How to Make Kombucha "Scoby" at Home

Post by: Rigel Smith in DIY, Recipes



Kombucha has been a popular “elixir of health” in the United States since the 1990’s, but has been an ancient form of Chinese medicine since 200 b.c.e. Although Kombucha doesn’t have restorative properties you would expect to find in the “Fountain of Youth”, there are many beneficial health benefits to incorporating kombucha into a healthy lifestyle.

A few of the benefits that your body can obtain through a regular intake of kombucha include: detoxification, restoration of important gut bacteria, boosting your immune system, maintaining good cholesterol levels, increasing oxygen in the blood, and many more.

Since natural and holistic health is a big part of my life, I’ve been an avid kombucha drinker, and I even learned how to make my own! In this post, I wanted to give you the starting tips on how to start fermenting your own kombucha at home so that you can reap all of its health benefits for a fraction of the cost of buying it at the hearth food store.

 If you’re interested in discovering how to harness all of kombuchas’ benefits in the comfort of your own home, keep reading!

I’ve decided to separate this process into two blog posts so that I don’t give you too much information at once. So to start out, I decided to give you my at-home recipe on how to make a “scoby”.

"Scoby" is an acronym for, "symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast." It is the gelatinous disk that forms and creates your future kombucha. It is this good bacteria and yeast that will ferment into your kombucha drink. Without the “scoby” your tea won’t ferment, and will just turn rotten.

The first thing you need when brewing your own kombucha is a "scoby." You can buy "scoby" online, get one from a friend who is already brewing their own kombucha, or make your own. 

Let me bring you into my kitchen where my daughter and I will teach you how simple it is to make your own "scoby!"


Below, I have laid out step-by-step instructions on how to make your own “scoby” so you can get started! It will take a few weeks for your "scoby" to form so you will want to get started on this process right away.

Step 1: The Basic Ingredients

First, you need a bottle of raw kombucha. You will be using 1 cup.

It doesn’t matter what brand you choose to use, just make sure that it is raw and that it has some of the “chunky” yeast/bacteria at the bottom of the bottle. You’ll use them to create your own “scoby”.

Next, you will need black tea.

It doesn’t matter what brand you use for this either, just choose one that you like! You will need about a tablespoon of loose leaf black tea (or four tea bags).

Next, you’ll need a half a cup of raw cane sugar.

You won’t want to be using a sugar substitute or reduce the amount because the sugar is used to raise the bacteria/yeast needed to ferment the tea into kombucha.

You will also need six to seven cups of hot water.

And lastly, a 2 quart jar to hold it all.



Step 2: Put Together the Ingredients

Put the half cup of sugar into your mason jar, and pour in six to seven cup of hot water.

Then stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.

After the sugar has dissolved, add in the tablespoon of black tea to the jar and let steep for 20 minutes of more. Allow tea to come to room temperature and then strain to remove the tea leaves before starting the culture.

Step 3: Add the Starter Culture

Make sure that the tea is at room temperature before you add in your starter culture to make ensure that you don’t kill the important bacteria.
Add one cup of your raw kombucha to the jar (make sure that it is the bottom half of the bottle in order to get the “scoby” at the bottom of the bottle).

Step 4: Store and Ferment

Now the last step to creating your own “scoby” is to store the jar in a dark place at room temperature.

Make sure to cover your jar with a paper towel, but not the lid of the jar, so that bugs and dust can’t get into it but the “scoby” still have the oxygen it needs to ferment.

The fermenting process usually takes 2-4 weeks. This is what the fermentation process looks like.

The formation of "scoby" takes 2-4 weeks


That’s how you make a “scoby”! Pretty easy right? Here's what it looks like when you have a baby "scoby" ready to make your first batch of kombucha!

4 week old "scoby" ready to be used to brew kombucha

In the next post, I’ll tell you how to use your “scoby” to create your first batch of homemade kombucha!

Peace, love, & oils,

Rigel 


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20 Feb 2018