- 3 litres water – filtered or rain water
- 1 cup sugar – organic raw or brown sugar
- 4 tea bags of organic black tea (or 3 bags of green tea and myrtle and 1 bag black tea)
- ½ cup Kombucha from a previous culture
- 1 Kombucha mushroom (Scoby)
Bring water to the boil in large pot. Add sugar and simmer until dissolved. Remove from heat, add the tea bags and allow the tea to steep until water has completely cooled. Remove tea bags. Pour cooled liquid into a 4 litre glass bowl/jar and add ½ cup Kombucha from a previous batch. Place the Scoby on top of the liquid. cover with a cloth and secure with a rubber band. Transfer to a warm, dark place, away from contaminants and insects.
In about 5 to 10 days the Kombucha will be ready, depending on the temperature. It should have a sour but pleasant taste, with no taste of tea remaining (not sweet and if vinegary you’ve left it too long). Remove Scoby and its new baby and 1 cup of brew for the next brew and add fruit for second ferment* or transfer to glass bottles securing lid tightly for unflavoured Kombucha.
*To second ferment: After removing the 2 Scoby’s and cup of brew, add fruit of choice to a 3-4 litre jar and seal. Allow to brew for 2 days at room temperature – this is when it gets fizzy. Strain off fruit and bottle into glass bottles and seal well. Store in a cool place.
(Note: Do not wash Kombucha bowls or bottles in the dishwasher.)
The sugar in Kombucha feeds the Scoby and little is left at the end of the fermenting process.