This DIY Kombucha is refreshing sparkling and better than you bought at the store



Why is it working

  • Filtering the Fruit-Herb Puree removes unwanted fibers and seeds for a clearer, smoother final drink.
  • Add fruit (plus a small amount of supplementary sugar) provides a lot of food for the yeast to convert it as CO2 for refreshing carbonated results for secondary fermentation.

One of the biggest pleasures of cooking your own kombucha is versatility: as long as you have a reliable, basic kombucha recipe, you can make virtually any flavor. This recipe is my Basic jasmine tea kombucha,* With a few fun changes during secondary fermentation (which Kombucha Adepts is called “F2”) to create a refreshing blackberry -mint flavor. Jasmine tea works well as a mild, floral flavor, with relatively little bitter or potted notes – clean canvas flavors and infusions.

* This recipe offers a comprehensive overview of the full Kombucha making process and it is worth reading if you do not know Kombucha Brewing yet.

Adding fruit or herbal infusions is a common practice when bottling Kombucha. While these ingredients primarily flavor beer, natural sugars in the fruit provide the yeast with extra fuel to produce more carbon dioxide -this key to the carbonated quality we associated with to Kombucha. Fresh herbal material, whether fruit, herb or vegetables, also serves as an added source of wild yeasts, which can help accelerate fermentation. You can add fresh fruits to pieces, or as a puree or juice during bottling.

In this recipe, I add the blackberry and mint puree to the second fermentation – strong but complementary flavors that result in refreshing, aromatic and deeply purple -red kombucha. Cleaning the mixture increases the surface of the infusion, which results in a more intense taste while requireing less fruits. I add a small amount of sugar to the puree, which ensures that the second fermentation has plenty of sucrose.

One of the common problems when using fruit puree is the amount of sediment and pulp in Kombucha, which is presented to the drink; Even seeds can get into the finished drink. Although the pulp and seeds do not adversely affect the quality of fermentation, the combucha is cloudy, fibrous and otherwise “pieces”, not clean and smooth. To relieve the paste in the recipe, I stretch the puree through a few layer cheese cloths before bottling.

Because there are so much added sugar and many potential wild yeast sources, the second fermentation occurs quickly in this recipe – only in two days when it is fermented at warmer temperatures (about 80 ℉). The resulting kombucha has large, foamy bubbles and has plenty of cakes with a faintly bitter blackberry flavor that plays nicely with the mint cooling aroma.

December 2022

This DIY Kombucha is refreshing sparkling and better than you bought at the store


Cooking method
(Keep on the screen awake)

For the first fermentation:

  • 12 cup (2880 ml) filtered or distilled watershared

  • 1 1/4 cup sugar (8 3/4 ounce; 248 g)

  • 1/4 cup (24 g) loose leaf jasmine tea

  • 2 cup (473 ml) jasmine or green kombucha starter tea (See the comment)

  • 1 Scoby (See the comment)

For the second fermentation:

  • 1 1/2 pound (680 g) fresh or melted frozen blackberry

  • 3 ounce (85 g) Fresh mint leaves

  • 2 tablespoon (25 g) sugar

  1. For the first fermentation: In a large 4 quarters or larger vessels, combine 4 cups (960 ml) water with the sugar and boil high heat, occasionally mixed to completely dissolve the sugar. Stir the heat, mix the tea leaves and allow the tea for about 15 minutes for approx. 150 ° F (65 ° C) approx. Stir in the remaining 8 cups (1920 ml) water and let it cool until the tea registers 85-90 ° F (30-32 ° C).

    Serious meal / Tim chin


  2. Set a fine mesh filter on a gallon glass jar that has been carried out through a dishwasher cycle or disinfected with a product like Star San. Filter the tea on it; Discard the tea leaves. Stir in the kombucha starter until well distributed. Carefully place on top of the scoby (after adding the scoby, you must have at least 2 inches in the vessel). Scoby can swim or sink to the bottom of the vessel; Both are normal.

    Serious meal / Tim chin


  3. Cover the dish with a two -layer coffee filter and secure it with a rubber band. Store in a dark area, 21-27 ° C), and let the fermentation until the combucha is sour and the small bubbles rise to the surface and the scoby is formed on the surface, approx. 7 days and up to 4 weeks (pH approx.

    Serious meal / Tim chin


  4. For secondary fermentation: Set a fine mesh filter to a medium bowl. Line filter with 3 layers of cheese cloth, leaving 6 inches overhang. It processes the blackberry, mint and sugar in a food processor, taking a break halfway to scrape the pages until the mixture is cleaned, approx. For 1 minute. Scratch the blackberry puree into the filter and let the juice go into the bowl. Collect the overhanging cheese, twist the closure, then press the puree to release as much juice as possible; About 1 1/2 cups (355 ml) of juice should be.

    Serious meal / Tim chin


  5. Wash thoroughly and dry five 16 ounces (1-point) screw scrap or flip-top glass bottles. Remove from Scoby -Ta Kombucha with clean hands and place on the plate. Then fill each bottle with a 1/4 cup (60 ml) blackberry juice with a funnel. Stir the Kombucha with a wooden spoon, making sure the sediment is scattered evenly and then filled with each bottle with Kombucha, making sure that each bottle remain 1-1 1/2 inch head space (about 2 cups extra kombucha that does not fit into 5 bottles). Store the bottles and store a 21-27 ° C (70 ° F) in a dark area until the drink reaches the desired carbonated level from 3 days to 2 weeks. Check one of the bottles to monitor carbonization regularly: it is ready when you see small bubbles rising to the top quite quickly, even when restricted; If you use screw caps, the cap will appear slightly when it reaches good carbonization; When using Flip-Top bottles, you may need to open a bottle to check the carbonization and to re-re-re-re-if you don't have enough sparkling. When the Kombucha has reached the desired carbonization level, move the bottles in the refrigerator and store for up to 8 weeks.

    Serious meal / Tim chin


  6. Continue the future items of Kombucha: Repeat the 1-5. Step with the rest of the Kombucha start, along with new items from the reserved Scoby and BlackBerry.

Special equipment

Large fine filtera gallon glass jar, funnel, large coffee filters, five 16 ounces (1-touch) screw scrap bottle or flip-top bottle; dishwasher or disinfectant such as Star San (for cleaning the ship); PH -meter or pH -strips

Note

Starting tea can be from an earlier item (preferred) or a combo in a glass shop. If possible, use unrealized jasmine or green tea kombucha. Use jasmine or green tea kombucha from an earlier item to achieve the best result.

The best source of Scoby is a friend or acquaintance who regularly cooks Kombucha. You can also buy them from a commercial point of view, but note that the scobys, which are selling dry or unusually in the starting fluid, tend to perform poorly, compared to freshly sold and packaged in the starting tea.

Put forward and storage

The finished bottled kombucha can be cooled for up to 8 weeks.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *