Beginners Guide To Fermentation: Kombucha Making

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Welcome to the first ferment of this series! we are starting off strong with not only one of the simplest fermentations for beginners but one of the most rewarding. In this video you will learn how to source the Scobey and brew the liquid that it goes in. Part two will teach you the second fermentation stage which consist of bottling and flavoring. For all the Beginners out there... Fermenting project will change your life forever!

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INSTRUCTIONS for Gallon of Kombucha (My Updated Favorite Recipe)

INGREDIENTS:
1 Scoby
16 cups filtered water
12 grams black tea (12 tea bags)
1 cups white sugar
1 cup natural kombucha

-In your tea maker boil 8 cups of water.
-When it begins to boil add your tea and let it sit off the boil for about 20 minutes.
-Once your tea is brewed , transfer strained tea into a large glass container.
-Add your sugar to the tea and stir until dissolved
-Add in the rest of your water and let the temp settle to below 90 degrees
-Add Scoby to your tea along with 1 cup of Kombucha or Starter Liquid
Cover your container with clear kitchen towel and secure with a rubber-band.
Place your container somewhere dark with a temperature of 75-85 degrees Fahrenheit if possible. I would suggest using a heat pad under the the container to get this temperature because the end results will be optimal!
-Let it ferment for 7-10 days. Liquid should be a light golden brown color after it ferments
-You can now enjoy a glass of your kombucha but a second fermentation is recommended for a better flavor. Check out part 2 for bottling and flavoring ☺

[ifalm]

My uncle used to make kombucha and he was really good at it. He usually sell and give them to his neighbours (he lived in a more elderly community). He passed away several months ago. I remember whenever we visit him, there's always a room full of kombucha bottles and jars being fermentated.This really eminded me of him and i miss him.

[gewgulkansuhckitt]

I think one of the most common Kombucha mistakes is getting the amount of sugar wrong. If you use too little, you end up with an insipid, bland drink that has no bite. It tastes like tea that has gotten a little too old. If you use too much sugar, it becomes unbearably sour while still being cloyingly sweet. Get the sugar right and by the time it gets a little bit sour, the sweetness is very mild and it's quite pleasant to drink. I use 1 cup of sugar per gallon or slightly more. 2 cups per gallon is too much sugar at least for my mix. If the taste of your scoby isn't right, it almost always means you need to tweak your sugar amounts.

Vinegar is bad for your tooth enamel. If you use kombucha, even mild kombucha, or if you used vinegar, rinse your mouth out well with water afterwards.

You may read that the bacteria and yeast eat the caffeine. Maybe they eat some of it, but by no means all of it. I don't drink it much past noon or it keeps me awake at night.

Temperature has a HUGE effect on how fast your kombucha gets ready. In a hot environment (around 90 F) I've had a batch of kombucha go from fresh to too sour to drink in just three days. At a cooler temperature (maybe 60 F), I've had kombucha take well over a week to achieve peak flavor.

When you get your kombucha just right, you really must refrigerate it. You're not going to drink it all before it becomes too sour if you don't refrigerate. A single day past its prime can really spoil the flavor.

As seen in the video, kombucha stored in bottles can build pressure. Make sure whatever kind of closure you use can release that pressure before it builds enough to shatter the bottle.

Avoid metal or long term exposure to plastic. Vinegar in the kombucha can dissolve trace amounts of metal VERY QUICKLY. This dissolved metal can be an extremely powerful antibiotic, killing yeast and bacteria. Silver is particularly strong in this respect. Simply stirring a mature kombucha with a silver spoon can bring about the scoby apocalypse. Plastic doesn't hurt if you just use it briefly, but if you mature your kombucha in a plastic container, kombucha is very good at leaching chemicals out of the plastic over time.

Let's say your kombucha gets a little moldy. I don't know about the safety aspects of mold, but often you can just peel off the moldy layer and the acidic conditions in the kombucha will be too harsh for the mold to make a comeback. Usually this mold problem happens when the scoby floats so well that the top is outside of the acidic fluid in the open air. One you peel off that layer and let the scoby immerse completely, the mold problem is gone.

Keep a back-up scoby, especially if you started your scoby with a hard to replace non-commercial scoby. You don't have to babysit your backup. You can let it go way past it's prime. From time to time, pour off some of the back-up and add some sweet tea. You may occasionally add fruit juice instead, but the kombucha needs those tannins in the black tea. If you only use fruit juice, some of your beneficial bacteria may die off. It will still look like your original kombucha and it may taste the same, but it won't be as good for you. The ultimate back-up is getting friends, neighbors, and relatives into it.

When you empty your kombucha brewing container into bottles, I recommend leaving about an inch of fluid in the container with the scoby to keep it alive and well until you brew your next batch.

Every time I find a new kombucha brand in a store, one that does NOT just list a few very specific bacteria, but says something like, "kombucha culture" under ingredients, I buy some, take it home, and add a little to my kombucha. If I lived in an area where people brew their own, I might do the same with friends and neighbor's cultures. Sadly I am in the kombucha boondocks.

[RogueAstro]

A few years ago I started making kombucha in a gallon jar. By the end of the summer I was making 10 gallons a week which was roughly 60 bottles. I just gave it to friends and family and drank a lot myself. Healthiest I've ever been in my life! Even people who said they didn't like kombucha loved mine and would ask me for bottles.

I've been wanting to get back into it and your video reminded me why I loved it so much! I probably won't be making it on that scale again but it was one of the few hobbies that I was actually extremely good at and I can't wait to get back into it.

[WarzolJR]

Just another small tip: I'd suggest mixing the sugar in with the brewed tea before mixing it with the additional 8 cups of water to cool it, sugar dissolves much better in warm liquids. Then pour the brewed tea and sugar both into the 8 additional cups of water to cool it down. You'll notice the sugar dissolves much quicker this way. Not really super important, but just a small thing to get used to doing to save a few seconds in every dish you dissolve sugar into ;)

[lunava]

Wow I know this vid is old but My firts batch was finally fermented today and OH BOY! I have been converted to Kombucha!! It is simply delicious!
I just wanted to increase fermented food in my diet (so far i've made my own kefir, sauerkraut, and kvass) but this really feels like a treat ❤️

[dopeynhappy]

"There's living stuff in there, give it a prayer, " I love this mindset!

[hakunamatata]

I can confirm that this works well with green tea from the dollar tree (100 1g tea bags for $1). Best one has been ginger and blueberry. Second has been ginger. Other ones were good- raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, unflavored.

[edwardpritchard]

Metrics
1 Scoby
4 Litres Filtered water
16 Tea Bags
400g white sugar
250g natural kombucha
Temperature Between: 20'C - 30'C

[jacobdarling]

He’s right about don’t be clingy. I left mine for like 3 months this winter in a good dark spot and forgot about it. When I remembered about it and checked it was honestly doing great.

[perspectivesynergy]

WARNING NEVER USE JUST ANY JARS TO STORE KOMBUCHA or they may BLOW UP & cause serious injury!!!! You need to use glass made for pressure building drinks, beers bottles are great for that !!! Happy Brewing !!!!

[rikkitubbs]

I was able to grow my own SCOBY by taking a bottle of store bought unpasteurized raw kombucha (GT brand - Trilogy because I could not find unflavored). I poured it into a jar, covered with breathable cloth and kept it at 85 degrees. In 8 days I had a nice SCOBY. I am fermenting my first batch of kombucha now and the first SCOBY has attached to the new layer on top of the new kombucha. This has been a really fun experiment.

[christines.]

You’re totally right about kombucha being a great healthy replacement for soda cravings. I am intrigued to try this recipe.

[Delatorre]

Who else laughed when he said “definitely don’t fuck with paper towels!” I didnt expect that

[duallove]

I love how you take your time in explaining everything and giving all the tips clearly and not speedy which is easier to observe and remember and don't have to pause and rewind several times to grasp on what you're saying.

Great series. Waiting for the bread yeast because it never worked with me and I'm stuck on dry yeast 😖

[daanpost]

For the problem with the cloth you can use a water lock, for example like the waterlock on sauerkraut vessels. It is also a failsafe method against mold or bad bacteria as long as you cleaned the vessel properly

[lykri]

I know my kombucha is ready when I see bubbles around the scoby. My first ferment is very fizzy. The key to getting it fizzy is simple. When it is time to make a new batch and you remove the scoby, gently stir your booch. It will stir up the yeasts and microbes that are settled on the bottom of the vessel. Then pour out your starter amount. If you do this each time, you will have batch after batch of fizzy booch.

[inwishin]

Great clear and simple video! Love, love, love this video!

In addition, if you want to make your own SCOBY: buy some plain, organic Kombucha and pour it into a large glass. Remember to rinse your glass well after washing it. Soap is the enemy. Let it ferment in a cupboard at room temp for 2 - 3 weeks and your SCOBY will be formed - easy as pie!

[judyarthur]

Thanks for your videos! I always enjoy them. I am not sure if anyone will see this. But you may get a good laugh. a number of years ago, 6 or so, I tried my hand at making Kombucha. I never aquired a taste for it. Had made several batches and basically gave it to a couple of my friends that liked it. Well we have a root celler, down there earlier this week straightening things up. Low and behold in a far corner of the shelfing was a couple of bottles of Kombucha. I looked at them and could not see any mold in them. So decided to open one of the bottles. It has the flip top. Well I flipped it . Did have it pointing aweay from me. If it would of been corked I could of put someones eye out I am sure, Anyway at least half the bottle fizzed out. So going to put the other bottle back and hopefully I will remember next spring to take it out and see if my grand daughter will film me opening it! I laughed so hard.

[Kusunoky]

Lol and i thought i was the only one to lose my head of the "kambucha" pronunciation lol

[aeew]

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You're welcome