How to Brew Kombucha in the Comfort of Your Home

For 2,000 years, people have enjoyed the tremendous heart, brain, and gut benefits that kombucha provides. The Chinese even used to call it the “Immortal Health Elixir.”

Due to the tremendous health benefits that kombucha provides, retailers tend to sell them at high prices. To save money, try making your own kombucha. According to Jessica Childs, author of Kombucha!, doing so is cheaper in the long run. Plus, benefits provided by the tea remain the same whether they are bought or made at home.

• Why you need to try kombucha
• Ingredients
• Directions

Why you need to try kombucha

This popular herbal drink is most known for its probiotics—all two billion of them. Probiotics have been proven to improve heart health, decrease the chance of yeast infection, and help depression. One user who tried kombucha for two weeks straight reported a more regular bowel movement, a clearer mind, and more energy. Drinkers of the probiotic substance have sworn it also helps relieve them from conditions such as acid reflux and PMS.

The recipe

Consisting of black tea, sugar, and most importantly, a culture of probiotics, the kombucha becomes fermented after the three ingredients are combined, which then causes it to carbonate. What results is a nutritious concoction containing vinegar, B vitamins, enzymes, probiotics, and a high concentration of acid.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon loose leaf tea or 4 tea bags
• ½ cup white sugar
• 6-7 cups water (it important that this water is free from chlorine and fluorides)
• 1 cup starter tea or distilled white vinegar (this type of vinegar ensures an appropriately acidic environment)
• Active Kombucha SCOBY

Equipment:

• Quart-size glass jar
• Plastic or wooden stirring tool
• Tight-weave cloth or paper coffee filter
• Rubber band or canning jar ring to secure the cover to the jar

Directions for a one-quart batch

You can start making larger batches after you become more familiar with the process.

1. Stir hot water and sugar in the glass jar until the sugar is fully dissolved.
2. Place the tea in the water to steep.
3. Remove tea after 10-15 minutes by either removing the bags or straining the tea leaves from the liquid.
4. Add either starter tea from a previous batch or distilled white vinegar.
5. Add SCOBY.
6. Cover jar with the towel or coffee filter and secure it with a band.
7. Let the mixture sit at room temperature and out of direct sunlight for 7-30 days. Allowing it to ferment longer will cause it to be less sweet and more vinegary.
8. Enjoy. Make sure you keep enough SCOBY and liquid to use as starter tea for your next batch.
9. Add flavoring, if desired.

And there you have it—a relatively easy and painless method for making your own kombucha tea. Let me know in the comments if you have any other wisdom or tips to contribute that will help make kombucha extra delicious!