Kombucha

More kombucha recipes to try

Raspberry kombucha recipe

frozen raspberries 150g

runny honey 2 tbsp

kombucha 750ml

Put the raspberries into a small pan with the honey and heat gently until broken down and saucy. Push through a fine sieve and leave to cool completely.

Mix the raspberry purée with the first ferment kombucha, pour into a flip-top bottle and seal. Leave in a cool, dark place for 2 days to 1 week, tasting each day until it’s sweet, sour and lightly carbonated, then chill. Drink within a week.

Kombucha spritz mocktail

alcohol-free aperitif 60ml

plain sparkling kombucha 90ml

soda water a splash

red apple a wedge

Put some ice in a chilled large wine glass and pour over the alcohol-free aperitif followed by the plain sparkling kombucha and a splash of soda water. Stir briefly and garnish with a wedge of red apple.

Pineapple kombucha recipe

ripe pineapple 200g, diced

runny honey 2 tbsp

kombucha 750ml

Put the pineapple and honey into a food processer and whizz until completely smooth. Push through a fine sieve into a large jug, mix with the kombucha and pour into a flip-top bottle and seal. Leave in a cool, dark place for 2 days to 1 week, tasting each day until it’s sweet, sour and lightly carbonated, then chill. Drink within a week.

Lime and ginger kombucha recipe

ginger 2 thumb-sized pieces, finely grated
limes 2, zested and juiced runny honey 1 tbsp kombucha 750ml

Put the ginger, lime zest and juice, and honey into a large jug and mix well with the kombucha. Pour into a flip-top bottle and seal. Leave in a cool, dark place for 2 days to 1 week, tasting each day until it’s sweet, sour and lightly carbonated, then chill. Drink within a week.

THE SCOBY

What is scoby?

A scoby (which stands for ‘symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast’) works in a similar way to a sourdough starter or a vinegar mother – and it’s essential for making kombucha. It’s a jelly-like raft that floats on top of the sweetened tea, fermenting it and transforming it into kombucha. First the yeast in the scoby turns the sugar into alcohol, then the bacteria turns the alcohol into acetic and other organic acids, which give kombucha its sweet and sour characteristics.

The scoby floats at the top exposing the bacteria to the oxygen it needs to turn alcohol into acid. If left to its own devices, the scoby would convert all of the available sugars into acid, making the kombucha too vinegary to drink – so you need to keep tasting the drink all the way through the process to ensure you strike the perfect balance between sweet and sour.

Where can I buy scoby for my kombucha?

To get started, you will need to buy a scoby – they are available online from happykombucha.co.uk or amazon.co.uk (it will come with some kombucha starter liquid, which is also essential to the process). Alternatively, if you know someone who already makes kombucha, then ask them for a scoby. Every time a new batch of kombucha is made, a new scoby is created, meaning you can simply peel away an older one to give to friends, or start another brew.

FIRST AND SCOND KOMBUCHA FERMENTS

Once you’ve made the first ferment – using just tea, sugar and the scoby with its starter liquid – the kombucha will be delicious to drink. However, what many people – and most commercial brands – do is to give the kombucha a second ferment, just like you would for beer, cider, champagne and sparkling wine.

This is the ideal opportunity to introduce different flavours to the kombucha while also giving it effervescence. Adding a little more sugar (and the flavouring of your choice), and keeping your container sealed means that the carbon dioxide produced during fermention, that would otherwise have escaped, builds up in the liquid, creating a gentle fizz.

BACKSLOPPING

Before you start the second ferment, it’s a good idea to keep back 10-20% of the liquid from the first kombucha. You can use this (alongside the scoby) to make a brand new batch of kombucha.

To ensure the scoby stays alive add it (and the reserved kombucha liquid) to another batch of sweetened tea and keep it in the fridge – this will slow fermentation down while keeping the scoby happy for up to a month.

What you need to make kombucha

1. Measuring jug

2. Weighing scales

3. Pan

4. Fine sieve

5. 2-litre Kilner jar and flip-top bottle 6 Muslin or kitchen roll and string or elastic bands

KOMBUCHA TIPS

• Use a glass rather than plastic container – the acids in the kombucha may start to break down the plastic interior.
• Taste, taste, taste! Each kombucha ferments at its own pace, so you need to sample it daily to ensure it doesn’t get too vinegary.
• Also check your second ferment regularly! Be warned, a build-up of too much CO2 could cause the bottle to explode if left unattended at room temperature for too long.
• During the first ferment, cover the open jar with kitchen paper, a thin, clean tea towel or muslin to prevent flies and mould spores from contaminating the scoby. It also reduces the risk of any bad bacteria being introduced to the kombucha.
• You’ll also need somewhere cool and dry to store the kombucha, out of direct sunlight.
• If a new scoby hasn’t formed at the top of the tea after a few days and it doesn’t taste acidic this means the fermentation has failed.