WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
Lots of purified water
3-4 black tea bags (I love Lipton Yellow Label Tea)
1 cup sugar
1 mother scoby (https://www.etsy.com/listing/252965006/kombucha-scoby-live-organic-healthy?)
1 cup of store-bought or homemade Kombucha from your previous batch
UTENSILS:
1 gallon glass jar
Spatula
A thermometer (optional)
A mesh cloth and rubber band
Funnel (optional)
6 spring top bottles (optional) (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40227983/)
DIRECTIONS:
1.) Before you start, make sure your utensils are clean and don’t contain any leftover soap. I actually don’t use soap to wash my utensils, but just rinse everything with hot water.
2.) In a small sauce pan bring 4 cups of water to a boil on the stove. Once boiling turn off the heat.
3.) Add 3-4 black tea bags into the just boiled water and allow the bags to steep for about 5 minutes.
4.) After 5 minutes remove the tea bags and add in 1 cup of sugar. Stir the sugar in the hot water until the sugar completely dissolves.
5.) Once the sugar dissolves pour the sugar tea into your clean 1 gallon glass jar.
6.) Into the same 1 gallon glass jar with the sugar tea, add in cold purified water until the jar is almost full but has about 2-3 inches of air in the top.
7.) Allow the liquid to cool to below 88 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer, just wait about 20 minutes or so to allow the tea to cool down.
8.) Once cooled down to about 88 degrees or less, use rinsed hands to add in your scoby and about 1 cup of store-bought or homemade kombucha from your previous batch.
9.) Give everything one gentle stir with a clean spoon or spatula.
10.) Cover the top of the jar with a mesh cloth so that the tea can breath but bugs can’t get in.
11.) Store the glass jar/kombucha in a dry, cool place away from direct sunlight.
12.) Allow the Kombucha to brew for about 6-7 days. After 6 days, use a clean spoon to give your kombucha a taste test to see if it has the right balance of sweetness and vinegar taste. If it’s too sweet, allow it to ferment another day or two. If it’s too vinegary…check it sooner next time or add in fruit juice when you bottle it up!
STEPS TO BOTTLE UP YOUR KOMBUCHA:
1.) If you like the taste of your kombucha after 6-7 days, it’s time to bottle it up. Remove the scoby with clean hands and reserve about 1 cup of kombucha for your next batch.
2.) Then pour the remaining Kombucha into clean, sealable bottles and seal well. I use a funnel for this step and usually get about 6 16-ounce bottles per batch.
3.) I usually but 1-2 bottles into my fridge to cool so I can drink them right away and the rest I keep in a cupboard and just add them to the fridge to chill when needed.
TO BREW THE SECOND BATCH:
Repeat from the beginning the above steps, useing your scoby and leftover kombucha to ferment your next batch.
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