Hi my dear friends. Have you ever heard about Kombucha? It has such a fun and cool name, right?
The first time I knew about Kombucha was a long time ago. Back then, it just sounded like some mysterious drink. But over the past 2, 3 years, I’ve gotten really into it and I feel lucky that I know about it. Kombucha is a fermented tea drink that’s fizzy, tangy, a little sweet, and packed with probiotics that your gut would love it so much.
Kombucha has become a trend for people who want to live healthier, and I’m happily one of them. I started learning not just about drinking it, but also how to brew it at home. Trust me, it’s easier than it sounds, and it’s fun to make it. And I really enjoy it during hot days here in Da Nang, Viet Nam.
What you will need if you want to make 1 liter of Kombucha at home: (You can multiply it if want to make more than that)
- Scoby (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast)
- 1 liter of water
- 5 gram of black/green tea
- 200 gram of sugar
- Glass jar can contain 2 liters of water
I order everything online and have been trying to keep it alive and grow it to produce kombucha.
First you need to boil the water and add your tea leaves. Let it steep for 5-10 minutes, then strain the leaves out. While the tea is still warm, stir in the sugar until it dissolves completely.
Here’s the most important part: let the tea cool down to room temperature. Never add your Scoby to hot tea, or it won’t survive.
Once your sweet tea has cooled, pour it into the clean glass jar. Gently slide in your Scoby along with a bit of starter liquid (usually it comes with your Scoby when you buy it). Cover the jar with a cloth or paper towel secured with a rubber band. This keeps dust out but allows the tea to breathe.
Now, the waiting for the magic begins. Leave it at room temperature, away from direct sunlight, for 4-7 days.
You can see now the Scobi is still small, but a few times you feed it and harvest the kombucha, it will grow and grow fast. After about 5 days, you can start tasting it with a clean spoon. If it’s still too sweet, let it ferment a little longer. If it’s tangy and fizzy enough for your taste, that’s your first Kombucha! It’s so interesting to know how Kombucha was made. Most important thing to make kombucha is Scoby, it’s a living thing you have to have it. The yeast in the SCOBY eats the sugar in your sweet tea and produces alcohol. The bacteria then convert that alcohol into healthy acids. Together, they transform plain sweet tea into tangy, fizzy, probiotic-rich Kombucha.
This time, I harvested the kombucha with a big scoby. Because I kept it alive for a long time.
I use a cup to strain out the water and keep the scoby in to keep feeding it for the next batch of kombucha.
Plain Kombucha is great, but adding fruit makes it amazing. For this batch, I went with juicy mango. You can go with other fruits like peach, watermelon, dragon fruits, apple,... whatever fruit you like that is sugary.
Pour your freshly brewed Kombucha into a clean glass bottle. Then chop fresh mango into small cubes and drop them into the bottle.
If you want extra fizz, gas, let the bottle sit at room temperature for one more day, this is called second fermentation. The natural sugars from the mango will make it nice and bubbly. Just be careful: bottles can get very fizzy, so open carefully :))
After that, keep your Mango Kombucha in the fridge and enjoy it chilled whenever you like.
And that’s it for today my friends. Making Kombucha at home is so easy, fun, and delicious and you can customize the flavors however you like.
I hope this little guide inspires you to try brewing your own Kombucha. If you’re already a fan, let me know your favorite flavors,I’d love to hear.
Sending love and good vibes to you from Da Nang.
All the photos were taken by me in my lovely kitchen!