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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?
save this recipe!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.
Meet The Brewer
Hey friends, I’m Sarah! I’m in love with home-brewing kombucha and have helped thousands of people all over the world make kombucha in their homes! I created an entire website dedicated to brewing kombucha called Brew Buch, and run an online community of over 50,000 brewers called Kickass Kombucha Brewers (I’d love for you to join)! If you have any questions about brewing, please drop a comment at the end of this post – I personally read and respond to them daily!
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):
- Make SCOBY (1 to 4 weeks) – to make the “mother”
- First Fermentation (6 to 10 days) – to make the actual kombucha
- Second Fermentation (3 to 10 days) – to carbonate the kombucha
“Excellent recipe. I’ve tried ten or more online for comparison and this one has the best flavor balance. Not at all vinegary and not too sweet. Will be using for my base from now on.” -Katherine
Before we start, here are some general notes that are consistent throughout the whole homemade kombucha process.
- No metal or plastic containers. Metal can react with the acidic kombucha, while plastic can house nasty bacteria.
- Clean is key. A recurring theme in kombucha brewing is that everything must be clean! We’re creating the perfect environment for good bacterial growth, but if a bad bacteria sneaks in it could ruin your batch (and make you pretty sick).
- Temperature plays a big role. Fermentation goes a bit quicker in warmer temperatures and a bit slower in colder.
- No mold zone. If you see any mold growing on your SCOBY or in the tea (which I understand can be difficult to discern from the hideous SCOBY but will generally be green, white, or black), then toss your whole batch.
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.
Which brand Is best?
Our tried and tested store-bought brand is the GT’s “Pure”. You can find it in most natural food stores.
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.
The Simple Guide to Kickass Kombucha
Equipment
- Glass Jar (1 gallon or larger)
- Clean Cloth (like a dish cloth or paper towels)
Ingredients
Making a SCOBY
- 7 cups water, 1.6 L
- 4 bags black tea, or 1 Tbsp loose tea
- ½ cup white sugar, 100 g
- 1 cup unflavored kombucha, this should be unpasteurized, unflavored store-bought kombucha, 235 mL
First Fermentation
- 14 cups water, 3.5 quarts, 3.3 L
- 8 bags black or green tea, or 2 Tbsp loose leaf
- 1 cup white sugar, 200 g
- 2 cups unflavored kombucha, from a previous batch or store-bought kombucha, 470 mL
- 1 SCOBY
Second Fermentation
- Kombucha, from the first fermentation
- Sweetener or flavor
Instructions
Making Kombucha SCOBY
- Make Tea: Bring 7 cups water to a boil in a clean pot. Remove from heat and add 4 bags black tea. Allow tea to steep for about 15 minutes. Remove tea and stir in ½ cup white sugar. Let tea cool to room temperature.Alternatively, boil only 2 cups of water and add the remaining 5 cups of cold water once the tea has steeped and sugar has been added. This will quicken the process.
- Add Starter: Add 1 cup unflavored kombucha then pour everything into a large glass jar.
- Ferment: Cover with a clean cloth and secure with a rubber band. Set somewhere dark and room temperature (70-75°F, 21-24°C) for 1 to 4 weeks, until a ¼ inch (½ cm) SCOBY has formed.
First Fermentation
- Make Tea: Bring 14 cups water to a boil in a clean pot. Remove from heat and add 8 bags black or green tea. Allow tea to steep for about 15 minutes. Remove tea and stir in 1 cup white sugar. Let tea cool to room temperature.Alternatively to quicken this up, boil only 4 cups of water and add the remaining 10 cups of cold water once tea has steeped and sugar has been added.
- Combine With Starter + SCOBY: If your SCOBY is still in the jar you made it in, use a clean spoon to push it down into the tea, then pour out all but 2 cups of the tea that’s in that jar (you can bottle the remaining tea to keep as a strong starter kombucha). Pour in your freshly made cooled tea.
- Ferment: Cover with a clean cloth and secure with a rubber band. Set somewhere dark and room temperature (70-75°F, 21-24°C) for anywhere from 6 to 10 days. Begin tasting the tea at about 6 days. It should be mildly sweet and slightly vinegary when finished.The longer the tea ferments, the more sugar molecules will be eaten up, the less sweet it will be. This process will go faster if it is warm in your house.
- And Repeat: Reserve 2 cups from this batch to use as starter kombucha for your next batch (just leave it in the jar with the SCOBY). The rest can move into the second fermentation!
Second Fermentation
- Flavor: Add your desired flavors to each bottle, then funnel kombucha into bottles, leaving about 1 inch at the top. Seal each shut.
- Ferment: Let ferment somewhere dark and room temperature for 3 to 10 days.This process will go faster if it is warm in your house. Carefully open bottles to prevent volcanoes. You can do this over a bowl with a baggie over the top just in case!
- Serve: If desired, strain out flavorings before serving. Place bottles in the fridge to slow the carbonation process and to chill before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!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)
About the gear
Above is a list of the supplies needed to make kombucha. These are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a commission if you make a purchase. I’ve only included products I know and trust, and have included multiple buying options for each. I personally use and love the products from Kombucha.com. For 10% off their online store, comment below and I’ll get our secret code to you!
Hi Sara, thank you for your instructions love the kombucha!! We really like plain kombucha so we have been bottling it after the first fermentation. But we are finding that it is getting vinegary when it has been in the fridge for a week. Any suggestions?
Hi Terry! I would bottle it a little sooner in the F1 stage, while it is a bit sweeter. You’re not adding any extra sugars, so the bacteria are eating the sugar present in the kombucha, turning it more into vinegar more quickly. Happy brewing!
I am SOOO glad I found you! I was gifted a SCOBY from a friend and have had her resting in the refrigerator for a few weeks. I want to get going! Since I have some of the liquid from my friends’ batch I don’t have to find the store bought stuff right?
Now I just hope She is OK from being refrigerated…thoughts?
Hi Terri! Yep, you can use the liquid that the SCOBY is in to get started. I generally don’t recommend refrigerating the SCOBY, but there’s no going back now! 😉 My guess is a few weeks in the fridge wouldn’t have hurt it too badly. Let me know if you run into any problems along the way!
Thanks for the speedy response Sarah! My water isn’t even boiling yet! The liquid was a bit vinegary that my SCOBY was resting in, so I guess she is still alive and was digesting any sugar left in the liquid. she is getting warmed up on the counter right now!
I’ll let you know in a few days how it all looks.
Hi Sarah, few things:
1. Your recipes are impeccable – have had so much success with them (the brew, the flavoring, and even the candy) – thanks so much for such great content!! 🙂
2. Scrolling through the Q&A’s, someone was asking about brewing with 100% green tea – I’ve done it, and it works wonderful! Flavor is a little different/lighter but I almost like it better than black.
3. I’m taking a break from brewing and have filled a mason jar with fresh sweetened black tea (as per instructed ratios) and have placed my scoby in there, closed tightly with a lid and put in the fridge. Should it be good like that now? And if so, for how long? Do I need to feed it again (with fresh tea) in a few weeks? And when I go back to brewing, I just use the tea it’s in as starter?
Thanks again!!
Hi Olessia! I’m so happy you’re liking the recipes! 😀 Glad to hear it works for you with green tea – I’ll be giving it a try soon!
I generally don’t recommend to store SCOBYs in the fridge if you can help it. You can let ti sit out at room temperature and just feed it every month or so (there’s a great article about it here).
Happy brewing!
Hi. It’s me again. Last time I thought my tea was not dark enough so I doubled it. My kombucha is very cloudy- almost opaque . Do you think that indicates that something is wrong? I still bottled it for a second ferment, but I am brewing my next batch. Please let me know your thoughts when you get a chance. Thank You
Hi Cesaera! This doesn’t sound like a problem. I would be sure to stick to the ratios I list here, as the kombucha ferments best at a specific ratio of sugar to tea to water. Did you taste it before bottling? That’s usually the best indicator!
I read at the top that you can make a chewy treat from the excess SCOBY? Can you please expand on this?
Thanks
Yep, you can make candy! Here’s my recipe for it. Would love to hear how it goes! 😀
these directions are so confusing I had to find another recipe
Sorry to hear it, Darolyn! If you let me know what’s confusing for you I can help clarify. 🙂
Hello, I bought a scoby online and made my tea; after 7 days a new small scoby developed; then I followed someone else’s recipe that used honey not sugar (with lemon and ginger) but just regular bottles with lids. Should I now add some sugar? I’ll try to get better closing bottles but my question is, what do I do now with the original scoby? It’s still sitting in a few inches of tea.
I want to keep making kombucha, so do I just do the same thing over again (hot water + sugar)? Would I throw out the bit of remaining liquid (original tea) before starting a new batch?
Sorry I am confused—thanks for your help!
Hi Ann! Are you talking about using honey in the first or the second fermentation? You should never use honey in the first (in other words, your main SCOBY should never come into contact with honey). Sorry if I’m misunderstanding.
As far as what to do with your SCOBY, you just use it to create your next batch! It becomes a cycle where you always have some kombucha brewing with that SCOBY. I created a diagram on my new kombucha website here that will hopefully help clarify a bit. Let me know if you still have questions after you check it out!
Hi Sarah, thank you for your awesome instructions. Awhile ago you had a post about making peppermint kombucha with peppermint candy. Can you repost it ? Tia
Hi Terri! Good memory 🙂 I made mention in this post of simply adding a piece of peppermint candy to your bottles. Thanks for the reminder though, I’ll nail down specifics and create a flavor with precise ingredients when my next batch is ready!
I have a few questions. I’m only on my second and third batch of kombucha but my mixture is very murky. I used too much tea I’m sure of it. I’m thinking that I should take my Scoby and brew new tea and add some plain store-bought organic raw kombucha instead of starter from my last batch. I figure if I do this for a couple of batches I should get back to ground zero And have good kombucha results. I’m not getting much gas in mine and it seems to take a long time to get Vinegary. what are your thoughts? I don’t Have easy access to a new SCOBYs and would like to rescue the ones I have.
You can definitely supplement it with some store bought kombucha to get the levels of bacteria and yeast to a good level! I’ve also done this when getting started with a brand new culture as a way of kick starting the fermentation.
In terms of fizziness, is your house pretty cold? This would keep it from getting fizzy. And are you adding any fruit/sugar in the second fermentation?
Happy brewing!