Last week we had the opportunity to host a Kombucha Workshop at our Ghent location. Taylor, a manager from our kitchen staff, has a wealth of knowledge to share on the craft of fermentation and put together this workshop to help show our community just how easy it is to brew kombucha in your own home. Participants got to develop their own unique flavors with fresh fruits and herbs and walked away with their own scoby starter kit.

We hope to host future workshops and will be sure to keep you posted! For now, we thought we would post the recipe we used so that you can begin brewing kombucha in your kitchen! Enjoy.

KOMBUCHA RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

1 gallon got water
2/3 cup agave (or 1 cup white sugar)
12 Tbsp loose leaf black tea (must be caffeinated)
Fruit, Juice, or Herbs for flavoring

PRIMARY FERMENTATION

Boil hot water
Pour hot water into your glass fermentation vessel
Add agave & stir
Steep tea leaves at least 10 minutes
Wait for brewed tea to cool to below 80 degrees
Add scopy & starter liquid to cooled tea
Cover the opening of the vessel with a cloth or light fabric & tighten with string (make sure there are no gaps for fruit flies to enter into your brewing kombucha)
Let ferment for 5-15 days, tasting every few days

When Kombucha is finished to your taste preference: Remove scoby & place it into a glass jar or plastic bag with 1 cup of starter liquid. Pour finished kombucha into mason jars (or growler) with plastic lids (plastic lids available on amazon). Enjoy or begin secondary fermentation for flavoring.

SECONDARY FERMENTATION

Add fresh fruit, juice, or herbs to finished kombucha in mason jar
Add 1 Tbsp agave (optional for extra carbonation)
Tighten lid & let sit at room temperature for 3 days
Check every 12 hours and release carbonation as needed by unscrewing the lid over the sink (it may overflow a little bit!)
After 3 days, strain off the herbs or fruit and rebottle
Let sit at room temp for 1-2 days (releasing carbonation over sink as necessary) and enjoy. Refrigerate after opening.