First Time Kombucha Brewer

If you have been following my blog for many years, you will notice that I am a sucker when it comes to Kombucha. Not only Kombucha has a good health benefit but it also tastes delicious and I can drink some fizzy drink without any guilt. But to purchase shelf Kombucha kind of expensive. Imagine one bottle of this fizzy drink cost me between RM10 to RM16. Damn! That's expensive for my purse!

So I decided to brew it at home. I was really nervous to do this kind of brewing at home. Who knows instead of brewing good bacteria for guts, I will end up brewing and breeding bad bacteria. Anyway, as this post was published, I was at my 3rd batch of my own homemade Kombucha. Yay! Success and still learning along the way.😍

What Do You Need To Brew Kombucha?

1. Good SCOBY with quality starter tea

2. Glass Jar

3. Tea Concentrate

4. Sugar water

5. Cotton cloth to cover

6. Patient to wait

What is SCOBY?

SCOBY stands for,

Symbiotic 

Culture

Bacteria

Yeast

Yes! it is a bacteria and yeast fermentation process so please expect your Kombucha drink has hints of a sour taste.

Can you make your own SCOBY?

Yes! you can make your own SCOBY but if you are a beginner like me, it is better to purchase SCOBY. If you still insist to make your own SCOBY from scratch, you can try it. All you need is to combine tea, sugar and some good pre-made unflavored kombucha. Get the kombucha with some little blobby things floating at the top or bottom of the bottle. I can't explain this in details since I am just a beginner brewer who started my home brewing with online store purchase SCOBY.😜

The SCOBY, I bought coincidently the good quality one. YEAY! 🙋🙋

Three Steps of Kombucha Process

First Fermentation

Kombucha first fermentation process consists of mixing tea concentrate (advisable to use green tea or black tea) with some water, sugar, and SCOBY with its starter tea in the glass jar. I use a 2-litre glass jar which I bought just for this project. 🤣

Measurement for the first fermentation. Seriously, I am not that type of person who likes to measure things. So, I just add in whatever based on my gut feelings. Yeah! I learn all this from YouTube and do whatever I wanted after that! Pour everything in the glass jar and then secure the top with a cotton cloth and tied it with a rubber band. Then I place the jar in my book cabinet and leave the cabinet door a bit open just enough for air circulation. So my jar not in complete darkness place. I left it for 7 days. I don't even bother to check the bottle in there before 7 days. I only open the cabinet when the time comes.😁

Oh! by the way, for your information since I love doing whatever I want, end up use Earl Grey Tea for my Kombucha tea. Seriously, I realized on my mistake after the second day of fermentation. I was ...like ...let God decide on my Kombucha tea.

Second Fermentation

When I finally opened the bottle after 7 days, my SCOBY has multiplied to 2 SCOBY. Yes! the mother SCOBY not only grew thicker, but it has also given birth to one baby. So, I end up become a God Grandmother to baby SCOBY. WTH!

I place the SCOBY into the glass bowl together with some tea from my first fermentation jar as a starter for the next batch of first fermentation. I decide to use green tea on my next batch. If you are not ready to do the second batch, you can always place the SCOBY with the starter tea and feed it with some sugar in a glass jar which we call it SCOBY Hotel. Since I want a continuous supply of Kombucha in my fridge. So I started the second batch at the same time with first batch second fermentation.

What do you for Kombucha second fermentation?

This is the time where you flavoured Kombucha to your personal liking. I took out the SCOBY and some starter tea into another glass jar. Then add in some flavour to the remaining tea which has gone through the first fermentation for 7 days. I then cover the glass jar with the tight lid. It should be tight enough so no wind or anything could enter the jar. Place the jar somewhere on the shelf or anywhere, no need to be in the closed cabinet or what so ever. I just left it there for 7 days without even burping it out, like how those people in the youtube taught. You can check out some of the YouTube videos for the Kombucha flavouring process. 

Third Fermentation

This is the process where I filtered the residue from the second fermentation process Kombucha into another airtight bottle and left it in the fridge for another 7 days. This process is for Kombucha to get frizzier. Some Kombucha Gurus advise you to burp it out every day and you can even enjoy the Kombucha within 4 - 5 days after placing it in the fridge. 

This is my first batch of Kombucha after 5 days in the fridge. I flavour it with nutmeg, lemon and honey. My Kombucha taste really flat and sweet after 5 days. I left it another 7 to 10 days in the fridge and the taste getting frizzier and not sweet but it is to my liking.

My second batch of Kombucha using green tea and I flavour it with Dragon Fruits and Blueberries. I decided to just leave go for 7:7:7 process. First fermentation 7 days, second fermentation another 7 days and 7 days in the fridge. Oh yeah!!!! just like my favourite store-bought Kombucha. I did it! Just love this one. 

I am currently on the third batch of Kombucha first fermentation process. My SCOBY has grown really thick and healthier. I am a God Grandma to few babies now!

Have you tried brewing your own Kombucha before?

It was a great addictive experience for me now. I just want the continuous supply of Kombucha in my fridge and be more variety in the flavouring process.

Conclusion of my fermentation process took up to 21 days for one batch of Kombucha. I have been making it for 2 months now.