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Kombucha Magic Flavored Three Ways

Posted by Lindsay Kluge on Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Kombucha, like pretty much all of my other imbibed creations, is just another delicious and creative way to drink tea. Kombucha is made from fermenting a tannin rich tea with a Scoby (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast). It’a like a living, floating bacterial hotel that will hang out in your ‘bucha and make magic happen. The tannins in the tea will ferment along with the bacteria and yeast (and added sugar!) to create a delicious, vinegary, fizzy, probiotic rich beverage that’s easily adaptable to flavorings. Creating the perfect batch of kombucha can be a bit temperamental and take experimentation, and my recipe is what I have found to brew the ultimate perfect batch with three different flavoring options.

(More on the power of bacteria and our gut microbiota here!)

The basic ingredients for kombucha are simple: Scoby. Filtered water. Organic cane sugar. A bit of an original batch. High quality black tea. My favorite black tea to use is organic Kumaon Black Tea from Mountain Rose Herbs. So many black teas can taste too acidic or harsh or burnt. The flavor of this Kumaon black tea is exquisite – It’s slightly floral with a lighter taste and earthier undertones. It makes the most delicious kombucha I’ve ever made, and jives so well with fruit and herb flavorings which you’ll add later.

A few Variables…

Sugar: Some recipes fluctuate between 1-2 cups of cane sugar per batch. I find one cup of organic cane sugar does the job and doesn’t make the batches too sweet.

Fermenting time: Once your batch is flavored, the amount of time you let it sit to carbonate depends on how fizzy you like your kombucha. I like mine pretty bubbly, so I let mine sit on the counter for about 40 hours before I stick them in the fridge. Letting them sit out too long will result in exploding bottles.

Bottling containers: I prefer to use 1 liter tightly air locked glass bottles (with a flip top) to store my batches in for three reasons: 1) Each one of my batches fills exactly 3, 1 liter bottles. 2). Easily transportable to share, 3) The fizz keeps longer. Only opening one bottle at a time keeps the others highly carbonated until you’re ready for them.

Temperature: The temperature of your kitchen will kind of dictate how well your kombucha thrives while it’s fermenting. Try to keep your space between 68-78 degrees for an ideal brew.

FLAVORINGS! This is the most fun. You can flavor your kombucha any which way you want to. With herbs or fresh fruits or other teas or fruit juices – it’s up to you! I’ve used them all in the past and have the most flavorful batches when I use juicy fresh fruits and/or fresh herbs. Here are three of my favorite flavoring combinations:

1. Peach + Rosemary (recipe below)

2. Pomegranate + Basil – Seeds of 1 whole pomegranate + 10 fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped)

3. Strawberry + Thyme (My sweet friend Renee Byrd served me a kombucha brew she made with this flavor combo and it blew my mind it was SO good. I’ve been flavoring every other batch this summer with this combo and it’s hands down my favorite. Also, beautiful pink kombucha – yes please!) – 1 cup chopped, fresh juicy strawberries + 5 tbsp fresh thyme.

 

Peach + Rosemary Kombucha

  • 3.5 liters filtered water
  • 2 heaping tablespoons Kumaon black tea
  • 1 cup organic cane sugar
  • 3 ripe, juicy organic peaches
  • 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 happy scoby
  • 2 cups original batch kombucha
Makes 3 liters
In a large pot, bring 3.5 liters filtered water to a boil. Turn off heat and add the sugar and Kumaon black tea. Stir to let the sugar dissolve, then let sit to cool completely (this will take several hours). Once completely cool, strain and pour into a large gallon glass jar with a wide mouth and drop in the scoby. Make sure the tea is completely cool before the adding the scoby! Ideally you should add in 2 cups of original kombucha brew at this point too, either from a previous batch or an original, unflavored kombucha brew. Cover the mouth of the jar with a coffee filter and rubber band and let sit on the counter for 7 days. After about 4 days, you should start to notice a new scoby forming on top of the original. This is good! Little bubbles with start showing. A subtle sweet vinegar smell will develop... After 7 days, remove the scoby with clean hands and separate the scoby's, placing each on a clean plate. You should now have 2 scoby's. Reserve 2 cups of the liquid (this is important for your next batch!) and place the original, bigger scoby in with this 2 cups of reserved kombucha. The second, newly formed scoby is going back in the jar with the fruit flavorings. Add in your fruits. Peel and chop 3 juicy ripe peaches and drop them into the jar along with about 2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh rosemary. Make sure to add back in the newly formed scoby here too. Cover again with the coffee filter and let sit for 24 hours. After 24 hours, Strain out all of the fruit, scoby and rosemary and divide into 3, 1 liter bottles. Seal completely and let sit on the counter for 36-40 hours, after which time place in the refrigerator to stop the carbonation. Enjoy within 2 weeks :) *Note - I discard the fruits and the new scoby at this point. (but I always save my original for a continuous batch!) Although some may say throwing away a scoby is sacrilege, I just don't have the refrigerator space or the wherewithal to have dozens of scoby's literally floating around. One batch brewing is plenty for me!    

This post is sponsored by my friends at Mountain Rose Herbs. All thoughts and opinions are my own. It is my goal to use and recommend only the highest quality herbal products from companies that I wholly trust and fully support. Industry standards including sustainable harvesting, quality control, organic / fair trade standards and responsible sourcing are all things I care deeply about when working with herbs and herbal companies. I have been using Mountain Rose Herbal products for almost a decade, and have always been so impressed with their commitment to environmental stewardship. You can sign up for their newsletter here to receive extra tips, tricks and monthly product specials! Thank you for supporting the brands that help to make this blog possible.