How to Brew Kombucha at Home in 10 minutes?

Have you tried Kombucha before? If yes, do you like it? Well, according to Wikipedia Kombucha is a fermented, sweetened black or green tea drink commonly consumed for its supposed health benefits. Sometimes the beverage is called kombucha tea to distinguish it from the culture of bacteria and yeast. Juice, spices, fruits, or other flavorings are often added to enhance the taste of the beverage.

How to Brew Kombucha at Home in 10 minutes?
[ image: pexels by studio layana ]

Kombucha is probably originated from Manchuria, China where the drink is traditionally consumed, or Russia or Eastern Europe. Nowadays, Kombucha is homebrewed globally, and also bottled and sold commercially by various companies.

Kombucha is produced by fermenting sugared tea using a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY) commonly called a "mother" or "mushroom". Studies about the food safety of Kombucha suggests that fermentation at room temperature is a relatively safe process – just make sure you brew it long enough.

Practice

Kombucha is made by adding SCOBY mushroom to a batch of tea with some sugar. This fizzy drink is made by the mushroom itself – it converts sugar into alcohol, which further breaks down into vitamins & enzymes. The resulting beverage is packed with probiotics, vitamins, enzymes, and of course the original benefits of black tea or green tea.

Simply put, you need a glass jar, a SCOBY culture, some sugar, and black/green tea, nothing more! SCOBY mushroom could easily be bought locally: just type “bio shops near me” into Google.

Ingredients

1 liter glass jar

1 liter clean water

100g table sugar

Leafy black tea or green tea

1 liter jar while brewing 

Directions

Boil 1 liter water and pour it over the leafy tea, like you normally would.

Remove the leaves and add sugar – stir until it’s dissolved completely.

Allow the tea to steep for 30 minutes (hot water can kill your mushroom!).

Pour the tea into the brew jar – leave about 20% room for the mushroom and for breathing.

Put you SCOBY mushroom into the jar and half of its liquid to aid the fermentation process.

Secure the opening of the jar with a breathable cloth to avoid contamination.

Place you jar in an undisturbed and warm spot (ideal temperature is 23-28 Celsius).

After 7-8 days you can taste your Kombucha. It it’s not just lightly sweet, it needs more time. Check back daily until it’s slightly sweet and slightly tart.

You may do a second fermentation if you want to carbonate and flavor you Kombucha. But your primary brew would also be fine – in the fridge until consumed.

Other uses

Kombucha culture, when dried, becomes a leather-like textile known as a microbial cellulose that can be molded onto forms to create seamless clothing. Using different broth media such as coffee, black tea, and green tea to grow the kombucha culture results in different textile colors.