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Looking for some fizzy new flavor ideas for your homemade kombucha? Here are 19 of our best kombucha flavors, from refreshing ginger to cozy pumpkin spice. There’s a recipe for everyone, every kombucha maker level, and every occasion.
While kombucha can be a labor of love, sometimes taking weeks between starting to make a SCOBY and taking your first sip, this step makes it all worthwhile: the flavoring! Read on to learn the secrets to flavoring your kickass kombucha!
What is the second fermentation?
Flavoring kombucha takes place in what we call the second fermentation. While the first fermentation transforms tea into kombucha, the second fermentation carbonates that kombucha! To carbonate the kombucha, we do two things:
- Seal it: Bottling the kombucha in an airtight fermentation-grade bottle will trap the carbonation, making it fizzy.
- Add sugar: Adding sugar (like fruit, honey, or table sugar) gives the yeasts and bacteria in kombucha something to “eat,” and they make carbonation as a result!
Having trouble with flat kombucha? Check out our troubleshooting guide to fizzy kombucha here!
How to flavor kombucha
So you’ve got kombucha from the first fermentation, and now it’s ready for the second fermentation. Let’s add your flavors! Here’s a quick guide on how to flavor kombucha:
- Pour kombucha into fermentation bottles, leaving a little space at the top to add your flavors and to allow breathing space.
- Add flavors like fruit, sugar, honey, or table sugar.
- Seal tightly. An airtight seal is essential for creating carbonated and fizzy kombucha.
- Ferment for 3 to 10 days, somewhere dark and room temperature, until it reaches the carbonation level of your liking.
- Strain (optional) to remove debris before serving.
Kombucha FAQ’s
Here are the most common questions I receive about flavoring kombucha.
How can you flavor kombucha with frozen fruit? Frozen fruit can be used to make kombucha; just be sure to thaw it before adding it.
Can you eat the fruit from kombucha? Yes! The acidity of the kombucha preserves the fruit, meaning it is just as edible as the kombucha is drinkable!
Can you add herbs to kombucha? Herbs add a fun new dimension to homemade kombucha! For hardy herbs (like rosemary or thyme), add the whole sprig. Tender herbs (like mint or basil) can be added to the stem, roughly chopped, or blended.
Best kombucha flavors
After brewing homemade kombucha for years (and helping hundreds of people brew their own, too), I’ve settled on a few favorites. Here are my top 19 best kombucha flavors you can make at home!
1. Lemon Ginger Kombucha
2. Peach Pie Kombucha
3. Blueberry Kombucha
4. Strawberry Kombucha
5. Mint Lime Mojito Kombucha
6. Pumpkin Spice Kombucha
7. Apple Cinnamon Kombucha
8. Ginger Pepper Kombucha
9. Mango Kombucha
10. Chia Seed Kombucha
11. Pineapple Basil Kombucha
12. Zingy Raspberry Kombucha
13. Spiced Pear Kombucha
14. Blueberry Banana Kombucha
15. Rosemary Grape Kombucha
16. Blackberry Vanilla Kombucha
17. Turmeric Kombucha
18. Pomegranate Kombucha
Is it ok to have the bucha under water seal during the first fermentation?
It shouldn’t be tightly sealed in the first fermentation. Just cover with a cloth! š
Hi!
I tried to follow your recipe and did the 2nd fermentation for 4 days. I love really fizzy drinks so I was hoping it would get super carbonated. Unfortunately, the drink fizzed over and I lost at least half the kombucha. The problem is, the kombucha that was left was completely flat. Do you know why this is? My goal is to get it really fizzy without it fizzing over. š
Thanks!
Try burping it more regularly (simply opening the bottles to let out extra carbonation). This should help keep carbonation in the liquid š
A trick to burping is to not flip the metal lever on your flip top (this will release a torrential surge of liquid as you have already observed) but to put the fingernail of your thumb under the seal and lift it up whilst maintaining the integrity of the metal flip top lever positioning. This makes it so that an air tight seal is achieved by simply releasing your thumb which allows you to have more control of the gases being released from the liquid. Repeat until no more gas is being released and put it back to carbonate more. Two days or so of the second ferment is all it should take. It you wait too long it gets quite vinegary and unsatisfactory in my opinion but the carbonation would be the same as water can only be so saturated with CO2 and will let off the rest of it under the limited amount of pressure that can be attained in a buch flip top bottle. Keep working with it and be patient with the process. Experiment. Happy brewing.
Successfully completed our first ferment, and already super excited! We ran into a problem we didnāt expect, though: no plastic bottles in the house! I can buy something, of course, but is there a safe burping frequency you would recommend for if this happens again? Every day? Every other day? Thanks!
Start with everyday, then work your way to longer intervals if you notice there isn’t much carbonation š
How can I make coconut kombucha? And how does it taste mixing kombucha with coconut?
I haven’t actually tried this one yet! You may ask the members of our Facebook group, I’m sure someone has tried it!
Hey Sarah! Just one little question… are we supposed to take SCOBY out in the second fermentation? Thanks!
Yep! The SCOBY is used to start a new first fermentation, while the liquid portion goes onto the second ferm.
Apricot Kombucha is my go to!
Some of my favorite flavors are orange fennel (made with orange juice, zest, fennel greens, + anise seeds), raspberry thyme, ginger + mixed berry, pomegranate cardamom, and strawberry basil. I generally like to mix a fruit with an herb or spice.
Iām going to be trying persimmon and spicebush berry this week, which will be my first entirely foraged kombucha flavor. Iāll let yāall know how it goes
Good tutorial.
How about a cranberry Kombucha flavor?
Oooh that would be delish!!
Have you ever done a Lilikoi? Some people called this fruit passion fruit. Wonder what else you could use with the Lilikoi
I haven’t but it sounds delicious! I think pineapple, orange, and/or guava would all be delicious with it.