Kombucha tea is a sweet drink made through a fermentation process. Regular kombucha has a sour taste like vinegar in addition to the usual sweet tea taste. The strength of the tea can be adjusted according to the number of tea bags inserted for each volume of water. Kombucha can be found in most health stores and in the organic section of some supermarkets. The following steps explain how to make one at home.
Ingredients
- The parent "mushroom" of kombucha is also known as SCOBY, or Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast (and in this article it is called "culture"). You can get kombucha mushrooms at several online stores on the internet. Or if you're lucky, a friend who has extra mushrooms will share them for you! Once you've got your mother kombucha mushroom, you won't have to buy/find any more if you follow a few simple steps to take care of it.
- Examples of ready-made kombucha as a starter, or vinegar if you don't have one.
- Tea. Teabags or tea leaves can both be used. Sometimes, low-quality teas will taste better than more expensive teas. Teas containing oils, such as the bergamot oil in Earl Grey, can interfere with your mold growth, leading to longer fermentation times for satisfactory results. Many teas can be used:
- Green tea
- Black tea
- Echinacea
- Lemon balm
- Source of sugar. Refined white sugar or organic cane sugar can both be used. You can experiment with other fermentable ingredients such as juice mixed with tea. Many kombucha tea makers prefer to use organic ingredients, if any. For example Ribena, mushroom and colored tea.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Making Tea
Step 1. Wash your hands well using hot water
Do not use antibacterial soap as it can contaminate the kombucha and kill the good bacteria present in the culture. Use apple cider vinegar or regular vinegar for hand washing and other ingredients that can replace antibacterial soap. It is also advisable to use non-latex gloves, especially if you will be touching the culture directly.
Step 2. Fill your pot with 3 L of water and cook on high heat
Step 3. Boil the water for at least 5 minutes to purify it
Step 4. Add about 5 tea bags to the hot water
Depending on your taste, you may want to remove it immediately after boiling or leave it for the next two steps.
Step 5. Turn off the heat and add 1 cup of sugar
The culture derives its nutrients from the sugar, thus making it important in the fermentation process. The sugar will start to caramelize as the water continues to boil, so don't forget to put out the fire.
Step 6. Cover and allow the tea to cool down to room temperature (about 24ºC)
It may take a long time for the tea to cool down, but adding the culture while the water is still too hot will only kill it.
Part 2 of 3: Adding Culture
Step 1. Wash a container with very hot water, rinsing all over
If you don't have much water for cleaning and rinsing, put two drops of iodine in the container, add water and shake to clean your container. Rinse the container, cover, and wait. You can also put the container in the oven for about 10 minutes at 140°C if your container is ceramic.
Step 2. When your tea has cooled, put it in a glass container and add the tea starter, which should make up 10% of the total liquid
You can also give 1/4 cup of vinegar for every gallon. This method keeps the pH of the liquid low to prevent mold or other foreign yeasts from growing while the tea is being made.
To ensure that the liquid is sufficiently acidic, take a pH measurement. The pH of the liquid should be below pH 4.6. If this pH has not been reached, add an acidic tea starter, vinegar or citric acid (not vitamin C, because vitamin C is too weak) until the desired pH is reached
Step 3. Slowly put the SCOBY into the tea, cover the container with a cloth and secure it with a rubber band
Step 4. Place this container in a warm and dark place without distractions
Room temperature should be consistent at 21ºC to 30ºC if you can. Low temperatures will make the culture slow to grow, but temperatures lower than 30ºC allow unwanted organisms to grow as well.
Step 5. Wait for one week
When the tea starts to smell like vinegar, you can try the taste and check the pH.
- The culture will sink or float on the surface or float in the middle of the liquid. It is better if the culture floats on the surface to prevent aspergillus contamination.
- The best way to take samples is to use a straw. Do not drink directly from a straw, as blowing air can contaminate the tea. Also do not immerse the pH test strip in the fermentation vessel. Dip the straw halfway up the container, cover the end with your finger, pull the straw out and drink the liquid inside or drip the liquid onto a pH test strip.
- If the kombucha tastes very sweet, it may take longer for the fermentation time to allow the culture to consume the sugar.
- A pH of 3 indicates that the fermentation cycle is complete and the tea is at the right point for drinking. Of course this can be different according to your needs and tastes. If this final pH is too high, then the tea may still need a few days to complete its cycle, or you may need to throw it away.
Part 3 of 3: Solving
Step 1. Gently transfer the parent culture and tiller culture with clean hands (and non-latex gloves if you have one) and place them in a clean bowl
Note that these two cultures may stick together. Pour some kombucha over it and cover the bowl to protect the culture.
Step 2. Using a funnel, pour most of the finished tea into the storage container
The option is, fill it all up to the top. Otherwise it will take a very long time for it to foam. If your tea can't fill a large container, use a smaller one. If there is still a small gap then fill it with juice or tea. Just add a little or you will make your tea runny. Leave about 10% of the tea in the glass container as a tea starter to make new kombucha again. Start a new cycle again: put in the finished tea, put in the culture, cover, etc.
- You can use each layer of culture to make a new tea; Some people suggest a new layer of culture and discard the old one. There is no need to put both layers of culture into the new tea; one is enough.
- Each fermentation cycle creates new offspring from the parent. So that after you do the first fermentation, you will get two parents, one parent and one from the offspring. Propagation like this will occur in each fermentation.
Step 3. Cover your finished kombucha container or bottle
Cover slightly loosely to be safe, cover tightly to carbonize and leave for 2 - 5 days at room temperature.
Step 4. Cool
Kombucha is best served cold.
