5 Easy steps to brewing your own fermented teas
I’ve watched, patiently, from the sidelines while various friends and family started brewing their own DIY Kombucha. Because I’ve wanted to try for some time, but, for whatever reason the project never started. After much gentle prodding, I took the leap and found the steps super easy:
- Purchase raw unflavored unfiltered Kombucha; the more floating things the better off you’ll be. The floaty things are baby scoby pieces.
- Clean a large glass jar, a gallon or larger, with a cloth dampened with distilled white vinegar; let air dry.
- Simmer 8 cups of water, then steep a mixture 10 tea bags for 5 to 15 minutes, depending on the brew of tea.
- Add 2 to 2.5 cups of sugar, stir until dissolved, cool mixture until room temperature.
- Add teas to jar, Pour the sweetened tea and the purchased Kombucha in the cleaned glass jar, cover with a cheese cloths and let set for a few weeks.
List of things you will need:
- Large glass jar with large opening
- Cheese cloth
- Rubber band
- 8 cups of filtered water, to clear chlorine, boil 20 minutes or let it stand for 24 hours
- 20 tea bags, for my first batch I used Red Rose black tea
- 2 cups of white sugar
- 1 or 2 bottles of raw unfiltered Kombucha with particle floaties.
- Patience
FAQ
What measure do I use for loose tea over commercially bagged tea?
- One tea bag equals one tablespoon of loose tea leaves
What water types is best?
- Non chlorinated
What type of teas works best?
- Black tea: bold and fruity, don’t use Earl Grey or teas with flavoring or oils, great for scoby starters
- Oolong tea: mild with slight fruit/grass undertones, a favorite with buch brewers
- Green tea: use in combination with black/oolong, lightens the batch
- White tea: use in combination with black/oolong, light flowery flavor
- Red, Yeba, Herbal tea: use in combination with at least 25% black/oolong, very nutty flavored.
What type of sugar works best?
- Organic Cane Juice Crystals: Best choice for brewing
- White Cane Sugar: Good choice for brewing
- Honey, Brown, raw, or whole cane sugars, Agave, Maple, coconut, palm sugars or syrups: Results may vary and be inconsistent; also these sugars could kill or be very harsh on your scoby.
- Stevia, xylitol, or Artificial Sweeteners: do not use, not recommended as they don’t have the chops to feed your scoby.
How do I prepare tap water?
- Remove Chlorine:
- Run tap water through a filter, like Brita.
- Leave water overnight to allow the chlorine to dissipate.
- Boil the water for 15 to 20 minutes.
The brewing of DIY Kombucha went well and we had multiple jars going. Unfortunately we needed to take a break from the project and hopefully will return brewing soon. The scoby has been parked in our refrigerator for a few weeks, it’s time to come out of retirement and get back to work.
