Kombucha

Kombucha is one of the only drinks that I enjoy. Here's a list of reasons I like it:


 * It's fizzy
 * It comes in a wide variety of flavours
 * It feels more hydrating than soft drinks to me

A lot of the Internet push it as a health drink. I don't care about this aspect enough to investigate.

Note that the hydrating feeling is just a feeling. Usually when drinking soda or coffee I need water nearby to somehow balance a feeling I identify as dehydration. It could be that I'm responding to sugars or some other taste. Regardless I don't need that with kombucha, and that's a benefit.

Getting started
There's a lot of good guides for starting to brew kombucha online.

You'll need to buy the following:


 * Starter kombucha liquid (known as the starter tea or SCOBY)
 * A glass jar with cloth to cover it
 * Flip-top bottles than can deal with high pressure inside
 * A water filter if your tap water is bad (mine is)

Most of these can easily be found online from shops dedicated to selling kombucha.

First fermentation
Tools:


 * Large jar for brewing
 * Cloth to cover the jar
 * Elastic bands to hold the cloth in place
 * Large containers for holding water
 * 1L container for starter liquid
 * Metric measuring cups
 * Water filter
 * Wooden spoon
 * Stove
 * Pot for boiling

Ingredients for a 1L batch:

Multiply these by the number of litres you're making.
 * 200mL starter kombucha liquid
 * 640mL filtered water for filling the batch
 * 160mL water for tea
 * 50g raw sugar
 * 4g black tea (I use 2 Lipton black tea bags)

Instructions:

Exact measurements don't matter that much, just approximate.
 * 1) Wash the brewing jar using hot water and a cloth, no detergent or vinegar
 * 2) Refrigerate and filter the filler water
 * 3) Boil tea water on the stove
 * 4) Put the tea in the water
 * 5) Close the lid on the pot and let it brew for 10 minutes
 * 6) Add the sugar to the tea
 * 7) Stir tea with wooden spoon until the sugar is dissolved
 * 8) Pour chilled water in to the large jar
 * 9) Pour tea in to large jar
 * 10) Wait 5 minutes for the tea to cool
 * 11) Pour starter liquid in to the jar
 * 12) Cover the jar with cloth and elastic bands
 * 13) Write down the date on the jar with a marker

This takes around 30 minutes.

Second fermentation
Tools:


 * 12 750mL flip-top bottles

Ingredients:


 * Kombucha
 * Cane sugar
 * Measuring cups
 * Funnels
 * Blender (I use a nutribullet)
 * Various fruits

Instructions:

Pouring directly in to bottles like this is probably not the best method, it might be better to make a large intermediate jar then pour that in to bottles
 * 1) Set aside starter liquid for next brew (include the gross pellicle)
 * 2) Pick an empty bottle
 * 3) Using the funnel, add two teaspoons of cane sugar to the bottle
 * 4) Using the funnel, fill a third of the bottle with kombucha
 * 5) Cut and blend up some fruit
 * 6) Using the funnel, pour the blended fruit up to the bottle's neck
 * 7) Number the bottle with a marker and write down its contents somewhere
 * 8) Repeat from step 2 until you have no kombucha left

This takes around 1.5 hours.

After two days or so your kombucha should be ready to drink.

Safety warning: Always open the kombucha outside with safety glasses on, pointed away from you. The pressure inside the bottles can be intense and lead to huge spurts of kombucha and the flip-top bottle lid going flying. No, this isn't a joke.

SCOBY hotels
SCOBY hotels are seperate fermentations of kombucha intended as a backup or source for starter tea. This lets you stop brewing for a while or handle situations where one of your brews get mold.

To make one:


 * Create a small first fermentation
 * Don't harvest it
 * Add some more sweet tea every couple of months

2019
I did a few brews in 2019 but didn't write them down.

Eventually I didn't have the energy to keep brewing and my brew went vile. Don't do that.

2022-01-16 to 2022-01-31

 * Brewed for two weeks
 * Opened after three days
 * Bottle 1: Blueberry, banana and apple puree
 * Bottles 2-4: Apple
 * Bottle 5: Mango and orange
 * Bottle 6: Mango and banana
 * Bottle 7: Half full, mango and banana
 * All bottles except bottle 1 opened violently, I lost a lot of kombucha
 * Apparently I should have fermented in the fridge, not out of the fridge
 * Despite my sketchy brewing attempt, they all came out really good

2022-01-31 to 2022-02-21

 * Was supposed to be a shorter first fermentation, bust instead was very long
 * Used a jug to mix flavoured kombucha before pouring in to bottles
 * Refrigerating second fermentation to hopefully reduce violence
 * Apple, banana, some orange juice, raw
 * Tasted 2022-02-27, tasted pretty bad
 * Lesson learned: Second fermentation needs to be done unrefrigerated
 * Tasted 2022-03-03 after second fermentation done properly, things taste better
 * Apple flavour was kind of OK
 * Banana was definitely not good
 * Orange juice was weak
 * Raw kombucha tastes like ... nothing? Not a fan.

2022-02-21 to 2022-03-25

 * This was supposed to be on time, but it was way off
 * I didn't have bottles ready to harvest during all this
 * Instead I made an extra 2L and put it in a jar as a SCOBY hotel
 * Dumped the rest on the ground outside during a flood

2022-03-25 (Current)

 * Aiming to harvest between April 1 to April 8
 * Have ordered a heating pad and bottle brush for cleaning