The Simple Guide to Kickass Kombucha

Have you ever wondered how to brew kombucha at home? This easy guide will teach you how to transform tea into kombucha in just a few easy steps! This is the most popular guide to brewing kombucha on the internet and has helped over 10,000 home brewers make kombucha in kitchens around the world. Yours next?

It’s a big day everyone! The day your intestinal microbiota have been begging you for. The day you say goodbye to expensive store-bought kombucha. The day you become a brewmaster!

The goal of this guide is to be your one stop shop for homemade kombucha brewage, from SCOBY-less to fermented perfection. No hopping around the internet or buying unnecessary gear. No fuss. No confusion. Because making homemade kombucha is so simple, and I hope after reading this you’ll give it a whirl! Let’s hop right to it.

The process looks like this:

This post will go into detail about each step in the process of making kombucha. For succinct instructions and metric measurements, jump to the printable recipe card at the end of this post. The general order of things goes something like this (you can jump around this tutorial by clicking the links below):

1. Make SCOBY (1 to 4 weeks) – to make the “mother”
2. First Fermentation (6 to 10 days) – to make the actual kombucha
3. Second Fermentation (3 to 10 days) – to carbonate the kombucha

@liveeatlearn

It’s Day 3 of Fermentation Week! Let’s make kombucha 🍺 Have you ever wondered how to brew kombucha at home? My easy guide will teach you how to transform tea into kombucha in just a few easy steps! This is the most popular guide to brewing kombucha on the internet and has helped over 10,000 home brewers make kombucha in kitchens around the world. Yours next? (The full guide is at the link in my profile!) #kombucha #kombuchalover #kombuchabrewing #kombuchaontap #fermentationstation #FermentationMagic #lactofermentation #FermentationFun #fermentationworkshop #fermentationisfun

♬ Piel De Azúcar – 𝙕𝙘 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘 🎧

Step 1: How to make a kombucha SCOBY

The SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) is the mother of the kombucha, providing bacteria and yeast to ferment the sweet tea, protecting the tea from outside contaminants, and providing a loose seal to keep a bit of the carbonation in. Yes, it’s hideous…but it’s the very essence of kombucha! And the best part? You can make one at home! You’ll need:

• Water: Tap water is just fine here!
• White Sugar: Feeds the yeast and bacteria—don’t sub with other sweeteners.
• Black Tea: Provides nutrients for fermentation. Black tea works best for a strong, healthy SCOBY.
• Raw, unflavored kombucha: Contains live cultures that kickstart the SCOBY growth. Look for one with sediment at the bottom!

To make a SCOBY, you’ll brew sweet black tea, let it cool, then mix in raw kombucha. Cover and ferment at room temperature for 1 to 4 weeks until a ¼-inch SCOBY forms. Keep the SCOBY in its tea until you’re ready to brew your first batch! Jump to recipe for printable instructions.

Important Notes For Making A SCOBY

• Only black tea. Similarly, the SCOBY doesn’t grow as well with green or fruity teas. By all means, once your SCOBY is big and strong, you can use green tea, but for now, stick with black. The SCOBY doesn’t like decaf tea and will not grow as well if fed it (SCOBY = my spirit animal).
• No honey. Honey can contain botulism bacteria that, when grown exponentially as bacteria and yeast tend to do in kombucha, can be dangerous.
• Don’t mess with it! You won’t see anything but a few bubbles in the first few days. But then one day a thin, translucent layer will form, eventually thickening into a full on SCOBY.

Step 2: The first fermentation

So you’ve got a newbie SCOBY and you’re ready to get this komboo-choo train rollin’. This first fermentation is where you actually make the kombucha. You’ll need:

• Water: Tap is fine!
• White Sugar: Feeds the SCOBY and bacteria during fermentation.
• Black or green tea: Black tea is most common, but green tea adds a lighter flavor.
• Unflavored kombucha: This has the live cultures and acidity needed to start your fermentation.
• SCOBY: Your live culture pellicle.

To do the first fermentation, you’ll brew sweet tea, cool it, and add it to a jar with your SCOBY and starter kombucha. Cover and ferment at room temp for 6–10 days, tasting around day 6. Once it’s slightly tangy and not too sweet, reserve 2 cups as your starter and move the rest to second fermentation. Jump to recipe for printable instructions.

First Fermentation Tips

• In this step, unlike in the making of the SCOBY, you can use other teas besides black. Feel free to experiment with green, white, oolong, or combinations of them. Fruit teas should be mixed with a few black tea bags to ensure the SCOBY mama gets what she needs to thrive.
• Once the SCOBY gets to be about an inch thick, peel off a few layers to create a second SCOBY (you can share the love and gift this to a friend!)

Step 3: The Second Fermentation

The final step and negotiably the best part of the process! The second fermentation is where the real magic happens. It’s where you can play around with sweet, fruity kombucha flavors that will not only make your homemade kombucha taste better than store-bought, but will carbonate the kombucha! You’ll need:

• Homemade kombucha from the first fermentation
• Sweetener (fruit, honey, or sugar). Here are a few ideas per 1 cup kombucha:
  • 1 to 2 Tbsp mashed fruit or fruit juice
  • 1 to 2 tsp honey
  • a piece of candied ginger

Strain the kombucha and bottle it with your chosen sweetener, leaving some headspace. Let it ferment at room temperature for 3 to 10 days to build fizz, then strain out fruit if needed and refrigerate to chill and stop fermentation. Jump to recipe for printable instructions.

Second fermentation tips

• The more sugar/fruit you add, the faster the kombucha will ferment and become carbonated.
• Your jars can explode if the pressure becomes too high! For your first few batches while you’re still getting the hang of how kombucha reacts to your environment, bottle a portion of it in a plastic bottle. This will act as a gauge for how the others are doing. When the plastic bottle is rock solid, the rest are probably done. “Burp” them by opening each to release some pressure, then place them in the refrigerator to slow fermentation.

Supplies Needed for Making Kombucha

• Large Glass Jug: It should hold at least 1 gallon (buy on Amazon or in most homeware stores)
• Fermentation Bottles: These bottles have a tight seal specifically designed to keep the carbonation in (hellooo fizz!) (buy flip-top bottles here or collect and reuse GT’s bottles)