Brewing kombucha at home is surprisingly easy, and it's much cheaper than buying bottles from the store! It also has some great health benefits because it's full of beneficial probiotics. Be forewarned though, it becomes addicting! You may quickly find you are brewing gallons of Kombucha at a time. If this happens to you, changing to a continuous brewing method may be for you. This post will give you everything you need to know about how to do a continuous brewing method.

What tools do you need to brew Kombucha at home?

A scoby. This could be a live culture, a dehydrated culture, or you can even make your own. I have had the most success with a live culture.
Your brewing vessel of choice. I would suggest a gallon jar (I like these)having at least two, so you always have one clean for the next batch to go into.
A good quality black tea. I adore the Three Sisters blend from Farmhouse Teas. I find that the blend of teas gives a superior taste to my kombucha brews. You can also use some herbal teas. Raspberry leaf was one that I used to use. I liked it, but had issue with mold growth which is when I switched to a black tea.
A tea strainer or coffee filter
A tightly woven cloth. This could be coffee filters, paper towels, napkins, or cheese cloth. This will help keep any potential bugs out.
An elastic large enough to go around the top of your brewing vessel
Sugar (some will say you shouldn't use cane sugar, but I use organic cane sugar to feed mine without any problems)
A way to boil water and a large pot.

How should you prepare to make your kombucha brew?

You will want to make sure everything you use is clean. If it's not clean there is a risk of it molding and then you have to start over.

I tend to clean my jars in the dishwasher, but then I also clean them with a little bit of vinegar. (I've been told that a bit of soap residue is enough to kill your scoby.)

You'll also want to make sure that your workspace is clean before you start. That way in case you accidentally drop something you'll still have a high probability of having a successful brew.

Time to make your first kombucha!

In a medium pot, bring 14 cups of water to a boil. Remove from heat.
Add 3 tbsp, or 6-8 tea bags, and allow to steep for 10 minutes. While the tea is still warm remove the loose leaf tea/tea bags. Then add 1 cup of sugar and stir until it is fully dissolved.
Pour the sweet tea mixture into your brewing vessel and allow to room temperature. (If you add the scoby when it's too hot you can kill it.)
Once the sweet tea has cooled to 68-85 degrees, add entire starter liquid and the scoby culture.
Cover container with your cloth and secure it with a rubber band. Set your brew aside out of direct sunlight where it will stay at room temperature.
After 5-7 days you can taste the brew with a clean spoon. If it's too sweet, let it ferment a little longer. Sometimes this can take up to two weeks. Keep tasting it every few days until you know how you like it. The longer you let your kombucha ferment the more acidic and less sweet it will become. When it tastes to your liking it's time to start your next batch and dispense it.

Your kombucha is done brewing, now what?

The first thing I do is start preparing my next batch so that I've always got something brewing. So you will repeat the process as before. However, this time when your sweet tea is at room temperature you will take a cup of kombucha from your previous brew and add it to the new brew. Then you can bottle up the kombucha that is finished brewing and enjoy!

I generally put it in mason jars and keep it in my fridge until I am ready to drink it. This works well for me because I really enjoy the taste. If you want to have a flavored kombucha you will need to do a second fermentation.

What is a second fermentation?

A second fermentation (also referred to as F2) is just bottling up your kombucha to brew a second time. When I do my second fermentation I usually do them in quart mason jars with whatever fruit I have on hand. This works well for flavoring the brew, but it won't give you that fizzy effect you may be seeking.

If you are wanting to make a fizzy kombucha you will need to get some fermenting bottles. You will want to add your fruit mixture with a bit of sugar to the bottle and then fill it with your freshly brewed kombucha. Let it stay in the bottle until it has enough bubbles for your taste. Just be sure you burp the bottles daily, so you don't have an accidental explosion.

If you want to take the guess work out of it, I HIGHLY recommend these flavor packets. Using them has given me the fizziest kombucha I've ever made! If you're a fan of Dr. Pepper than the Cherry Almond is a must try! I'm also partial to the Strawberry Mojito and the Tumeric Ginger Peach.

Why has my scoby grown so much?

You will notice as you brew kombucha, with each batch you will have a new scoby grow. This causes it to become a thick mass within your brew. The bigger it gets the quicker it ferments your kombucha. It may seem like that would be a great idea, but it can be hard to manage when you need to move it to a new vessel.

So what do you do? You need to split it. It's easier to split the younger they are. As they get older you may need a knife to separate them.

When you look at the scoby, the bottom layer is the mother. She is the oldest. On top are all her babies. I will usually use a scoby for about two months, and then I will start using a new scoby. The older scobys I will give to my chickens, but if you don't have chickens you can add them to your compost too! The newer scobys I will give to friends or use to make scoby hotels.

What is a scoby hotel, and why do I need one?

When you're brewing kombucha at some point something will go wrong, and when it does you will want to have an extra scoby and liquid to start with. (trust me, I learned the hard way)

As your scobys grow, you will want to add them into jars with some sweet tea to create your scoby hotel. This ensures that if your kombucha brew ever becomes contaminated you have something immediately you can use to start over.

You should maintain your scoby hotels every few months. To do this all you need to do is replace the liquid in the jars with more sweet tea. Keep them in a place where they can stay at room temperature and out of sunlight.

I wouldn't recommend putting it on a shelf in your child's closet though. My daughter was CONVINCED it was an alien growing in her closet when she was about two years old.

How to make incredible single brew kombucha at home