Crafting your Homemade Kombucha: The must-try fermented tea beverage

Store bought kombucha is readily available in the organic section of supermarkets, boasting delightful flavor combinations. However, over time, they tend to lose a significant portion of their antioxidants, and some varieties contain fewer beneficial bacteria.

That’s why making your own kombucha tea at home is a rewarding venture, allowing you to customize it with your preferred flavors. To start, you’ll need to acquire a SCOBY from a specialized store.

How to Create Kombucha Tea at Home – Growing Your SCOBY

Additionally, as with any food preparation, maintaining high hygiene standards is crucial. Neglecting this can lead to the formation of harmful microorganisms, posing potential risks.

Choosing the Right Tea for Kombucha

Tea is rich in nutrients and compounds that nourish the kombucha culture, including nitrogen, caffeine, and theanine. Together with sugar, tea serves as the primary source of sustenance for the SCOBY. When brewing kombucha with herbal infusions, the SCOBY may eventually deteriorate due to a lack of essential nutrients, ultimately leading to its demise.

But remember, during fermentation, you’re nurturing a “living organism,” your SCOBY. Thus, ensuring an optimal environment for its growth is vital, and selecting organic teas for brewing is always recommended. Whether in bags or loose-leaf form, what matters is the quality of the product, such as Semper Tea’s organic teas.

Preparing Kombucha with organic Black Tea

Black tea is the most widely produced type of tea globally. Moreover, it provides excellent nutrition for the SCOBY, facilitating ideal fermentation conditions and pH level maintenance. English Breakfast and Darjeeling teas are great choices, resulting in an amber-colored kombucha with a robust, fruity flavor reminiscent of cider. However, it’s advisable to avoid black teas containing oils, such as Earl Grey, as they can harm the SCOBY.

Making Kombucha from organic Green Tea

Green tea does not undergo fermentation, so it ferments slightly faster than black tea. Furthermore, the end product has a lighter hue and a milder taste, akin to white wine or champagne.

Brewing Kombucha with organic Oolong Tea

If you prefer a milder-tasting tea compared to black tea, oolong is an excellent option. Oolong tea is crafted from partially fermented leaves, positioning it between black and green tea in terms of processing. Consequently, oolong tea produces an amber-colored kombucha with a slightly fruity and subtly herbal flavor—a truly unique taste experience.

Creating SCOBY with organic Rooibos

Every rule has its exceptions, and while Rooibos is technically considered an herbal tea, it’s still possible to brew a delightful kombucha with it. However, always remember that during fermentation, you’re fostering a “living entity,” your SCOBY. Therefore, ensure you provide it with the optimal growth conditions and consistently choose organic teas for your kombucha brewing.

Basic Kombucha Tea Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 organic Semper Tea tea bags
• 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
• 1.5 liters of filtered water
• Large glass container with a wide mouth
• SCOBY
• Starter culture, often a portion of kombucha tea from a previous batch where the SCOBY is typically stored
• A linen or cotton tea towel and a rubber band.

How to Prepare It:

Ensure thorough cleanliness of all equipment.

Bring water to a boil and remove from heat. Add tea bags and sugar to the container, letting them steep for about 15 minutes while occasionally stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove the organic Semper Tea tea bags and let the mixture cool to room temperature.

Now, exercise patience. Fermentation times vary based on room temperature, ranging from 7 to 14 days.

A shorter fermentation period results in a sweeter, more caffeinated tea, while a longer one yields a tangier, fizzier brew rich in antioxidants, enzymes, and probiotics.

The finished drink should exhibit a balance of sweetness and sourness. If you prefer a more pronounced tang, extend the fermentation slightly.

 

Don’t forget to reserve approximately 10-20% of the liquid for your next batch and SCOBY preservation, a practice similar to maintaining yogurt or sourdough starter.

You can consume the remaining liquid or experiment with flavorings at this stage. Add fruit or vegetable juices, root vegetables, infusions, and let your creativity run wild to craft the most unique and daring combinations.

Transfer the kombucha to an airtight-sealed bottle to develop natural carbonation (those bubbles!). Wait for an additional 3-4 days, and your homemade kombucha will be ready, effervescent, and utterly delightful.

Enjoy your homemade kombucha tea! Without a doubt, fermented products like kombucha, kefir, and sauerkraut have experienced a resurgence in recent years, driven by the growing recognition of the pivotal role of microbiota in health.