After a lot of research, I decided to start brewing Kombucha and jump right in with a continuous brewing system. There are some places that sell kits for a couple of hundred dollars but I didn't want to spend that much money. I figured I could do it myself for a more reasonable price. If you're a person who would rather buy the kit, because it is a lot easier- go for it. I like trying to do things myself if possible and I prefer to save my money. I found this website that is really cool called Cultures for Health. If you subscribe to their email list, you can get a PDF book about how to make Kombucha, how to brew it safely and how to setup the different brewing systems. It has really helped me in this process.
Supplies:
- ($29.00 + tax) 1 lead free ceramic water dispenser. I purchased a PRIMO one from Wal-Mart, even though I strongly dislike the store, because it was the cheapest and because it came with a stand. I did my research on PRIMO's website and this container is lead free. The PDF book says to use caution with ceramic containers because sometimes lead paints are used.
- ($3.00) 1 fish tank thermometer to monitor the temperature of the Kombucha. Keep between 70 and 80 degrees.
- High thread count fabric (napkins or t-shirts) and two extra wide large rubber bands. These items are used to cover the jar and keep the fabric in place. Put one of the rubber bands around the mouth of the container, place the fabric over top and then use the other rubber band to secure the fabric in place. This will keep bugs, dust and potentially bad things out of the Kombucha.
- ($4.00) 1 SCOBY and SCOBY starter. See how I made one on my home page.
- ($10-$15) Tea base. One cup of sugar for every gallon of tea. This container holds about 2 gallons plus the SCOBY starter. I bought a couple of bags of 365 brand organic sugar (cheaper to buy multiple smaller bags than the large bag) and a couple of boxes of Twinings Organic Breakfast blend and Green tea from Whole Foods.
- ($4.00) PH strips. Kombucha is supposed to have a PH level between 2.5 and 4. This level is not supposed to let harmful bacteria grow.
Cover and leave to sit for a week or a two. The longer it sits, the less sweet it is. Check the PH levels before bottling or drinking, just to be safe. I transferred my SCOBY to a continuous system on a Friday and I checked the PH on the next Monday (3 days later) and the PH was 3.2. It tasted pretty good but I decided to wait longer so it would be less sweet and have more probiotics. I'll just have to wait and see.
UPDATE:
February 24, 2012...The Kombucha brewing is going well. I've been bottling it for a couple of weeks now and experimenting with some flavorings (ginger, blueberry, lemon, raspberry and peach). I bought several bags of the berries and peach from the organic frozen section in the store and I picked up some organic lemons and ginger from Whole Foods. I figured if I'm using organic tea and sugar, that I might as well go all of the way and do it all organic. I blended up the fruit in our immersion blender and I froze them in small cubes in a little silicone ice cube tray. This makes the frozen fruit super easy to pop out. I am storing them in the deep freezer we have in some mason jars and some glass Honest Tea bottles (I forgot to take pictures of those, I'll post them another time). I have noticed that the more my SCOBY grows, the fizzier the Kombucha is. Also, adding fruits and ginger (and sometimes a bit of sugar- 1/8 tsp when bottling) makes it a bit fizzier too. It's nowhere near as fizzy as the GT's Kombucha from the store, but it tastes pretty stinken good. Back to the brewing...I get about 7 16 ounce bottles out of a batch. So I do a new batch every week. I've been bottling and brewing on Sundays. I fill up the bottles and then add more tea (about 1.5 gallons of water, 15 mixed tea bags from above and two cups of sugar- brew, bring to room temperature, add to the dispenser and cover) to replace what I removed. I let it sit for a week and then start the process over. I have been testing the Kombucha's PH once a week before I brew just to be safe. It is pretty consistent and is always around 3.0-3.2. I do burp the glass bottles every couple of days just to be sure they don't explode and I don't refrigerate the bottles. I thought that I would, but I like drinking it at room temperature. So far, so good. A family member said the SCOBY looks like a scab, but that hasn't deterred her from starting to drink it on a daily basis. Below are pictures of the fruit that I have been using to flavor the Kombucha. I'm not a fan of raspberry by itself, I actually dumped that bottle out. I like plain, ginger and blueberry the best. I tried peach and ginger together, but the ginger overpowered the peach. Next time, I will put in less ginger to see if I can taste the fruit I mix it with better.
The final setup.
