Ways to improve the flavor of home brewed kombucha

When I wrote my fundraising post last week, I added a little note at the end offering to sell my starters to anyone interested. I didn't expect much interest, so I was surprised when I had so many orders for kefir, water kefir, and sourdough starters! This led me to believe that there may be more interest in my odd little hobby than I originally thought! So, today a post about my dear friend kombucha.

I love kombucha. I just do. It's really good for me, I love the taste, and it makes me feel great. I've written about what it is and how to make it before, and if you're new to the idea of kombucha, I suggest you start by reading those links. Today, I want to share some great secrets to getting a consistently tasty batch, one that's more similar to what you can buy at the store, should you ever be able to afford it. It's so pricey!

I liked my homemade kombucha, but I missed the bubbly, complex flavor of what I had back when I was buying it from the health food store where I worked. Over the course of the past few years, and with much trial and error, I have learned some tricks to getting my kombucha to taste more like that expensive bottled stuff. So, in no particular order, here you go.

Do a continuous brew system
My original recipe still applies, but I always use a gallon container and, instead of using all but the last bit of kombucha each time I brew,  I simply pour off a quart at a time and add a new quart of sweet tea. This is how I get a good balance of flavors. It works something like this:

Day 1: make a gallon of kombucha
Day 5 (or so): pour out a quart of still semi-sweet kombucha and bottle it (see tip below). Add another quart of sweetened tea to the brew
Day 7(ish): bottle another quart of kombucha and replace it with sweet tea
Day 9(is): repeat what you did on days 5 and 7

you get the picture. The tea will slowly develop and you will have a balanced tea that is nice and kombuchaey(huh?), but not too strong. At some point, your tea may start to brew too quickly, and you'll want to remove a scoby or two before adding more tea. Also, it does get a residue on the bottom (of the beneficial yeasts), so you may want to start over at day 1 every couple of months.

Also, while I do suggest using at least a gallon sized container (bigger is fine, too), you don't have to be drinking a quart every two days. It's a flexible schedule. Otherwise, I'd never be able to keep up. It can sit for a week, or sometimes we end up drinking two quarts before I replace any at all. Kombucha is forgiving.

Use a grolsch style bottle
Odd name, I know. These are great for bottling kombucha. They allow carbonation to develop without risking explosion. The rubber stopper helps let out excess air pressure. They are pretty cheap and can be used indefinitely. (I heard once that one of the reasons people get addicted to soda is that our bodies inherently know their need for lactofermented drinks. I know I prefer a good kombucha or water kefir to a soda...most days.)

Make kombucha consistently
Kind of like kids and husbands, kombucha gets grumpy if you don't feed it regularly. The good news is, kombucha is happy to be fed roughly once a week. The kids, not so much.

Know that you are at the mercy of the season
My kombucha doesn't like winter. It tastes better to me when the temperature in our house is mid 70's. It does fine in winter, especially if I follow all of the other tips here, but I really like my spring and summer kombucha better.

Look at this great resource to learn more
Go play around on the Cultures For Health website. They have videos, tips, recipes, and an ebook all about kombucha as well as any other lacto fermentation starter you can imagine. You can also order supplies through this link. (I would like to remind you again that I have kombucha, water kefir, and sourdough starters that I'm offering to sell as part of our fundraising efforts for our adoption. Each starter is $10 plus shipping. Contact me if you're interested!)

(I am a cultures for health affiliate and I will receive a commission on any orders made through the links above.)

Have you discovered the kombucha love?

This post was shared on motivation monday

Making and Flavoring Kombucha Tea

On Wednesday, I introduced you guys to the world of kombucha, and today I want to answer some of the questions I've been asked and go into a little more detail about the kombucha making process.

The one question I've been asked more than once is this

"Where can I get a kombucha scoby to get started making kombucha?"

Jar full of kombucha scobies. scobys. It doesn't look right plural....

Well, it just so happens that I have a few extra, so if you know me and live in my area, I would be happy to share! I really only need one because every time I make kombucha a new scoby is formed at the top.

If you know my Mom, ask her for one. I got my first one from her.

If you are reading from afar, and you're interested in getting a scoby, I might see if we can work something out, or you can order one on Amazon.com.

FYI, "SCOBY" stands for Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast.
Sounds delicious, does it not? But remember, our healthy digestion and immune system are dependent upon us putting the right type of bacteria in our bodies!

So, say you've got a Scoby and you're ready to make kombucha. Check out my recipe from earlier, and keep some of these tips in mind.


Kombucha brewing tips
1. Add 1/4 cup of your previous batch of kombucha to your new batch of kombucha. This will help it get off to a good start.


2. Use filtered water or bottled spring water because the chlorine in your tap water will kill off the good germies in your kombucha.

3. You will probably think your kombucha is molding the first time you make it. It more than likely isn't. Every time you make kombucha, a new scoby will form on the top of the jar, just above the tea. When it first begins to form, it looks kinda like white scuzz. Give it a few more days.
*If you do think your kombucha is moldy, do an internet search for "moldy kombucha" to be sure. I've never had a problem b/c the good bacteria and yeasts in the kombucha prevent any mold or bad bacteria from forming. It doesn't hurt to be careful, though.

4. Always brew your kombucha in glass. Metal will react and turn the tea funny colors. Plastic will leach chemicals into the kombucha because of its acidic nature. It doesn't matter what you brew your initial tea in, just what you ferment it in.

5. Cover your jar loosely while your kombucha tea is brewing. (See above photo.) It needs air so the cultures can grow, but you don't want any little bugs wandering in. Or maybe you do, I don't know. I'm sure the guy on Man vs. Wild would say it's "good protein." I, for one, don't care to try buggy kombucha so I cover my jar with a rag wrapped with a rubber band.

6. Double brew your kombucha for better fizz and flavor.


Double brewing and flavoring kombucha
After your kombucha has been brewing for about a week (taste every few days until it's at a balance of sour/sweet that you like), pour it into a glass bottle and let it sit for another day or two to get nice and bubbly. This is called a "second fermentation". It will get a little more sour, so you may want to stop the initial brew a little earlier than if you were going to do just one fermentation.

When you're done fermenting, store your kombucha in the fridge so the fermentation process will stop.

I like to add a little fruit juice concentrate here to give it some more flavor. I never measure, but it's about 1 teaspoon per quart of kombucha. Grape is by far my favorite for kombucha. You should try a few to see which one you like best. Some people use fruit juice, dried fruit or fresh fruits chunks instead. I find that a spoon full of juice concentrate is easiest.

The picture on the right shows the bottles I like to use. Seltzer water bottles with plastic lids work great! I've found that metal lids wear out pretty quickly and don't give a good, airtight seal. If your seal isn't airtight, your carbonation will escape. That makes for a sad day.





A lot of brewing kombucha is finding out how you like it best. It may take a few batches before you find a flavor balance that you love. I like to use half green tea leaves and half black tea leaves for a lighter tea flavor. I also like to stop the brewing process while it's a little sweet and slightly less sour.

It's really hard to kill a scoby, so don't worry about neglecting it too long. In fact, if you want to take a break for a month of so from making kombucha, make a regular batch of kombucha and just let it sit in a cabinet until you are ready for it again. You'll have a really thick scoby and some kombucha vinegar. Kombucha tea eventually turns to vinegar after all of the sugars have been digested.

Also, you don't have to wash the jar every time you make kombucha because it's a sanitary process. I just pour off the tea, take out one scoby (there will be two, the "mother" you started with and the new "baby."), and start all over again.

Now, are you on kombucha overload? That's a lot of kombucha info! Still, I'm sure I left some questions unanswered, so feel free to leave a comment if you have a question!

Where do (natural) babies come from?

Their natural mommies, of course! What did you think I was going to say?

Today I'm going to share how I came to be a natural Mommy, and it has a lot to do with my own mother.

Before I start sharing all of the things I do that are a little different from the norm, I'd like to share why doing things naturally, or traditionally, is important to me.

Those of you who know my family may not know this, but my Mother was not always the hippie that she is today. (You are reading this, right Mom?) Growing up, as I remember it from my point of view, we weren't on the extreme of either "crunchy" or....whatever the word is for the oppposite of crunchy. I guess my parents never gave it much thought. I never did, anyway. Then, mom got sick.

I don't remember how old I was when we all got mono, but I was old enough to remember bits and pieces without completely understanding what was going on. I remember all sitting in a doctor's office, and I remember Mom going back to the doc every few months after that and hearing mom say "I still don't feel better." Not a lot was known back then about fibromyalgia, but my Mom was eventually diagnosed with it. As anyone with a chronic illness knows, one will try just about anything to relieve the symptoms.

Somewhere along the line, around the time I was in high school, we came across the book "The Maker's Diet by Jordan S. Rubin. It all seems like common sense to me now, but reading his book was the first time I'd been introduced to the concept that God knew what he was doing when he made our bodies and the earth. Maybe, just maybe, we're messing ourselves up with a lot of these things we call "progress." Maybe food the way it comes from the earth is the way our bodies were intended to process it? Perhaps all of these chemicals we're putting into and on our bodies are doing more harm than good? It occurred to me that, in the Garden of Eden, man's and woman's original job was to be a good steward of this world God created. Adam and Eve were put in that garden to glorify God by enjoying and taking care of it. Are we, as Christians today, exempt from that job? I don't think so.

So began my long, slow journey into the being the wierdo I am today. True story: I served a friend of mine a glass of kombucha, and she said to me, and I quote verbatim "Sarah Ellzey, you are the wierdest friend I've ever had."

Thank you very much.

That's all the time I have for today. Little Izzy is calling. I'll tell you some more about my little family later on this week. Tomorrow I'll finish my story by sharing how my Mom's journey became my own.

What about you? Where are you in your journey? What has inspired you? Are you anyone's "wierdest friend?"

What is the opposite word for "crunchy," anyways?