How To Brew Your Own Kombucha at Home
As you may know, we sell our very own Narrow Gate Kombucha Starter Kit!
It’s perfect for those who are interested in making their own kombucha. If you’ve ever been curious about how you can make your own kombucha, you’ve stumbled upon the right blog post. This also happens to be a great stay-at-home activity to do.
Grab your own Starter Kit and let’s get started!
Narrow Gate's Guide to Brewing Your Own Kombucha
In order to brew kombucha, you have to go through two phases:
Phase One: First Fermentation
This typically takes around 7-12 days, although some people like to go longer. During the time the sweet tea ferments and is transformed into kombucha by the starter tea and SCOBY. By the end of fermentation, you’ll have unflavoured, large non-carbonated kombucha.
Phase Two: Second Fermentation
During the second fermentation your kombucha tea is flavoured. It’s usually done with a fruit and then bottled in a sealed container for around 2-4 days at room temperature to create carbonation.
Equipment:
- Something to brew tea in (a very large teapot or stockpot)
- 1 five-quart / five-litre glass jar
- 4 one-quart / one-litre flip-top glass bottles
- Tightly woven cloth (a clean tea towel, paper towel, or many layers of cheesecloth)
- Rubber band
- Wooden spoon
Ingredients:
- 4 cups water (to boil) + approx. 8 cups of cool/cold water
- 2-3 tbsp. loose-leaf tea
- ¾ cup cane sugar, or another preferred organic sweetener
- 1 SCOBY
- 2 cups of kombucha starter tea
Optional flavourings:
- Fresh or dried fruit
- Fresh ginger / ginger juice
- Fresh or dried herbs and spices
- Food-grade essential oils
Method:
- Make a tea concentrate by boiling 4 cups of filtered water. Once boiling, turn the heat off and steep your loose-leaf tea for 15 minutes.
- Add ¾ cup cane sugar to the hot liquid and stir to dissolve.
- Once 15 minutes has passed and your tea has steeped, strain out the leaves and add the hot sweet tea to a 1-gallon glass jar.
- Add approx. 8 cups of cool/cold water to the jar to dilute the tea and bring the temperature down. The temperature of the liquid in the jar should be between 70 – 90 degrees Fahrenheit before you move on to the next step.
- Once the temperature is just right, add 2 cups of starter tea from a previously brewed batch of kombucha + the SCOBY.
- Cover the jar with a clean, tight-weave cloth (a bandana, tee-shirt, even a coffee filter would work) and secure it with a rubber band.
- Let it sit at room temp (between 70 – 85 degrees) in a shady spot with decent airflow for around a week.
- Leave it alone for at least a few days. No peeking or jiggling the vessel! Otherwise, you might interrupt SCOBY growth.
- You can start tasting your brew at around the 5-day mark. (Once you get the hang of it, you’ll get a feel for how long it takes for your brew to get to a state of “doneness” that you like.) If you like it less sweet, let it keep going so the bacteria and yeast can continue to eat the sugars. You can continue tasting each day until it tastes right to you.
It’s that simple. If you do end up trying this out, we would love to hear from you! Be sure to tag us on Instagram @NarrowGateFoods so we can see your delicious homemade kombucha.
In health,
Nadia