How to Make One Half Gallon Kombucha (fermented tea)

To make fermented tea, you will need the following:

• SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) * If you don’t have a SCOBY see the bottom of this recipe.
• Filtered or spring water / de-chlorinated if from city or county sources
• ½ cup starter tea *If you don’t have starter tea, see the bottom of this recipe
• ½ cup sugar (not honey due to its antibacterial properties)
• 4 black or green tea bags or a combination (Black makes a stronger culture due to its high tannin content. (I use 2 black and 2 green OR 1 black, 2 hibiscuses, 1 green)
• A clean ½ gallon canning jar, a clean cloth or coffee filters, rubber bands or string

                            Brewing Method

Pour hot, boiled water into a ½ gallon canning jar, filling it to about half or so, add ½ cup sugar, stir to dissolve then immerse 4 teabags and lightly cover to keep steam in and dirt out of your jar. Steep the tea for at least 20 minutes. (I leave my tea bags in the jar all day or all night.) When cooled to room temp, add approximately ½ cup of starter tea* and your SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) on top. It might sink, that's ok. Fill your jar with fresh water to the shoulder.  Cover securely with cloth or coffee filters (I use 2 filters together) and secure with a rubber band or string. The cover is important to keep bugs out, but it must let air in. Mark the date of brewing on top of the coffee filter, or use a piece of painter’s tape and a marker. Set aside in an undisturbed place out of direct sunlight and away from other cultures or any source of bacteria or mold.  

Fermenting (the first ferment)

In my kitchen, and at this time of year (fairly warm), I let the tea develop for about 7-10 days.  It will go longer in winter. You can test your tea simply by removing the cover, slipping a straw between the SCOBY and the side of your jar, cover the top of the straw with finger and draw out some tea (several times) to put in a small glass for tasting.  Finished tea will be lighter in color than your original brew.  It should not taste sweet. It will have natural carbonation and will taste something like cider/tea. The culture has eaten most of the sugar and has left behind a beautiful batch of probiotic-rich and tasty fermented tea.  Catch it before it turns vinegary (though even at the vinegar stage it is still safe and drinkable).  You can consume it now, refrigerate the rest, OR you can take your ferment to a new level (A SECOND FERMENT) with other flavors, described below.

Important!!!  Now is when you will want to start another batch.  So be sure to set aside your SCOBY and ½ cup starter tea and repeat the instructions above.  I save mine in a clean bowl covered with a small plate, up to a day while making the next batch.  Each brew will make a new SCOBY.  I leave the SCOBY stack together for several batches.  If it gets too thick, discard the bottom portions in compost, feed pieces to your pets, or share with a friend.

It is time to get creative with a second ferment!
Most kombucha drinkers enjoy the first ferment, above, but they also like flavored, bubbly Kombucha.  For a second ferment, you will need your choice of the following: canning jars with canning lids (not the plastic ones ), or quality kombucha bottles from kombucha you’ve purchased at the store, or QUALITY spring- top bottles. OR what I currently use -- glass juice bottles. They work great!

With the second ferment, you are feeding the brew again and you are holding in the carbonation. Whatever kind of glass jar you use, you need to be able to keep the air out and the bubbles in, so SECURE the lid!  You should also check your brew daily, relieving the pressure by unscrewing the lid briefly. Always leave plenty of space in the top of your jar and always open slowly and carefully due to internal pressure that is naturally building up inside

ADD Fresh or Frozen Fruit
Any fresh or frozen fruit will make a tasty brew.  Here are some ideas: Cover the bottom of your jar with any fresh or frozen fruit. Fresh grapes work wonderfully well. In fact, adding fresh grapes to any flavor will make it super fizzy. My current favorite is to put about ½ cup of frozen organic raspberries into a clean 32 oz.  glass juice bottle and fill it to the shoulder with your 1^st ferment. Secure the lid as tight as you can get it. Let it sit on your kitchen counter or shelf for a day or two or three --just long enough to get a big fizz when you carefully unscrew the top.  Then refrigerate and enjoy. 

Or use your favorite fruit juice. You can use any kind of fruit juice for this process.  Use  4-6 ounces of juice for each quart. The higher the sugar content the greater the bubbles will be. (Once again, most of the sugar will be eaten by the pro-bacteria.)  I have had great success with blueberry, apple, pear, and pomegranate.  You can also add spices. This is where experimentation comes in.  There are lots of recipes online as well.  One of my favorites is ½ cup organic pear juice with about a tablespoon diced candied ginger. 

Oh! and I also add a pinch of LOVE to all my recipes. 

NOTE: When you add your first ferment to your jar for a second ferment, you will want to strain the tea, using a mesh strainer and a funnel as there will be a few remnants of the SCOBY, the yeast strings in the tea. They are harmless and necessary, but most people find them unpleasant to have in their booch! 

Always mark your bottles with the brew date and the flavor and be sure to burp your bottles every few days. Gasses will build up quickly.  I let my tea second-ferment for about 3 days. Refrigerate and enjoy. 

Save your SCOBYs and at least ½ cup of starter for each half-gallon you want to make. Remove it with a clean tong.
* If you do not have starter tea (absolutely necessary) or a SCOBY, you can make your own. Buy some fresh kombucha from the store and use the brewing method above. Wait for a SCOBY to form. It might take several weeks.  Then use your SCOBY and ½ cup of the starter to follow the instructions above.

Oh! and I also add a pinch of LOVE to all my recipes.

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Cinnamon Mandarin Cranberry Holiday Kombucha

You will need: One quart finished 1^st ferment kombucha starter tea. (Our favorite kombucha ferment is made from 2 Organically Hip Hibiscus tea bags and 2 Paul Newman’s Organic Black tea bags to ½ cup sugar and ½ cup starter and ½ gallon filtered, de-chlorinated water, and one SCOBY.)  If you don’t have starter tea and a SCOBY, you can ask a friend or buy online.

Recipe: Decant 32 ounces of starter tea to a fermenting vessel of choice. We often use quality glass juice bottles, quality fermenting bottles or, canning jars with canning lids.  (It must be able to tightly seal out air).
Add 1 teaspoon quality cinnamon (We use 4 Ceylon Cinnamon capsules).  Peel and add 2 fresh mandarin oranges and 6 fresh or frozen cranberries, and one pinch of LOVE.

 Ferment for one or 2 days,  Chill, strain, and enjoy!

Yummy Fermented Cabbage and Carrot (Kraut)

We've learned to love fermented cabbage. This food is often referred to as kraut or sauerkraut but is very different from kraut in a can.  Fermented kraut is healthy, full of beneficial bacteria, enzymes, and vitamins.  Most importantly, it is delicious.

Below is my tried and true recipe.  It contains several tasty additions to basic kraut.

Materials needed:
1/2 gallon glass mason jar with canning lid
OR
Quart sized canning jars with canning lids
OR
1/2 gallon spring-top, Fido-style fermenting jar. (that is what I use now)

Optional but helpful:
2 glass weights from fermentools.com
Painter's tape and marker

Ingredients:
1 green cabbage
1 purple cabbage
4 peeled and shredded carrots
1/4 cup whey (I use kefir whey) You could also use whey from yogurt.
5 teaspoons Himalayan salt or Celtic Sea Salt (for minerals, crunch, taste, and integrity of kraut)
Spring water or dechlorinated water
Optional:
1/2 cup or more of  beet kvass
1-2 tablespoons fresh caraway seeds
One pinch of LOVE.  I add this to all my recipes.

Instructions:
Wash cabbage and remove outer leaves, cut in half, place flat side down and make thin slices with a long knife. Cut the long slices in half. (Some people use a food processor.  I prefer the shredded texture)
Clean and shred carrots.
Mix sliced cabbage and carrot together in a large bowl with salt and optional caraway seeds.
Begin to load cabbage mixture into your jar(s). Use a wooden spoon or pounder to pound and press as much kraut as you can stuff into the jar, up to the shoulder of the jar. The more you pound and press, the better because the salt will begin to make juice.
Add the whey (if using more than one jar, add whey to each jar)
Add the optional beet kvass
Add enough water to cover kraut and press down again.
Top with the glass weights. (You can do it without these, but they are helpful to keep the kraut submerged.

Secure the top, or the lid, depending on your jar type, and use painter's tape to mark the date.

Set aside, away from direct sunlight, for 3 days and refrigerate.

Once your kraut is cold it will keep for months, though you will eat it long before that!

We eat kraut as a side dish with breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  It is also yummy with cooked apples or on a sandwich.

In case you were wondering, my fermented dill pickle recipe is on my other blog.

Blessings to you and yours!

Click the Print Friendly button if you want to print the recipe, with or without the photo.

Another Kraut Recipe we love to eat: 
If you love spicy food, click on this link and try the  Buffalo Kraut recipe from Cultured Food Life.

Dear Me, 2017

This year you want MORE!  

More quality time spent on refreshing or purposeful activities.
More time with God, family, nature, and art.
More gratitude.
More understanding of the differences in others.
More kindness. 

You also want LESS!
Less concern over things outside of your control (which is most things)
Less stress (created by not doing the above)
And you want MORE of LESS!
Last year you reduced clutter and plastic. You want more of less clutter and plastic.

You also want LESS of MORE!
Enough already!  Computers were supposed to reduce paper piles and files. You want much less of paper clutter! Figure it out! Digitize those photos while you are at it!

 
Only 4 things....
That is all. 

Dear Darling Motherless Daughter

If you are reading this, you are invited into a grieving heart.

A redeemed heart

One full of love

Aging, maturing, remembering...

A heart missing someone who called me darling

And pointed the way to Jesus

Who remembered every birthday

And laughed at my jokes

The playful one who called me "playmate"

MOM

Dear Darling Motherless Daughter,

I am no longer at the other end of the phone line, or at an email address, or even in my lovely home full of things that remind you of me.

I can not hold your hand or pray over your problems or point you to heaven for answers.

Though my scent lingers on that sweatshirt in your drawer and my old copper ring encircles your finger, I am, and forever will be, in a different place than the things I left behind.

You know, Darling, that I delighted in being your mom.

You know I was proud of my children.

You know I gave you everything I could give to help you in life. You still have every part of me that existed, except my body. You have me stored in your memory.

I know you miss me. I missed my mom too.

But, Darling, you also know where I am and you know with confidence that where I am, you will also be one day.

What a day that will be. Trust me!

Now dry your eyes and hug your wonderful husband, knowing you are loved.

Always and Forever,

Mom