How to Make Easy Homemade Kombucha

Kombucha is a popular healthy drink right now…. And for good reason! But did you know how easy homemade kombucha actually is?

You can definitely go grab a bottle of kombucha pretty much any where. It is even at most grocery stores now. However, homemade kombucha is not complicated and the best part is you don’t have to add all the extra sweeteners unless you choose to. 

Let’s first talk about why we should be drinking kombucha in the first place. 

Kombucha is a super healthy probiotic drink that is a great way to wean yourself or your family off the sugary unhealthy drinks like soda and highly sugared juices. If you are needing something else to drink other then water, this is the perfect solution. 

The health benefits of drinking kombucha are incredible.

It contains antioxidants which can reduce inflammation and boost your immune system. It also is a way to detox your liver and other organs. 

Kombucha contains glucaric acid, which performs a natural detoxification of the liver. If you know me, keeping your liver in top notch shape is a huge deal to me. Once I started focusing on liver health my acne problems went away. Another story for another day.

Along with drinking kombucha, I also make sure to get beef liver into our diet at least twice a week sometimes more. You can simply stir fry up some beef liver but I get sick of that pretty quickly. The best way to get beef liver into your diet consistently is by dehydrating it! Make sure to check out how to dehydrate beef liver at home so you can start getting it into your diet too.

Improving gut health.

One of the main reasons we love to get kombucha into our body is for the probiotic benefits of this fermented tea. Kombucha helps to support the digestive system and some even claim that is aids in healing leaky gut, stomach ulcers, and heart burn.

Any time you are looking to improve your gut and digestive system, getting fermented foods into your diet is recommended.

That is because of the healthy beneficial bacteria that grows during the fermentation process that helps to fight off the growth of candida and other bad bacterias. If you don’t like sauerkraut, fermented veggies, or kefir (although I highly recommend all of these) drinking kombucha is a good place to start!

To get started all you need is a SCOBY and some kombucha starter.

What is a SCOBY?

Disclaimer: This posts contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I may earn a small commission on qualified purchases at no additional cost to you. 

You can buy store-bought kombucha or I would highly recommend getting a SCOBY and making it from home! It is so simple to make and just like everything else, you are in complete control of the ingredients when you make it right in your own kitchen.

Plus, you can experiment with all kinds of flavors to get the one your family loves! My family loves to drink kombucha plain but there are so many variations you can do to make some delicious flavors and to change it up.

The first thing you need to get your hands on is a kombucha SCOBY. This is the live culture that you need to get your kombucha brewed. Think of it as the “mother” in raw apple cider vinegar or your starter culture in cheese.

SCOBY stands for symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. 

This means that it is a living thing and can be “killed” just like a plant or anything else. Although, I have to say it is really hard to kill a Scoby. It can be done (I’ve done it) but it’s not as finicky as you might think. 

Since your Scoby is a living thing you need to care for it. That means you need to feed it every week to keep it going. But just like other fermented foods there is a way to slow it down and to take a break when you need to. 

Simply placing your Scoby in the fridge with a little bit of kombucha starter will make it go to sleep and not need to be fed until you are ready again. Rest assured my Scoby has sat in my fridge for months and it even traveled cross country with us when we moved. 

So trust me, it is really hard to kill. 

As your SCOBY grows you will want to pull off the layers and make a little Scoby hotel in your fridge to give away to friends and family or start more batches of your own. To keep a healthy scoby, you will not want to skip the step of pulling off the layers as it grows.

You can get a SCOBY and some starter liquid from a fellow homesteading friend fermenting kombucha on their counter as well or online. I have bought kombucha SCOBY with starter from Amazon  and also on Azure standard. Both have been great in getting me easy homemade kombucha

Make sure to keep your fermented foods separate.

Are you even a homesteading kitchen without having different jars and containers of fermented foods growing and thriving on your counter?

It is true, I never thought I would have active live cultures making a home in my kitchen but low and behold I have become that homesteader… and I’m not sad about it!

However there are a few things to know. Fermenting cultures can cross contaminate when they are too close together. 

So if you are like me and have gluten free sourdough starter, regular sourdough starters, kombuchas, and milk kefir on your counter daily it would be wise to keep them apart if possible. If they cross contaminate too much it can eventually damage your culture. 

Nobody wants to buy a new scoby or start a new sourdough starter, when it can be avoided!

What equipment do I need?

The best part about this whole process is there really is no extra equipment needed. Good jars are the only thing you need.

I like to use these 1 gallon anchor hocking jar to brew my kombucha tea. This has a wide top so it is easy to move the scoby in and out when brewing a new batch. When you first get your scoby it will be small but as you feed it, it will grow and get rather large. Think of a very large mushroom. 

You will also need a piece of cloth, fabric, or kitchen towel and a rubber band. I don’t use the lid that comes with the anchor hocking jar, I cover it with a piece of fabric and a rubber band. Although I do have plans to sew a little fabric cap with elastic that fits all my fermenting jars. But that hasn’t happened yet!

I also use a left over 1 gallon honey jar to brew my sweet tea to feed it. I love to save jars no matter the size, so they are the perfect container to brew a batch of sweet tea in. Knowing that it is a 1-gallon jar, makes it just the right amount to pour over my scoby. That means no measuring water for me!

However, any large jar will do!

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup organic sugar
• 6 tea bags organic black tea
• 1 gallon water (some boiling to dissolve sugar)
• SCOBY with starter kombucha

How to make easy homemade kombucha:

1. Fill a kettle with water and bring it to a boil.
2. Put 1 cup of cane sugar in a gallon size jar and pour the boiling water over it. It doesn’t need to fill the whole jar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
3. Place the 6 tea bags into the jar and let the tea brew for 15 minutes.
4. After 15 minutes remove the tea bags from the jar and fill the gallon jar the remainder of the way with room temperature water.
5. The next step is to make sure your sweet tea is back to body temperature before pouring it into a gallon Anchor Hocking jar (or any wide mouthed gallon jar) with your SCOBY and starter. Every scoby should come with a little starter liquid for your first batch of kombucha. After that you will use some of your homemade kombucha with the scoby to start new batches. 
6. Cover with a cloth and rubber band and let it ferment on the counter for 7-10 days.
7. After 7-10 days, make sure you have clean hands and remove the SCOBY with 2 ladles of kombucha to start a new batch. Pour the rest of the plain kombucha in a container to keep in the fridge to drink or do a second fermentation process with fruit juice or just fruit.

How to do a second ferment.

1. To do a second ferment, add juice or fruit to your kombucha in half gallon or gallon jars. Place a lid and ring on your jar so it is airtight and let sit on your counter for 2 more days. You may have to “burp” your jar, by crack the lid and then screwing it back down, every once in a while if the gases get too built up. Strain any fruit or particles and place in fridge to chill. 

Remember that the longer it sits the more it ferments and breaks down those sugars. It can turn to a vinegar taste if it sits for too long.

How to make it fizzy.

To get a fizzy drink you want to make sure you are storing your kombucha in an airtight container after it is ready. I like to store mine in a half gallon mason jar with a lid and ring on it. These glass bottles with flip tops would also be a great way to store kombucha and keep it fizzy. 

One thing that I get asked a lot is, if it’s so healthy why is there so much sugar in it. You have to remember that the sweetened tea is to feed the scoby. During the fermentation process sugars are being broken down by enzymes. So you are not actually drinking all that sugar.

Easy homemade kombucha is the perfect Summertime drink.

We tend to drink kombucha the most during the summer time. It is so refreshing to go and grab a cold glass of flavored kombucha after being outside in the hot sun. 

But one thing that comes along with summer and kombucha is the fruit flies. They love your kombucha and scoby as much as you do! That is why it is highly important to keep it covered at all times so they don’t get on it. 

When I am making a new batch and have pulled out my scoby, I make sure to keep it covered while my tea is brewing. Just for protection.

This basic kombucha recipe is the perfect summer drink that your family will enjoy time and time again. As soon as the jars in the fridge aren’t getting drank up as fast, I know it is time to put my scoby in the fridge for a break.

Going in waves of making kombucha keeps it fun and exciting and an easy way for your family not to get tired of it! When they start asking for kombucha again it is time to pull it out and brew up some yummy delicious kombucha!

So tell me, have you tried making easy homemade kombucha at home? What are some of your favorite kombucha flavors so I can try them too!

Some of our favorite flavors to do a second ferment with:

• Apple Cider Kombucha- 1 apple sliced, 3 cinnamon sticks, a few cloves, 1 TBSP honey
• Grape Kombucha- 1/4 cup grape juice per 1/2 gallon of kombucha
• Strawberry Lemonade Kombucha- For a 1/2 gallon of kombucha use 1/2 cup pureed strawberries, 4 TBSP honey, 1 lemon sliced

Experiment from here with all kinds of flavors! The possibilities are endless!