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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!
Hello again,
I just wanted to modify my last comment about not having any plain Kambucha. My whole post was full of spell suggestion errors and bad proof reading lol. Anyhow, I’m guessing you probably new I meant Covid-19 and not vivid-19 lol. And my question was regarding the first fermentation (if a starter is absolutely necessary or if it just speeds up the process). I don’t think I will get my hands on plain Kambucha again for awhile:(
Thx again and again hope all is well,
Shayne
Hi Shayne! So you can actually use the liquid that the SCOBY is growing in to start the first fermentation. I previously recommended against this, but have changed my stance after much research and testing! The apple cider smell is exactly what it should smell like, so it sounds like you’re on track. Happy brewing!
Is it OK to double the recipe and still use one SCOBY?
Thank you!
Great question! That should be fine 😀
Hi Sarah,
Quick question. How do you clean your bottles for the 2nd fermentation? Is a wash with hot water from the tap sufficient or do you need to boiling water to sterilize prior to pouring in the booch?
Thanks as always!
I usually pour boiling water into the bottles (carefully) then swish it around. I wrote a bit about it here if you’re interested!
This is the first time I am making Kombucha and I might be a little anal about this process.
My question is that I have purchased a scoby with 12 oz of stater tea, so I am ready for the next stage. I have a glass container that holds exactly 1 gallon. Can I limit the water that is needed before adding the scoby?
The other alternative is that I have a 2 gallon beverage dispenser but it has a metal spigot. I understand I should not use metal.
Thanks for your help.
Kathy
Hi Kathy! If it is stainless steel then it is okay to use the spigot. Otherwise, just reduce the liquid to 12 or 13 cups + the 2 cups of starter. That should just fit in the gallon container 🙂
Hi Sarah
I’ve just completed my 1st kombucha
Where to do I store my scoby and the 2 cups of tea I’m not ready to do another yet
Thank you
And thank you for a super easy recipe
Cheers
Sarah
Great question! I wrote about how to take short or long term breaks here for you to check out 😀
Hi Sarah,
Thank you so much for all this information! We used to buy kombucha every week.. several bottles actually and as our income has evaporated thanks to corona, I am going to try this out.
I have a question, we have flavoured kombucha available , is there a complete no no on using a flavoured starter? Even if we could get to the shops, there wouldn’t be the plain variety. We are in our 80s and getting supplies in rural Australia is really hard as we are in lock down as ‘the elderly at risk!’ It’s very odd after a lifetime of freedom and looking after others I can tell you!
Thank you again for all the information. It’s a scary process when mostly we avoid fungus on our food😁😁🦘🦘 I’m a good cook .. but I am worried about killing us quicker than withCorona!🤪
It’s an odd time indeed, but I’m glad you’re staying safely home! Flavored kombucha is generally recommended against because it contains juices that can prevent you from getting a good fermentation. I wrote an article here on where you can find unflavored kombucha.
But my recommendation for you would be to either order it online, or join a Facebook community of brewers in Australia. Usually in those Facebook groups people will send you starter for free as long as you pay for shipping! 😀
😅 And it’s actually really easy once you get going. No need to worry about fungus or mold if you keep things clean! Happy brewing!
Hi I am nine days into my first ever batch of Kombucha Tea, the recipe I used was
Kombucha Scoby with Starter
1 Litre of filtered water
80 grams of Organic cane sugar
3 Organic black tea bags
Everything appears to be going well, I want to start continuous brewing Kombucha as soon as possible my question is when this has fermented out in 2-4 weeks would I be able to use this to make an 8 litre batch of kombucha Tea for my continuous brewing?
Thanks
Brian
Yep you should be able to use that as a starter tea for your continuous brewing! If you started with a SCOBY already (rather than having to make one) then it should be nearly finished, 4 weeks would make for a pretty tart kombucha! Happy brewing 😀
Hello. Am I supposed to remove the tea bags before placing a cover on and letting it sit? Also I purchased my SCOBY so was unsure how much of it I was actually supposed to use. Is there a general rule for the size of Scoby we are supposed to use? Thank you.
Yep, remove the tea bags before you add the SCOBY and cover it with cloth. I like to let them steep for 30 to 60 minutes then remove.
And there isn’t a hard and fast rule to how big your SCOBY needs to be to ferment, but 1 SCOBY is usually large enough to make 1 or 2 batches at a time.
Hi there! I’ve read this recipe over and over again, along with several others. I keep getting confused at the point of scoby to first fermentation. So you said to throw away the liquid you grow your scoby in, but then you reference using kombucha starter in your first fermentation, either your starter or another store bought bottle. Are we using 2 cups of the liquid used to grow the scoby? This part is what continues to confuse me. I tried growing my scoby a couple weeks ago and had to throw away due to mold growing. I don’t think it was warm enough. Finding a warm spot in my house has been a challenge. 😩 Thank you!
Hi Athena! So I used to recommend to not use the liquid the SCOBY grew in, but I’ve since changed that recommendation. The liquid your SCOBY grows in makes a good starter kombucha, and can be used to start your first fermentation 🙂 Once you get going and start your second batch, you’ll just use some of your finished kombucha to start the next batch.
Sorry to hear about the mold! Here’s a quick article I wrote about where to set up your fermentation station.
Happy brewing!
Thank you so much ! Your recipe was very easy to follow. It has been almost 4 weeks and my scoby is looking pretty well ready . when doing the first fermentation, can I use the vinegary liquid that I used to make the original scoby, instead of using store bought kombucha again, or do you recommend against that ?
Hi Alex! You actually can use this liquid – it is strong and full of the bacteria and yeasts needed to kick off the first ferm. Happy brewing!