KOMBUCHA RECIPE

Yield : 2 litre

Ingredients:

8 cups of Carbon filtered water, well or spring water
1/2 - 3/4 cup of sugar ( organic granulated white sugar works best)
6 - 8 bags black tea, or a combination of 4 bags green tea and 2 bags black tes, or 2- 3 tablespoons (TBS) of loose tea(combination of 2 TPS of green and 1TPS of black tea)
1 cup starter tea included with the scoby
1 scoby per fermentation jar

Optional flavoring: (2F) extras for bottling:

Equipment:

Kettle or stock pot
2 1/2 litre glass jar
Tightly woven cloth (like clean napkins or tea towels), coffee filters, or paper towels, to cover the jar
Flip-top bottle, glass bottles with plastic lids, , or clean soda bottle ( for 2F/store the finished Kombucha tea)
Plastic/ silicon funnel
Measuring spoons and cups

Make the tea base:

Bring the water to a boil.
Remove from heat and stir in the sugar to dissolve
Drop in the tea and allow it to steep for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes remove the tea bags or strain out the loose tea
Let the tea cool down completely. Depending on the size of your pot, this will take a few hours. You can speed up the cooling process by placing the pot in an ice bath.

Add the starter tea:

Once the tea is cool, Stir in the starter tea. (The starter tea makes the liquid acidic, which prevents unfriendly bacteria from taking up residence in the first few days of fermentation.)

Transfer to Fermenting jar and add the scoby:

Pour the mixture into a glass jar and gently slide the SCOBY into the jar with clean hands.
Cover the mouth of the jar with a few layers tightly-woven cloth, coffee filters, or paper towels secured with a rubber band. (If you develop problems with gnats or fruit flies, use a tightly woven cloth or paper towels, which will do a better job keeping the insects out of your brew.)

Ferment for 7 to 10 days Or (5 to 7 days depending on the temperature in your home):

Keep the jar at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, and where it won't get jostled or moved during the fermentaion process.

checking the kombucha and the scoby periodically.

It's not unusual for the scoby to float at the top, bottom, or even sideways during fermentation.
A new cream-colored layer of scoby should start forming on the surface of the kombucha within a few days. It usually attaches to the old scoby, but it's ok if they separate.
You may also see brown stringy bits floating beneath the scoby, sediment collecting at the bottom, and bubbles collecting around the scoby. This is all normal and signs of healthy fermentation.

After 5 days,

Begin tasting the kombucha daily by using a strew inserted inside the jar, pouring a little out of the jar and into a cup. When it reaches a balance of sweetness and tartness that is pleasant to you, the kombucha is ready to bottle.

Remove the scoby and Decanting:

If you plan to make another batch, before proceeding, prepare and cool another pot of strong tea for your next batch of kombucha, as outlined above. With clean hands, gently lift the scoby out of the kombucha and set it on a clean plate. As you do, check it over and remove the bottom layer if the scoby is getting very thick.
Bottle the finished kombucha
Measure out your starter tea from this batch of kombucha and set it aside for the next batch.

Secondary Fermentation (2F)

Pour the fermented kombucha (straining, if desired) into bottles using the small funnel, along with any juice, herbs, or fruit you may want to use as flavoring.
Leave about a half inch of head room in each bottle.
Alternatively, infuse the kombucha with flavorings for a day or two in another covered jar, strain, and then bottle. This makes a cleaner kombucha without "stuff" in it.

Carbonate and refrigerate the finished kombucha:

Store the bottled kombucha at room temperature out of direct sunlight and allow 1 to 2 days for the kombucha to carbonate.
Until you get a feel for how quickly your kombucha carbonates,it is helpful to keep it in plastic bottles; if you are using a plastic bottle, the kombucha is carbonated when the bottles feel rock solid.
Refrigerate to stop fermentation and carbonation, and then consume your kombucha within a month.

Make a fresh batch of kombucha:

Clean the jar being used for kombucha fermentation.
Combine 1 cup of the starter tea from your last batch of kombucha with the fresh batch of sugary tea, and pour it into the fermentation jar.
Slide the scoby on top, cover, and ferment for 7 to 10 days ( or 5 to 7 days depending on the temperature in your home).

Fermenting room temperature :

Note:

Avoid prolonged contact between the Kombucha SCOBY and metal both during and after brewing. This can affect the flavor of your Kombucha and weaken the SCOBY over time.
Be sure to keep the culture covered at all times and to keep and an eye out for fruit flies and vinegar flies

Dosage:

1/2 cup up to 1 cup, 2x a day after meals or 30 minutes before meals, follow it up with a glass of water.

Taking Break from brewing Kombucha:

As long as there is tea in your jar, you can store your Kombucha for long, long periods of time at a room temperature.

The Kombucha tea that is left when you extend the primary brewing cycle for longer than usual will be more acidic, but it will make a good starter for your first batch of Kombucha tea when you start up again.

How to make SCOBY HOTEL:

Check this website to learn how to make a scoby hotel: https://www.kombuchakamp.com/scoby-hotel-maintenance.