Introduction to… Your first steps into Kombucha

How to start your first Kombucha batch 

First to feed the Scoby and make him wake up make the tea:

– 5g of tea (black, white or green)
– 100g of sugar
– 1 liter of water

Let it cool to room temperature and add the scoby. Now as last you add the backslop (the liquid that is in the bag with the scoby). The backslop is necessary to lower the ph and to add some bacteria to the tea and kickstart the fermentation process.

Cover the jar with a cloth so no flies can go in and let it sit at room temperature in a dark place where it is not disturbed. Kombucha likes it quiet and calm.

After a few days (it can also take up to two weeks, so be patient) you will discover a thin skin forming on top of the tea. Let it sour the liquid. As soon as you like the sourness of your kombucha (like apple juice), the scoby is alive and you can proceed with a new tea.

Make a new tea according to the following recipe:

• 5g tea per liter
• 70g sugar per liter
• 10% of backslop (the sour liquid where the scoby grows in)

Add the scoby and put it aside. Depending on the temperature and activity of the bacteria you will discover the growth of a new scoby on top of the tea. This is the daughter. Again, as soon as you like the flavor it is time to bottle. 

Bottling and carbonation

Therefore you take out the scoby, put it in a jar and fill it up with your kombucha. The rest you can fill in bottles. I recommend flip-top bottles (beugel flessen, bouteille à bouchon mécanique). With these you can easily check how the carbonation is evolving by just open it and check if there are bubbles appearing. Let your kombucha sit for about 3-4 days at room temperature and check regularly.  

If you want a sparkling drink it is now the moment to add a little sugar to feed the remaining yeasts. Sugar can be a fruit juice, a sweet infusion of spices, fresh or dried fruits. Be creative. Keep in mind not to put too much sugar into the bottle (danger of explosion). 4-5% is a good rule to stick to. 

Here is an example with apple juice:

• 1l of kombucha
• 4,25% apple juice = 42,5g

You don’t need much.  

What to do with the scoby?

With every brew a new scoby will form. You don’t need them all. Give it to friends or keep it in a jar for experimental brews. 

Store it in a dark place in a closed jar. If you store it in the fridge it will take longer to restart fermentation (bacteria and yeasts are asleep).

The older the scoby gets, the slower the fermentation. It is time to retire. Compost it and use a younger one for your kombucha brewing. 

If you want to learn more about it and have a good guide on the brewing process you can get the following book:

https://www.standaardboekhandel.be/p/the-big-book-of-kombucha-9781612124353

A deeper dive into fermentation in general this is the best book I think:

https://www.standaardboekhandel.be/p/the-art-of-fermentation-9781603582865

Artwork by Toha De Brant for our ongoing label collection