Kombucha Fermentation #1 Basics

Right now, I'm playing very by the book. (Also, I may or may not be catching up on "The People v. OJ Simpson" while I type this. My apologies for breaking into a discussion on Marsha Clark's hair.)

Over Christmas, Santa Clause brought me an excellent starter kit from The Kombucha Shop which included a pre-set amount of tea, sugar, pH strips, a container, a thermometer, cheese cloth, and of course, my lovely scoby Beatrice. (I also got to explain what kombucha is to my boyfriend's family which led to a lot of confusion.)

The kit included very detailed instructions and for the most part, I have continued to use them faithfully. If you're looking for a very easy way to get a scoby and to get started quickly, I recommend The Kombucha Shop!

Once your scoby has found its home with you... the fun begins!

Start by boiling 4 cups of water. Once it's boiling, add 6 - 8 tea bags and let steep for 5 - 6 minutes. I simply use Nestle tea bags but you can also use loose tea. The Kombucha Shop recommends 3 to 4 TBSP of loose tea if you go that route. Note: Tea must be caffeinated or you'll end with a very sad kombucha story. I haven't used filtered water for this stage, but certainly you could.

After the tea has finished steeping, remove the tea bags/tea bundle and stir in 1 cup of sugar until dissolved completely. I use plain Dominos granulated sugar and a wooden spoon. It may not sound exciting but my wooden spoon is from a trip to Argentina and swirling it around with all of that sugar...now that's a little piece of heaven right there.

Take your sugar & tea mixture and pour into the glass container of your choosing. I do love my Kombucha Shop jar but you can use any large glass container with a wide mouth. You need to be able get the scoby in and out.

Next up? Add filtered water to your tea and sugar mixture and fill until you still have a few inches left at the top. I have always been very careful with my temperature and try to stay near the recommended 76 degree mark but have gone lower to 72 degrees. 68 is the lowest you want to go. It's not a game of limbo so let's try to keep our temps up in those mid-70s.

One thing I've learned is that if I pull my filtered water straight from the fridge as that's where our giant Brita usually resides, it can make the mixture too cold. If that happens, I put a little filtered water into my now empty pot and heat a bit until it's a warmer temperature before adding to the mixture. This helps raise the overall temperature to the acceptable room temperature range. Or if I fill my Brita with lukewarm water while the tea is brewing and getting going, that works too. But sometimes my Brita is just too full of delicious ice cold water and that tactic doesn't work.

After your tea mixture is ready, it's time to gently add the scoby. Since I usually brew my next batch of kombucha just after ending the first, I usually have put my scoby in a tall mason jar nearby with some starter tea set aside from my batch before. You can delay your start but you'll need to keep your scoby moist and the starter tea helps to get your new batch on the up-and-up. We'll discuss scoby keeping later...

From here, I either gently slide the scoby and tea to my larger jar or (with clean hands and no metal rings), pull the scoby out gently and place into the jar.

Give it one stir with a non-metallic spoon and then test the pH with some strips. You're looking for a pH of 4.5 or slightly below. I've never had my mixture in a different range but understand you can use vinegar to adjust. Will keep you posted if/when I need to take this step! I've also seen directions omitting the pH strips but it's so science-y and fun. And cheap! Take that pH and feel confident. That may be a deoderant commercial?

Cover the jar with a bit of cheese cloth or a clean t-shirt and secure with a rubber band.

Place in a warm, dark place and let sit for about 7 days. You can start tasting around Day 7 by dipping a straw carefully around the side and under the scoby, plugging with your finger and bringing to your mouth. It will get tarter and tarter (more tart?) over time as more and more of the sugar ferments.

I almost always pull fermentation #1 after 7 days although I have stretched it when life got the best of me. That batch ended up a bit sour.

Back to Ross Gellar's stunning turn as Robert Kardashian.

#kombucha #fermentation #Beatrice #scoby #tea