Homemade Kombucha

Method

1. Make sweet tea: bring 500 ml of the water to the boil, pour over the tea and leave to steep for 5 minutes. Strain, stir in the sugar until dissolved, then add the remaining cold water. Leave until completely cool, as heat will harm the culture.
2. Add the culture: pour the cool tea into a large, clean glass jar. Add the SCOBY and its starter liquid.
3. Cover: cover with a tightly woven cloth or kitchen paper held on with an elastic band, to let it breathe while keeping out fruit flies.
4. Ferment: leave somewhere warm (20–25°C) and out of direct sunlight for 7–10 days. From day 6, taste a little with a straw: it is ready when it is tart with just a hint of sweetness. The longer it ferments, the less sugar remains.
5. Bottle: lift out the SCOBY with clean hands and keep it with 200 ml of the kombucha to start your next batch. Pour the rest into bottles and refrigerate. For extra fizz, add a few slices of ginger or berries, seal and leave at room temperature for 1–2 days before chilling, opening carefully.

Why it's good for you: Kombucha is a living drink, rich in organic acids and a community of bacteria and yeasts, and green or black tea brings its own protective polyphenols. Homemade kombucha is unpasteurised and alive, often with far more live cultures than shop-bought brands, many of which are filtered, pasteurised or sweetened. Brewing your own also costs very little once you have a SCOBY.

Good to know: Kombucha naturally contains a small trace of alcohol, typically well under 0.5%, as well as some caffeine from the tea; keep fermentation to the times given and store it chilled. Start with a small glass a day. Use only glass jars (not metal or glazed ceramic). Throw it away if you see fuzzy, coloured mould on the surface. If you are pregnant or have a weakened immune system, please speak to a qualified practitioner first.