How to make kombucha

Kombucha is a delicious fermented drink which is easy to make yourself and is low in sugar (the sugar you add is used up by the SCOBY during fermentation).

All you need is:

large glass jar
sheet of paper towel or small clean cloth
elastic band
1 litre filtered or cooled, boiled water
1/4 cup white sugar
2-3 tea bags or 2-3 teaspoons loose tea
1 SCOBY (sourced from a kombucha-making friend or buy one from a health food store or online)
at least 1/2 cup kombucha (from a previous batch so you can be sure it has live culture)

Instructions:

Boil water in a pot on the stove. Add sugar and tea and stir till sugar dissolves. Let tea bags or leaves steep for about 10 minutes (or until brewed to your liking), then remove. Leave tea to cool to room temperature.
Pour cooled tea into your clean jar. Add kombucha and SCOBY
Cover jar with a cloth or paper towel and secure with an elastic band. Leave for 4-7 days somewhere where the temperature doesn’t fluctuate. The sourness will increase over time.
When it’s to your taste, remove the SCOBY, with clean hands, and put it in a bowl with 1/2-1 cup of kombucha. Bottle the remaining kombucha and store it in the fridge or a cool place till you’re ready to drink it.
Add flavourings such as vanilla pod seeds, frozen berries or grated ginger and lemon, or just drink it as is.

Blueberry kombucha, the new favourite...
To make that, when you have finished your first ferment, remove SCOBY, add a handful of frozen blueberries and 1tbsp sugar/bottle….leave for 3-5 days in a sealed bottle (pop the top daily to avoid explosions!!) and voila, done. Remove the berries before drinking.

See the video of how it’s made here

To make it even easier, you can buy a kit complete with Organic SCOBY, utensils + ingredients - I recommend Symbiota’s Kombucha Kits which are also a great gift idea!