In my previous post, I wrote about kombucha and what it is. A few people asked me to describe the steps on how to make their own tea. In this article I will discuss, the best way I can, the steps to making your own kombucha.
If you do not want to purchase bottled kombucha, you can follow these steps I have below to make your own kombucha tea at home.
By making your own, you will be able to add your own flavor and save some money in the process.
Here are some basic steps to make your own kombucha tea.
Get Together Your Ingredients
To make your own tea, you need to get the right ingredients together. The following is a list of tools and ingredients you will need to make your own kombucha tea.
- Large glass jar or container
- Hot water
- Kombucha starter
- Loose tea leaves black or green preferred
- Sugar
- Metal tea ball
- Flavorings
These ingredients are for making a small batch.
Mix Together Your Ingredients
The first step we are going to need to do is combine all our ingredients together.
Get the glass jar and fill it with your hot water. The water does not have to be boiling but hot enough to steep the tea.
Stir in 1/4 cup of sugar until it dissolves. Once the sugar is dissolved, add in either 2 tea bags or the loose tea leaves contained in a metal tea ball.
Keep the tea in the hot water until you steep the tea. Once you have, let it cool down to 68-85 degrees F temperature. You can then remove your tea bags or strain the tea leaves from the liquid.
Leaving the tea in the liquid longer will make for a stronger tea.
Add in the kombucha starter that you purchased from the store. The starter is made up of bacteria and yeast culture.
Let the Tea Ferment
When you are finished combining the ingredients, the fermentation process will start.
You should cover your jar with a tight-weave towel or a coffee filter that can be secured with a rubber band. This will allow the kombucha to fully ferment.
It should sit undisturbed and also not left in direct sunlight. The process to ferment can take anywhere from a week to a month. The longer it ferments, the less sweet and more vinegary the taste will be.
When you reach your desired time, you can take off the makeshift lid you created. There should be a layer of culture at the top which you can scoop off and use it as the starter for the next batch you make.
Pour the kombucha tea off the top of the jar, then add in your flavorings. You can flavor each cup of kombucha you have made.
Summary
I hope I have given you a better understanding on how you can make kombucha tea at home. I know @everlove has made hundreds of batches herself, so she is the real expert on making this and looking forward to her comments!
Have you ever made kombucha? What is your flavor of choice? Feel free to leave a comment.
Here is my previous post:
Just What Is Kombucha? You May Want To Know!