Brewing kombucha, once you’ve got the hang of it

This is for after you have gained some confidence, and just need a reminder of the basics.

What you'll need

  • Your jar (cleaned), cover, band from before
  • 10% of your starter + the newest pellicle from the batch before
  • 4 litres water, boiled in big pan
  • 8 black / green tea bags (ideally organic)
  • 1 cup (or around 200g) of raw cane sugar (ideally organic)

Leave enough starter from your last batch in the jar, and just one pellicle

Keep the newer pellicle and chuck the older one (or store it with extra starter as a backup).

Typically the starter should be 10% of the total volume. For making almost 4 litres of kombucha, this might look like 3500ml water and 350ml starter.

As a tip, you can mark where this is on your jar with masking tape for future reference. But in practice it doesn’t matter if it’s slightly more or less – you can eyeball about 10%.

If you measure the pH of your kombucha (not really needed) and it’s more acidic than 3.5, you can add less starter; if it’s more alkaline, add more. If it’s cold, you can also add more starter to acidify the mixture faster and protect against mould.

Measure (or fill up) a large pan

Let the water boil with large bubbles for about 10 mins.

Turn off the pan.

Add 8 teabags

Can be black or green tea.

Allow them to brew for 10-15 minutes. If you forget about it for a while, that’s ok too.

Only use green tea every other brew to keep your cultures strong.

Add 1 cup of sugar 

It is roughly 1/4 cup of starter per litre of liquid, so for just under 4 litres, one cup does it.

Using a cup measurement is much faster than weighing out the grams. Wait for the sugar to dissolve – you can use a clean spoon in a forwards-backwards motion.

Cover and let cool

Make sure to cover it so no debris or bugs can contaminate your tea mixture.

Pour and store

Once it’s room temperature, pour the cooled sugar-tea mixture into the jar, over the starter and pellicle. Make sure the pellicle does not block the tea from merging with the starter.

Cover the jar and move it to a warm, dark, dry spot where it won’t be disturbed and the new pellicle can form as a protective layer.

Wait and test

Wait around 7-10 days and give it a taste.

Does it taste good? Then it’s ready to bottle.

You can also bottle it when it’s slightly sweeter than your perfect taste, as it will continue to acidify in the second ferment