HOW TO MAKE KOMBUCHA

Kombucha is a fermented tea originating from China, around 200 B.C. It was drank for its stimulating, detoxifying and longevity-promoting effects. It then spread through Japan, Korea, Russia and eventually made its way to the West. As a fermented drink we know that it contains live microbes, or probiotics, which can be beneficial for our microbiome and gut health. Kombucha is now found in every health food shop and even a lot of supermarkets and petrol stations, though a lot of these are pasteurised, have unfavourable ingredients and very little live bacteria in them. Thankfully, Kombucha is really cheap and easy to make at home.

You will need:

Equipment

• One glass jar

• A breathable cover for the jar such as a ticht-weave dish towel or paper coffee filter

• A plastic or wood stirring utensil (never use metal in contact with a SCOBY!)

• A rubber band to secure the cover

Ingredients

• One kombucha SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast)

  • *You can purchase a SCOBY at some health food stores, online, or from a friend who is already brewing kombucha - see below re “baby” SCOBYs.

• Tea (organic if possible. Black is traditionally used, can also use oolong; or a mix of black with green, white or red tea)

• Sugar (plain white sugar or organic evaporated cane crystals) *this is fermented by the SCOBY and the end product has very little sugar left in it.

• Starter tea from a previous batch of kombucha, or distilled white vinegar

• Filtered water (preferably free of chlorine, chloramines, and fluoride)

It is important not to introduce competing bacteria to the brew. Wash and rinse hands well prior to working with the tea mixture or SCOBY. Thoroughly clean and rinse the container and utensils that will come in contact with the SCOBY. When in doubt, give everything an extra rinse. The brewing vessel can be cleaned with regular soap and hot water (rinse very well, soap residue can affect SCOBY) or with vinegar. Never use bleach.

The Basic Process

• Place hot water and sugar together in a jar. Mix until the sugar dissolves. The water should be hot enough to steep the tea but does not have to be boiling.

• Place the tea in the sugar water and allow the tea to steep. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. You can remove the tee bags after 10 minutes or leave them longer for a stronger tea (even overnight), but be sure to remove them before adding the SCOBY. If you are using loose tea, make sure no flakes remain in the brewing solution.

• Place the kombucha SCOBY and starter tea or vinegar in the jar of cooled sugared tea.

• Cover the jar tightly (keep the fruit flies out!) but allow the mixture to breathe. A clean tea towel, muslin cloth, or paper coffee filter along with a thick rubber band work best for this. Do not use an airtight lid!

Fermenting the Kombucha

An ideal culturing spot should be relatively warm but not excessively so (20° to 27° is ideal), out of direct sunlight, somewhere with reasonably good airflow (access to benefits the fermentation process), away from other cultured foods such as kefir, sauerkraut etc (to avoid cross-contamination by stray yeasts and bacteria). Allow the kombucha to ferment undisturbed.

Fermentation periods are determined primarily by three factors:

• Ambient temperature - Too cold and the process slows down, too hot and fermentation proceeds too quickly resulting in a less desirable flavour.

• Access to oxygen - Culturing in a container with a breathable cover will speed the fermentation process, while using a solid lid will slow it down and may harm the SCOBY

• Liquid surface area - Kombucha brewed in a bowl with a 9-inch diameter diameter opening opening will brew significantly faster than kombucha brewed in a jar with a 3-inch diameter opening.

Faster fermentation isn't necessarily better. Kombucha can develop a strong vinegar taste in a relatively short period of time if the temperature is too warm or the liquid surface area is too large. Slow and steady fermentation results in a more desirable taste profile.

Your brew can officially be considered kombucha after it has been fermenting for 5 to 7 days. For the first few batches, use a straw to start tasting the kombucha every other day or so starting on day 7. This allows you to determine at what point to halt the fermentation process based on your own personal taste preferences. Some people like their kombucha best after it has been fermenting only a week, others prefer 2, 3, or even 4 weeks or more of fermentation. The longer the brew ferments, the less sugar will remain, so if sugar consumption is a concern, we recommend brewing for 3 to 4 weeks prior to consumption.

Please note: at some point your SCOBY will run out of sugar and tea to consume and will start to suffer nutritionally. For that reason, we do not recommend over-brewing your kombucha. Assuming ideal conditions, over-brewing generally starts to occur sometime between 4 and 6 weeks.

It is common to see signs of fermentation within a few days, including:

• Formation of a new "baby" SCOBY - Begins as a layer of film developing on the surface of the liquid. Generally the layer will start off clear (and is often missed) but over the period of a few days or a week will become hazy and then less and less translucent, more white, and slowly thicker until it resembles the SCOBY you used to culture the batch. You can gift this to a friend to start making their own kombucha!

• An increasingly acidic (vinegar-like) flavour - As the kombucha ferments, the SCOBY will consume the sugar and tea and produce acids, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and carbon dioxide, and the brew will taste less sweet and increasingly acidic.

The best signs your kombucha is ready include that at least 7 days have passed (assuming ideal fermenting conditions), that it has become more acidic than the mixture you originally began with, and that the taste is one that you find pleasing.

Clinical notes:

• If you have mould in your home, I would hold off on brewing kombucha until the mould has been remedied to prevent contaminating your kombucha with mould spores and mycotoxins.

• If you have any signs of histamine intolerance such as rashes, eczema, hives, headaches, migraine, PMS/PMDD - this might not be for you initially, as it is a fermented food, which can increase levels of histamine in the body. Once you have resolved the underlying drivers, most people can tolerated fermented foods. Speak to your health practitioner or naturopath to confirm.

• If you have bacterial overgrowth such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or small-intestinal-bacterial-overgrowth (SIBO), this might not be for you in the initial stages of treatment, and is something you would introduce in the second or third stage of treatment. Again, speak with your health practitioner or naturopath to confirm.

We are an online and global clinic specialising in the natural management of women’s health, digestive disorders and fertility. For individualised support with our expert practitioners, you can book a 1:1 appointment here