Author Topic: Kombucha Recipe?  (Read 10793 times)

FruitFreak

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Kombucha Recipe?
« on: February 11, 2015, 10:01:52 PM »
Does anyone have a decent recipe for kombucha?  Thanks
- Marley

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Re: Kombucha Recipe?
« Reply #1 on: February 12, 2015, 06:37:14 AM »
You need a scoby, after you have that, you make really sweet strong tea add the scoby and let ferment 7-14 days depending on taste. After it has reached your desired level of acidity, you have to bottle it and let it sit one more week to carbonate. I use grolsch-style bottles because they are reusable.

Growing a SCOBY

Buy a bottle of kombucha
   
pour the bottle in a quart mason jar

cover with a clean wash cloth and rubber-band it so it wont fall off.

place in a cool dark place until the scoby gets to be about 1/2" thick.

now its ready to use

Making Kombucha 

I make mine about a gallon at a time, if you want to add other herbs to the tea you can, but you must always use the same amount of black tea because that's were the SCOBY gets its nutrients from.

What you will need:
12-14 teabags per gallon of water
4 cups of sugar per gallon of water
a big pot to boil the water in
a glass jar that holds a Gallon + of water

first you boil the water hard for a few minutes, then you pour it into the glass jar (I always have the jar 1/4 full of room temp water so I dont bust the big jar) only fill the jar 3/4 of the way

add the sugar and stir

add the tea bags and let steep until the water in the jar is less than 90 deg.

now that the strong sweet tea is cool, add the scoby and some of the old kombucha (it acidifies the water making it more suitable for the bacteria and yeast)
 
cover with a piece of cloth and let it sit in a cool, dark place for 7 days, taste it if you want a stronger flavor let it sit more.

now to carbonate it, pour the kombucha into grolsch bottles and close the top, let those sit about a week then you can refrigerate and enjoy

You can adjust the sugar, but i would wait until after you try it, because the yeast uses a lot of it up.

hope that helps





nullzero

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Re: Kombucha Recipe?
« Reply #2 on: February 13, 2015, 11:10:09 AM »
From the sea,

Thanks for the recipe, I will have to try this sometime (its on my to do list!).
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

From the sea

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Re: Kombucha Recipe?
« Reply #3 on: February 13, 2015, 12:13:32 PM »
no problem

FruitFreak

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Re: Kombucha Recipe?
« Reply #4 on: February 13, 2015, 04:48:04 PM »
Excellent!  Do you ever infuse with fruit for flavor?
- Marley

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Re: Kombucha Recipe?
« Reply #5 on: February 13, 2015, 05:37:23 PM »
some times I add a bit of fresh juice before I drink it. I don't add anything to it before i ferment it, like additional herbs or flavorings.

lyubomir16

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Re: Kombucha Recipe?
« Reply #6 on: April 15, 2015, 05:00:50 AM »
I just did a little research on this drink and I really want to try it, but there are some articles that say that there is alcohol in it, I don't think is that strong as whiskey or vodka right?
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nullzero

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Re: Kombucha Recipe?
« Reply #7 on: April 15, 2015, 06:57:21 PM »
I just did a little research on this drink and I really want to try it, but there are some articles that say that there is alcohol in it, I don't think is that strong as whiskey or vodka right?

Its less then 1% alcohol, so I would not really worry about it (most beers are +3%).
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lyubomir16

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Re: Kombucha Recipe?
« Reply #8 on: April 17, 2015, 04:23:06 AM »
1% is almost nothing, but it is not to forget, because I've read some articles saying that is a forbidden drink for the AAs.
(BTW in Bulgaria, most of the beer is more than 4,5% alc).
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Marsbars

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Re: Kombucha Recipe?
« Reply #9 on: April 17, 2015, 10:49:06 PM »
I would not recommend NOT to grow a SCOBY from bottled kombucha. In 2010 there was a big reformulation. Kombucha had above .05% alcohol in supermarkets. There is more fermentation that occurs when kombucha is bottled. As a result Gt, and other kombucha brands started doing things differently. How differently? Not Sure. Perhaps they only let the kombucha ferment for shorter periods for the primary fermentation.

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Re: Kombucha Recipe?
« Reply #10 on: April 25, 2015, 11:15:12 PM »
Agree with Marsbars - the vast majority of commercial bottled kombucha is engineered and does not contain the full spectrum of bacteria and yeasts needed to form a healthy SCOBY and continuous culture.

Order a culture from Cultures for Health . com or KombuchaKamp.com....or check for a local Weston A. Price chapter and contact someone there to see if they know anyone making kombucha.

I made it for a long time and really adore this beverage. I finally gave it up, though, because unless you let it ferment substantially (to the point where it would be extremely acidic), there is more residual sugar than I care to consume (I have dramatically reduced my sugar intake lately).

I found best success in bottling in "Grolsch" style bottles, which are bottles with attached lids that clamp down to form an airtight seal. Add some FRESH pureed or squished fruit and juice, and you will have a very bubbly brew after a week or 2.

My favorite fruits to use are Jackfruit, muscat grapes, muscadines, pomegranate, pineapple, guanabana, watermelon. ...


RodneyS

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Re: Kombucha Recipe?
« Reply #11 on: April 26, 2015, 04:38:17 PM »
I use green tea when I make kombucha.  Sometimes, I'll add bits of fresh ginger or citrus juice.  Otherwise, I'm fine just drinking as is

norahhosin

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Re: Kombucha Recipe?
« Reply #12 on: April 05, 2017, 04:08:28 AM »
You need a scoby, after you have that, you make really sweet strong tea add the scoby and let ferment 7-14 days depending on taste. After it has reached your desired level of acidity, you have to bottle it and let it sit one more week to carbonate. I use grolsch-style bottles because they are reusable.

Growing a SCOBY

Buy a bottle of kombucha
   
pour the bottle in a quart mason jar

cover with a clean wash cloth and rubber-band it so it wont fall off.

place in a cool dark place until the scoby gets to be about 1/2" thick.

now its ready to use

Making Kombucha 

I make mine about a gallon at a time, if you want to add other herbs to the tea you can, but you must always use the same amount of black tea because that's were the SCOBY gets its nutrients from.

What you will need:
12-14 teabags per gallon of water
4 cups of sugar per gallon of water
a big pot to boil the water in
a glass jar that holds a Gallon + of water

first you boil the water hard for a few minutes, then you pour it into the glass jar (I always have the jar 1/4 full of room temp water so I dont bust the big jar) only fill the jar 3/4 of the way

add the sugar and stir

add the tea bags and let steep until the water in the jar is less than 90 deg.

now that the strong sweet tea is cool, add the scoby and some of the old kombucha (it acidifies the water making it more suitable for the bacteria and yeast)
 
cover with a piece of cloth and let it sit in a cool, dark place for 7 days, taste it if you want a stronger flavor let it sit more.

now to carbonate it, pour the kombucha into grolsch bottles and close the top, let those sit about a week then you can refrigerate and enjoy

You can adjust the sugar, but i would wait until after you try it, because the yeast uses a lot of it up.

hope that helps



THANK YOU SO MUCH <3

norahhosin

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Re: Kombucha Recipe?
« Reply #13 on: April 10, 2017, 02:47:25 AM »
You need a scoby, after you have that, you make really sweet strong tea add the scoby and let ferment 7-14 days depending on taste. After it has reached your desired level of acidity, you have to bottle it and let it sit one more week to carbonate. I use grolsch-style bottles because they are reusable.

Growing a SCOBY

Buy a bottle of kombucha
   
pour the bottle in a quart mason jar

cover with a clean wash cloth and rubber-band it so it wont fall off.

place in a cool dark place until the scoby gets to be about 1/2" thick.

now its ready to use

Making Kombucha 

I make mine about a gallon at a time, if you want to add other herbs to the tea you can, but you must always use the same amount of black tea because that's were the SCOBY gets its nutrients from.

What you will need:
12-14 teabags per gallon of water
4 cups of sugar per gallon of water
a big pot to boil the water in
a glass jar that holds a Gallon + of water

first you boil the water hard for a few minutes, then you pour it into the glass jar (I always have the jar 1/4 full of room temp water so I dont bust the big jar) only fill the jar 3/4 of the way

add the sugar and stir

add the tea bags and let steep until the water in the jar is less than 90 deg.

now that the strong sweet tea is cool, add the scoby and some of the old kombucha (it acidifies the water making it more suitable for the bacteria and yeast)
 
cover with a piece of cloth and let it sit in a cool, dark place for 7 days, taste it if you want a stronger flavor let it sit more.

now to carbonate it, pour the kombucha into grolsch bottles and close the top, let those sit about a week then you can refrigerate and enjoy

You can adjust the sugar, but i would wait until after you try it, because the yeast uses a lot of it up.

hope that helps

Hey thanks! I'll give it a try soon... <3

Future

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Re: Kombucha Recipe?
« Reply #14 on: April 21, 2017, 09:05:36 PM »


"A simple combination of either black or green tea mixed with sugar, water, and a "mother" culture known as a "scoby" (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast), kombucha tea really could not be easier to make. If you are capable of heating water on a stovetop and steeping a few teabags, you can successfully brew your own continuous supply of health-promoting kombucha tea at home for just a few dollars a month.



Obtaining a kombucha starter culture
To start, it is necessary to first obtain a healthy, organic starter culture, which is the active component in kombucha tea. Since kombucha scoby continually reproduces over time, those who already brew kombucha tea have a ready supply of new scoby that they often sell or give away on websites like the Kombucha Exchange Worldwide (http://www.kombu.de/suche2.htm) and Craigslist.

You can also purchase kombucha scoby and brewing kits from reputable online vendors such as Cultures for Health (http://www.culturesforhealth.com/) and Happy Herbalist (http://www.happyherbalist.com/kombuchamushroom.aspx).



Making kombucha tea from store-bought kombucha bottles
Another great way to obtain kombucha starter is to make your own from the bottled kombucha sold in retail stores. Simply purchase a 16-ounce bottle of plain (original), unflavored, organic, raw kombucha, and follow these instructions:

* Heat two cups of purified water as you normally would to make tea, and add two teabags of either organic green or black tea to hot water. Add four teaspoons of evaporated cane juice or organic sugar, and allow mixture to steep for roughly three or four minutes. Remove teabags, stir, and allow mixture to cool.

* Pour separate 16-ounce bottle of kombucha tea into sanitized, quart-sized, 32-ounce mason jar. Add just under two cups of the room-temperature, sweetened, organic black or green tea that you just made to the mason jar, leaving some space at the top just below the jar "lip" for kombucha mother to form (http://smallnotebook.org/wp-content/uploads/...).

* Cover mason jar with cheesecloth or paper towel, and screw on mason jar lid without cover so cheesecloth or paper towel is the only barrier between the tea and the air. Place jar in warm, dark space. Within a few days or a week, depending on temperature conditions, kombucha scoby will begin to form on top of the tea.

* Scoby will gradually thicken, and tea will continue to ferment. After scoby reaches one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch thick, taste the tea. If it is too sweet, allow it to brew longer. If it is slightly sweet, tangy, and has a definitive fermented taste, it is ready to drink.

* Pour half the amount of tea from brewing jar for drinking, and add two more cups of sweetened, room-temperature, organic black or green tea to the mixture, repeating the process every few days to create a continuous supply of kombucha. Each time you brew a new batch of tea, a new scoby will begin to form, which you will need to remove from the jar and either share, sell, or discard.

You can also make a larger, continuous brew kombucha system in a gallon- or multiple gallon-sized container. Happy Herbalist has some helpful instructions for creating a continuous brew kombucha system:
http://www.happyherbalist.com/continuous_brewing.htm

Sources for this article include:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Making-your-own-Kombucha-mother/ "

norahhosin

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Re: Kombucha Recipe?
« Reply #15 on: May 17, 2017, 02:39:26 AM »
You need a scoby, after you have that, you make really sweet strong tea add the scoby and let ferment 7-14 days depending on taste. After it has reached your desired level of acidity, you have to bottle it and let it sit one more week to carbonate. I use grolsch-style bottles because they are reusable.

Growing a SCOBY

Buy a bottle of kombucha
   
pour the bottle in a quart mason jar

cover with a clean wash cloth and rubber-band it so it wont fall off.

place in a cool dark place until the scoby gets to be about 1/2" thick.

now its ready to use

Making Kombucha 

I make mine about a gallon at a time, if you want to add other herbs to the tea you can, but you must always use the same amount of black tea because that's were the SCOBY gets its nutrients from.

What you will need:
12-14 teabags per gallon of water
4 cups of sugar per gallon of water
a big pot to boil the water in
a glass jar that holds a Gallon + of water

first you boil the water hard for a few minutes, then you pour it into the glass jar (I always have the jar 1/4 full of room temp water so I dont bust the big jar) only fill the jar 3/4 of the way

add the sugar and stir

add the tea bags and let steep until the water in the jar is less than 90 deg.

now that the strong sweet tea is cool, add the scoby and some of the old kombucha (it acidifies the water making it more suitable for the bacteria and yeast)
 
cover with a piece of cloth and let it sit in a cool, dark place for 7 days, taste it if you want a stronger flavor let it sit more.

now to carbonate it, pour the kombucha into grolsch bottles and close the top, let those sit about a week then you can refrigerate and enjoy

You can adjust the sugar, but i would wait until after you try it, because the yeast uses a lot of it up.

hope that helps







Thanks for the recipe. Its help :)

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Re: Kombucha Recipe?
« Reply #16 on: September 08, 2017, 12:52:37 PM »
1% is almost nothing, but it is not to forget, because I've read some articles saying that is a forbidden drink for the AAs.
(BTW in Bulgaria, most of the beer is more than 4,5% alc).

It is really low alcohol ~ 0.3%, you would have to drink a lot of it to feel any buzz, you would probably throw up first from the probiotics or bacterium as they are commonly known.
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Re: Kombucha Recipe?
« Reply #17 on: September 22, 2017, 04:05:00 PM »
I brew kombucha at home.
All of the above info is helpful in getting a culture going.

As for "recipes" - the fun comes in when you bottle the kombucha or otherwise perform a secondary fermentation.
I bottle mine in 16oz servings in "EZ-Cap" brand flip-top style bottles. Works great to carbonate the kombucha. So when I bottle it, I add flavoring agents.
My favorite is dicing-up crystallized ginger, about a tablespoon per bottle. Fresh watermelon juice makes a surprisingly flavorful result. Passionfruit (or maypop, in my case) also works well and really comes thru in the finished product. Some fruits don't work well for me, like soursop.
Pineapple is also good. Grapes, blueberries...oh, and pomegranate is excellent (fresh).

Blending any of these fruits with ginger, etc is cool, or with herbs. the sky's the limit - I have not done much tinkering beyond what I mentioned above because it is more time-consuming.

Be cautious with fresh fruit because the fermentation can go nuts and really pressurize the bottles - be careful opening!