Miraculous claims aside, kombucha is a delicious fermented tea. It’s available at health food stores in a range of flavors – albeit for a steep price. However, it’s neither difficult nor dangerous to make large amounts of kombucha cheaply at home.
It’s made by adding a kombucha culture, called a scoby (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast), to a solution of green or black tea and sugar and letting it brew for a week. Chances are, however, you don’t know any kombucha brewers who have extra scoby, nor do you want to shell out 15 bucks to buy some online.
Bring half a gallon of the water to a boil in a stainless steel or glass pot. Remove the pot from the heat and dissolve the sugar in the hot water.
Add the tea bags to the hot water. Cover the pot and steep for 15 to 20 minutes.
Add the remaining water to the steeped tea. Let the tea cool to room temperature and add the raw kombucha.
Pour the tea into a wide-mouthed glass vessel and gently add the scoby.
Cover the mouth of the vessel with a clean piece of cotton cloth, then secure it with an elastic band. Be sure to store the brewing kombucha in a warm, dry, dark place away from cigarette smoke, cooking grease, plants and harsh chemicals.
Begin tasting the kombucha after four days. Kombucha is done when its neither sweet nor sour, but somewhere in between. (For those who take a more scientific approach, kombucha is ready when its pH is in the range of 3.6 to 2.9.)
Store the finished kombucha in glass bottles or jars inside the refrigerator for up to two months.
1 cup white or brown sugar
8 to 10 green or black tea bags
4 to 6 natural herbal tea bags, oil-free (optional)
1 cup raw kombucha
3-inch kombucha culture, aka symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast or scoby
This article appears in Aug 1-31, 2008.