Kombucha is a popular, yet somewhat mysterious beverage, that is showing up on the shelves of most grocery stores. You may have already tried it and decided that you like kombucha, or maybe you haven’t tried it yet because you are unsure of it what it is, and the flavors don’t appeal to you. Well, kombucha can be quite easily made at home, and you can easily add your own loose leaf tea to customize the flavor of your kombucha. So if you are a big fan of kombucha or you haven’t tried it yet, making it yourself can be a great, inexpensive way for you to enjoy kombucha.
There are so many flavor combinations of kombucha that you can make yourself, there really is something for everyone.
If you already drink kombucha then you may already be aware of its health benefits, but if you haven’t tried it before, I encourage you to try and make it for yourself.
Kombucha is healthy because it is a fermented beverage with many probiotics in it. Probiotics help maintain a healthy gut, and gut health has become a major concern for many people because it can be easily neglected. Having a healthy gut can help prevent and relieve many health issues. Drinking kombucha is a tasty and easy way to help incorporate healthy probiotics into your diet for gut health. And if you are still on the fence about making your own kombucha, keep in mind that making your own kombucha can allow you to add your own flavors to it.
So if you like to eat ginger and lemon for their powerful antioxidants, or if you like to drink loose tea for its energy, you can easily add these ingredients to your kombucha to make the healthiest beverage for you without buying expensive, store-bought kombucha and supplements.
Now that I have hopefully convinced you to make kombucha, here’s how.
You will need a medium-sized jar with a tightly woven cloth to serve as the lid, raw unfiltered kombucha, sweetener of your choice(no artificial sweeteners!), your own flavorings, and clean kitchen utensils. The flavorings are up to you, but it is a good idea to use an organic, loose tea for your kombucha. Green tea is a good first-time choice, you can add honey and ginger to it to create a super healthy beverage.
First Steps-you may have noticed in the above list of things that you need, you need unpasteurized kombucha. Don’t worry, if you follow the steps to make kombucha correctly, you won’t have to buy it the kombucha again. And don’t forget! Please keep your utensils clean because we are fermenting a beverage. We don’t want bad bacteria to get into our homemade kombucha. Now for the first step, you boil water and take it off the heat. You then will add your loose tea and sweetener to the hot water. Once the tea has cooled down, filter out the tea leaves, and then add the unpasteurized kombucha. Put in a jar and cover with the cloth lid. Keep the kombucha jar in a place away from direct sunlight. In a few weeks, you will notice a blobby mass forming in the jar, this is called a SCOBY. A SCOBY forming is perfectly natural, this is where all the good bacteria comes from!
Second Steps-now that you have your starter tea with your SCOBY, you can take the tea and SCOBY and make as many batches of tea as you want. Just add some of the starter tea and the SCOBY to another tea base. Never touch the SCOBY with dirty hands, though. Doing so can add bad bacteria to the SCOBY. The SCOBY can be kept in a clean container when not in use.
Last Steps-When the tea has fermented, you can take out the SCOBY and begin to bottle it. During this last step, more flavorings, such as ginger, can be added during this step. Once the kombucha has been bottled, it can be stored at room temperature for a few days to build carbonation, put it in the refrigerator once it is bubbly, and enjoy!
All it takes to make kombucha is some time and patience. Once you get started, it is super easy to keep making more batches of kombucha that can have almost any flavor you want. Black loose tea can be used if you don’t like green tea, and fruit juices can be added during the bottling step to make your kombucha even more nutritious. So, I hope I have persuaded you to research and make kombucha more. Kombucha is for everyone, and I hope you find a flavor that you like.