How to make Kombucha
If you haven’t tried kombucha, you are missing out!
So what exactly is kombucha? Kombucha (pronounced come-boo-cha) is a living health drink made by fermenting tea and sugar with the kombucha culture. It has been around for hundreds of years. If you are concerned that it is made with sugar, you needn’t be. The sugar is consumed by the culture leaving you with a delicious tart drink. The result can taste like something between sparkling apple cider and champagne, depending on what kind of tea you use. It’s not what you would imagine fermented tea to taste like.
Kombucha is made and drunk around the world. It has been a ‘secret formula’ for those ‘in the know’ and a lifesaver for many a poor person in the less blessed nations. I am so impressed with this drink that I have it daily. One of the main reasons I drink kombucha is for glucuronic acid. This is the body’s most important detoxifier. When toxins enter the liver, this acid binds them to them and flushes them out through the kidneys. Once bound by glucuronic acid, toxins cannot escape. Glucuronic acid is one of the more significant constituents of kombucha. As a detoxifying agent it’s one of the few agents that can cope with pollution from the products of the petroleum industry, including all the plastics, herbicides, pesticides and resins. It kidnaps the phenols in the liver, which are then eliminated easily by the kidneys. It is such a strong detoxifier that I have come to rely on it for helping with issues of weight loss, allergies, building the immune systems, fighting yeast infections and helping with joint problems and digestive problems. One of the best ways to get kombucha is at your local health food store.
Here is a link to help: http://www.synergydrinks.com/ourstory.aspx. Read the story of the founder, GT Dave, and his mom and learn how kombucha helped her overcome cancer. It’s very powerful. You can also make it yourself. I do and it is delicious. Kombucha tea is probiotic, detoxifying and energizing. I cannot say enough about it. Try it and see for yourself.
Body & Soul magazine said the sales of kombucha have climbed to 70 million, which has doubled than tripled in the last 2 years. Many years ago when I first started making my own, I became hooked quickly. Prior to that, I was so addicted to diet pop, (yes I know that it is the worst) that I could not get off of it. It was kombucha, which not only gave me the delicious naturally occurring carbonation that I craved with pop, but it was also loaded with probiotics and B vitamins.
I am thrilled when I see people reaching for kombucha instead of pop. My daughter takes special acting classes and when I see 4 or 5 teenage girls walk into class with kombucha I can’t help but feel proud. Their parents who I talk with and have become converts now drink it and it trickles down to the kids.
The other thing that we don’t know a lot about is the good yeast in kombucha. A specific type of yeast that is found in kombucha is Saccharomyces boulardii. It is used as the number one probiotic used in hospitals, under the brand name of Florastor®. You can literally drink a bottle of kombucha and feel it lift your sense of well-being. It makes you feel great.
I hear this over and over from people. Whether it is all the B vitamins or the probiotics, it is just awesome!!! This is such a staple at my house that we fight over it.
Oh and one more thing. It is great for weight loss. It just makes you not as hungry. It loads your body with beneficial enzymes, good bacteria and yeast to help digest your food and take the load off your digestive system.
You can always make your own and at very little cost.
Bubbly Fermented Tea
Flavored Kombucha
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HI Donna, I am just wondering if you know if drinking kombucha is safe when you have fillings that contain mercury? i have heard it can leach out the mercury and displace it elsewhere in the body.
thanks!
I get this question a lot and I have had mercury fillings and drank tons of kombucha and did fine. The benefits are many and I am not positively sure what happens when you drink kombucha and have amalgam filling. That being said when I don’t drink kombucha I struggle and don’t do as well.
I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and I am on some anti-inflamitory meds. Does the Kombucha Tea interfer with Meds. Also what about cultured Veggies and Kiefer?
All of these foods help reduce inflammation I am not sure if they would interfere with your medication.
Ok, thank you. I will check with my doctor and I will keep you updated on how things are going.
I read your comment about drinking kombucha when pregnant…my question is this…I’m trying to get pregnant right now. I’ve been drinking Kombucha for about 2 weeks. While I’m trying should I stop drinking it? I would definately say I’m not in the ‘been drinking kombucha for a while’ category, but am enjoying the health benefits from it.
Just curious as to your thoughts…
If it were me I would keep drinking it. Having good bacteria to give to your baby and especially before you get pregnant is a good thing. My opinion.
I’m back with another question! I now have a beautiful, homegrown scoby, but I haven’t yet consumed any of the ferment because I wanted to have a large batch before I started dipping into it (so I can have some available frequently). I thus purchased a larger jar to hold it in, but I only filled 3/4 full because I didn’t want to affect the pH too much. That said, I’m wondering if it would be any harm to add more tea solution before it has finished its new cycle. There is a new baby growing on top of the old scoby, and I don’t want to disturb it. Will that disturb it?
It will disturb it and cause it to make another layer of the scoby but it won’t hurt anything to do this. Go ahead and add extra liquid.
Sounds good. Is there any way to predict how many days it will take for it to be ready? I’d like to take a little each day and add a little each day. Not sure if that’s possible.
If you buy a brew belt which you can find on my site, it will be done in 7 days every week. The temperature is what makes it fluctuate. This keeps the temperature consistent and then you will know when it is done each week.
Good to know. Thanks!
Hi Donna,
So I recently just grew my own tiny scoby right in the small bottle of raw store-boought kombucha. It looked great, and it was strong enough to be picked up with a fork after only a week! This surprised me, since most online resources said 2-3 weeks if growing from scratch. Yesterday I transferred the little scoby into a bigger jar and added more tea mixture and there’s already a solid looking layer there tonight!
Is it normal for it to grow this fast?
It looks healthy, but I am concerned about potential mold growth; should I occasionally push it into the liquid to better protect the top?
Thanks:)
Are you using starter liquid too to add to your tea?
Yes, I brewed up some sugary pu-erh and added it to half the store-bought bottle (I drank the other half). This is how my miniature scoby formed. I then transferred it with all its liquid to a larger jar and the following day there was a new skin. I just checked it and I’ve got a new scoby 1/8th of an inch thick. I just can’t believe it’s grown this fast! When it is ready to drink?
When it is not sweet but not too vinegary either.
Okay, so I guess it’s just a taste testing game. Thanks!
I drink GT’s kombucha and have successfully made several batches of my own. I can tolerate about a third of a bottle of GT’s a day, but do not tolerate my homemade brew at all. It seems to be an issue with sugar. Any ideas of how to make my kombucha more like GT’s brand?
Let yours ferment longer to remove the sugar. Are you second fermenting it?
Yes, I have let it ferment until it’s vinegar!
Are you sure it’s not an issue with vinegar? I think GT’s is more surgary when you buy it. I know that much acid is very hard on my body.
Hi Donna?
I’ve noticed that you have 2 different resources for buying an initial scoby starter from. Do you prefer or recommend one over the other? I’m ready to graduate from Kefir and veggies to Kombucha! Loving learning all of this form you!!
Thank-you
PaulaLyn
Kombucha Kamp is the best. This one is live and the other is dehydrated. Kombucha kamp is the one i think is best.
I spoke to my health food store about kambucha to try and get a starter culter going. They do have raw kambucha to purchase, but she said that most health food stores don’t want to take a chance selling it to culture as terrible things could happen if done wrong. She mentioned some pretty bad things. Is there a guide to what to watch for to make sure things are safe? I’m sure mostly all experiences are as good as mentioned but the bad experience could be dangerous. any help would be great.
Well don’t let her scare you. It just wouldn’t culture and would just stay sweet and wouldn’t be kombucha. Here is a video to help you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJmaU8cRT-8
I have been making kombucha for a few months now and still have not had a baby scoby form. It is a little slimy on top but not a scoby like the other one that floats on the bottom. Am I doing something wrong?
It’s probably because it’s cold in your house. Is the tea still sweet?
I did end up getting a brew belt, however, i still do not have a scoby at the top of the jar. I haven’t tasted it yet, but it has been 6 days since I started a new batch using the brew belt. Any ideas on why I am not getting a new scoby?
how much starter liquid are you using?
[...] Kombucha [...]
i’ve been making kombucha for about four months but had to take a break. It’s been about three weeks and now i’m ready to resume making it. I stored my scoby and starter tea in a jar with a lid on it and placed it in the refrigerator. now i’m thinking that wasn’t the right thing to do. Have I hurt my beautiful scoby that i’ve bonded with so well?
Take it out and make a new batch and it should be fine. If it doesn’t make kombucha but stays sweet then you will know that you need a new scoby and starter tea. I think it will be ok.
Thank you! I’ll start a new batch and see what happens. What is the correct way to rest your scoby and starter if you’re going to be out of town for three or four weeks?
You can place it in the fridge.
My kombucha is moving very slowly as compared to times before. We keep our house thermostat at 68 and I am wondering if that is why. Is it too cool? so now I am also wondering if I should put my gallon jug in front of the heat vent.
Thanks!
Yes It is because it is to cool. You can try putting it in front of the heat vent or get a brew belt. You can purchase them on my site.
I recently drank a bottle of Synergy kombucha and had a horrible reaction to it. fever, headache, fatigue. was in bed for 2 days. I am allergic to mold. any connection? I absolutely LOVE it and want to drink it – but really don’t want to go through that again.
That sounds like a detox reaction. Have you had kombucha before? I would try it again but drink a small amount. You could have been coming down with something and it co en sided with drinking it.
Does the finished kombucha have caffeine (from the tea used)? i am trying to determine if the benefits from kombucha outweigh the negative affects of caffeine, when healing adrenal fatigue. currently i am making and drinking my own water kefir, but i would like the additional benefit of the different nutrients offered by kombucha. FYI the all-caps is not me, must be the way my browser is reading this web form. thank you for sharing so much great info with all of us!
It does reduce some of the caffeine but not all of it. I am super sensitive to caffeine and use green tea to make kombucha with and never have had a problem. I would like to tell you that kombucha with all its B vitamins has been a great help personally with adrenals. Adrenals need vitamin c and b’s to heal and there are a lot in kombucha. You might want to read my blog how I healed my seasonal allergies under wellness on my site. adrenals need a lot of help. ~ Donna
I keep meaning to ask, is it safe to start drinking Kombucha when pregnant? Probably a silly question…just didn’t want to detox my baby away…ha…
If you have not been drinking it and are pregnant I would wait till after the baby is born, because of the strong detox effect.If you have been drinking it then you are fine to keep consuming it.
Thanks for getting back to me about that! Is there a way to store a scoby until then? I have a jar of kombucha fermenting right now but still have seven months to go…
Yes, you can just store it in the liquid on your counter for a month or so.
Wonderful! so i could just switch it out every month?
Hubby hasn’t tried it yet; I’m betting he won’t like it, but maybe he will and I can just keep making it for him throughout my pregnancy
Donna, my kombucha has a thick layer of “skin” on the top. Like how homemade pudding gets a skin on top after cooking it? Is this normal? The mother has sunk to the bottom and I was expecting the “baby” to look just like the mother, but could this whole layer be the baby??
This is the new mother forming. You will get a new one each time you make it. It’s doing it’s job and it’s fine that the other sunk to the body. It’s perfect.
can one make kombucha only using green caffeinated tea? have you done this? do the scoby’s get ruined in the process?
thanks donna!
You can use caffeinated or not. Black or green tea both will work.
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I’ve been having probelms with the 2nd ferment. I don’t get hardly any to zero bubble or it’s the other way, kombucha will come shooting out of the bottle. I will say that it’s when I add vegetable juice (that I juice) that I’m not getting the bubbles. I’m more a bubble person. I do like your book.
Kombucha makes it bubbly by eating out the sugar and then converting it to Co2 with the good yeast in kombucha. Vegetable juice doesn’t have as much sugar. Try adding more vegetable juice. Also make sure your kombucha that you make as the base is slightly sweet when you second ferment. This will give it some sugars to ferment with your veggie juice.
I seem to be gaining weight from Kombucha, is this possible, I drink 2 – 4 glasses a day and do eat less. I make my own and most are made up before the 14 days because I like the drink a little sweeter. Can this be why I am gaining weight?
If it is still sweet, you are getting sugar that has not been consumed by the good yeasts and bacteria. Let you brew go longer till it is no longer sweet but not to vinegary.