Kombucha: Ancient Fermented Tea

Kombucha has been a super trendy drink the past few years, and you would be hard pressed to walk into a health store without finding bottles upon bottles of the overpriced fermented tea. A 16 oz. bottle of kombucha produced by GT's Kombucha costs approximately $3.50, however you can make an entire gallon (or more) at home for a fraction of the cost. There are pretty extravagant health claims surrounding kombucha and it's often toted as an all-around "cure all" for everything from cancer to fatigue to arthritis. According to the American Cancer Society, however, none of these health claims have been proven. One thing we know for sure is that Kombucha is a carbonated alternative to soda that has way less processed sugar and is easy to make at home.

This ancient fermented tea originated in Northeast China at about 200 BC. With the extension of trade routes the recipe traveled to India and Russia. You can now find every new age hippie and health fanatic from Maine to L.A. slugging the drink. (For a pretty great spoof on Kombucha and our current foodie trends in general, click here.)

In order to make kombucha you have to start with a kombucha culture, which is a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). The scoby (also called the "Mother") looks like a slimy, flat mushroom and it feasts on the sugars within sweet tea and poops out lots of probiotics. Or something like that... Kombucha does contain a tiny amount of alcohol, about 1%, due to the fermentation process. You could try to get drunk off kombucha if you were 15 years old and really desperate, but good luck with that, really. Here's a photo of Banjo hanging out with my black market kidney transplant kombucha scoby.

Kombucha Recipe (Makes about 1 gallon)

3 1/2 quarts distilled water
1 cup raw sugar
8 tea bags - I use a mix of black and green. (Or 2 tbsp of loose-leaf tea)
1 kombucha scoby (or a bottle of GT's Kombucha if you need to start your own scoby)
2 cups starter tea (already-made kombucha from a friend or the store)
2 cups organic fruit juice

Equipment

1 large stockpot
1-gallon glass jar
6 16 oz. glass bottles (ball jars or swing-top)
1 clean dish towel

1.  Make the tea base - Bring the water to a boil and then remove from heat. Add tea bags and sugar and let steep until the sweet tea has completely cooled to room temperature.

1. Add starters - Pour the cooled sweet tea into the gallon glass jar. Add your starter tea and kombucha scoby. Your scoby might float at the top, sink to the bottom or plaster itself to one side of your jar. It's all good in Scoby Land, just let the sucker get comfortable. A new scoby should form on the top of your jar in a few days, and that's how you know the magic is working. 

1. Cover and wait - Cover your  glass jar with a clean kitchen towel or cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band or twine. Try to keep your kombucha out or direct sunlight while it ferments. Allow the scoby to work its magic for 7 to 14 days depending on how strong you like your drink. Also keep in mind that fermentation happens faster in warm weather. Because I was making this batch in my cold apartment during a Kansas winter, I let it ferment for a solid 14 days. At this point I recommend labeling your jar with the start and finish date so you know when your batch is done. 
2. Second fermentation - You can technically drink your kombucha as soon as it reaches a level of sweetness and tartness that you like, but it won't be fizzy. To get a carbonated beverage you need to do a second fermentation - this is also when you add juice, fruit or herbs for additional flavor. For the second fermentation you will need to pull out your bottling jars and make sure they're nice and clean. I pour a ratio of about 1/4 juice to 3/4 kombucha into my clean jars. There will be little scoby "floaters" in there, so if that bothers you then pour your kombucha through a cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer first. Leave about 1/2 inch of head room at the top of each jar, seal and let sit in room temperature, out of direct sunlight for another 2 or 3 days. 

You can buy flip-top bottles such as the these from a homebrew and wine-making supplier. Midwest Supplies offers them in blue, brown or clear, at approximately $30 for a case of 12. 

1. Drink or refrigerate - After a few days of the second fermentation your kombucha will be ready to drink! Any bottles that you don't open should be placed into your fridge immediately so that the fermentation process is slowed down. These suckers can make a lot of carbonation really quickly and if you don't stick them in your fridge then you risk them exploding sticky sugar drink all over your kitchen. 

Extra notes

• I was able to get a healthy, large scoby from my friend Kale. If you're reading this, and live in the Kansas City area, I'd be happy to hook you up with a scoby to get you started. You can also start a scoby from a bottle of GT's Kombucha; here are instructions because I've never actually tried that method myself. 
• Using a glass jar for the fermentation is actually really important. You want your kombucha to avoid prolonged contact with metal, which can give the drink a metallic flavor and weaken your scoby over time. 
•  On a medicinal note, the acid and weak alcohol content of kombucha make it better at extracting the medicinal properties from plants than plain water. Pretty much anything you would brew as a medicinal tea can be added to a batch of kombucha during its second fermentation. For example, a few tablespoons of dandelion root per bottle would make a wonderfully bitter live tonic. 

If fermentation sparks your curiosity, then you may want to consider buying or borrowing The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Katz, which delves into the history and how-to of various fermented drinks, kimchis, krauts and so, so much more. It's a really incredible book.