and large rubber band 

Directions:

1. Boil water and make a STRONG tea with the 8 tea bags.   I steeped them all in a quart jar, but you can steep right into your gallon vessel, filling about half way.
2. Mix sugar with boiling water and dissolve in a separate container.
3. Remove tea bags, then mix tea with sugar mixture into your vessel
4. Fill with filtered water 1.5 cups shy of the gallon rim 
5. Make sure the temperature is below body temperature by feeling the jar (should be between room temperature and body temp)
6. Add your scobi and cup of kombucha
7. Cover with a cloth and band and put somewhere between 65-85 degrees.  Taste after a week for desired acidity.  Leave for up to two weeks, three if its cooler in your house.
8. Once you like the flavor, remove the scobi and scobi babies if any exist.  Place a cup of your kombucha with each scobi in a ziplock or into your next batch or to share with friends.
9. Bottle your kombucha: funnel into prepared sterilized bottles (straining if desired).
10. If additional flavor or carbonation is desired, add the flavorings to the bottles, then store at room temporary for up to three days.  Refrigerate until ready to drink.