brewing kombucha

Use this recipe to execute your Jun Kombucha Primary Fermentation to perfection!

How To Brew Jun Kombucha Tea

Filtered Water

Honey

Funnel

Thermometer Or Adhesive Temperature Strip

1-3 pH Strips

Kombucha

Bring two cups of water to a boil, then remove the pot from heat.

Steep the tea for 5-10 minutes.

Allow tea to cool slightly (If you add the honey in while its too hot, it can scorch the microbes that you want to preserve, too cool and it will be hard to fully dissolve).

Pour sweetened tea into the glass brew jar and fill with filtered water, leaving enough room to add the culture, and some head space (about 4").

The addition of the water should bring the tea mixture to about room temperature. Just make sure it's cool to the touch before moving on.

Add your Jun starter culture (SCOBY)  (pellicle with 12 fluid ounces of mature jun starter tea).

Cover the jar and leave it to ferment ideally between 75-78°F. Start tasting after day 5 to asses the progress. If it is still too sweet, allow it to continue fermenting as the full fermentation can take up to 21 days.

Kombucha Primary Fermentation One Gallon Kombucha Recipe

How To Brew Kombucha 

Gallon Filtered Water*

Cup Organic Cane Sugar

Tablespoons Loose Leaf Black Or Green Tea Or 6 Tea Bags

Kombucha SCOBY– 1.5 Cups Kombucha Starter Tea + SCOBY Pellicle

Thermometer Or Adhesive Temperature Strip

pH Strips

In a small pot, bring 2 cups of water to a boil - turn off and remove from heat.

Place tea in the pot. If you're using loose-leaf, you can use a tea ball to make removal easier.

Allow the tea to steep for 5-10 minutes, then remove from the pot.

Add the sugar and stir until it’s fully dissolved.

Pour the contents of the pot into the gallon brew jar.

Top the jar off with cool filtered water, making sure to leave room for your culture plus a little breathing roomu002du002dabout 3 inches. Before you move on to the next step, the temperature of the tea should be below 85F.

Gently stir in your kombucha starter culture (kombucha SCOBY)

Using a spoon, remove a small amount of liquid from the brew jar to test the pH. If the pH reads 4.5 or below, continue to step 11. If the pH reads above 4.5, slowly add distilled white vinegar (never raw vinegar) and test until it reaches that point.

Secure opening with a breathable cloth or coffee filter over the opening of the jar with a rubber band. This is important to keep bugs out and allow your ferment to breathe.

Place your brew jar undisturbed in a warm spot, out of direct sunlight for 7-21 days, brewing time depends on temperature.

After 7 days in the desired temperature range [75-85°F], it’s time to start taste testing. It should only be slightly sweet. If it tastes overly sweet, then it needs more time to ferment. Cover and check back daily until it reaches a balance of slightly sweet, slightly tart

When you’ve finished your primary fermentation, it’s time to move to the secondary fermentation. The secondary fermentation is where you flavor and carbonate your kombucha in air tight bottles.Ready to bottle? Hop over to our post on how to bottle kombucha to learn how to do a secondary fermentation!

Learn everything you need to know to make delicious bubbly kombucha at home, including a simple kombucha recipe, the supplies need, basic brewing methods, bottling and carbonation tips, and more!

Homemade Kombucha Recipe (How to Make Kombucha)

water

starter liquid (plain finished kombucha,

white sugar, organic/raw is ideal

Start by brewing 1 gallon of sweet tea: combine the called-for water, tea, and sugar in a pot on the stove (or other container large enough to steep the tea in hot water)

Allow the sweet tea to cool to lukewarm or room temperature. 75-85F is ideal.

Transfer the lukewarm sweet tea to your chosen kombucha brewing vessel.

Add the starter liquid and SCOBY.

Cover the brewing vessel with a cloth towel (not cheesecloth) and set in a warm location out of direct sunlight. Again, 75-85F is ideal. Use a kombucha warming pad or incandescent holiday lights to keep the vessel warm if needed.

Allow the kombucha to ferment for 7-20 days. (This is considered &quot;primary fermentation&quot;). Time depends on strength of SCOBY/brew, temperature, and personal flavor preference. Young SCOBIES will take longer than thick mature ones, and cooler temperatures will take longer than warm conditions. Do a taste-test or pH test to assess doneness.

Once it&#39;s fermented to your liking, add the kombucha to pressure-safe glass brewing bottles. Be sure to reserve a cup or two to start the next batch! Also leave a couple inches of headroom in the bottles if you&#39;d like to add a couple ounces of fruit juice or puree for flavor and secondary fermentation.

Leave the bottled kombucha out at room temperature for another 2 to 10 days -depending on temperature, flavor, and carbonation activity. It&#39;s important to carefully monitor the carbonation during second ferment by routinely burping the bottles.

Please see our guide on secondary fermentation and carbonation for more information - including flavoring ideas and how to achieve excellent carbonation.

Once the kombucha is carbonated to your liking, move it to the refrigerator to halt secondary ferment - and enjoy!

After bottling, make more fresh sweet tea to add back to the crock to start a new batch of kombucha. Allow it to cool slightly, and pour it in! Using the continuous brew method, we simply pour the replacement tea right on top of the SCOBY and remaining kombucha in our crock. Or, you can take out your SCOBY, then add sweet tea, starter liquid, and the SCOBY like we did to start this recipe.

Do I need to feed my scoby, while storing it in the fridge? If so, how?

How long is it safe to leave kombucha on the counter fermenting with fruit before refrigeration? Sometimes I fail to bottle it and refrigerate it if I haven't finished my previous bre.

2 questions:  1. I have homemade apple cider vinegar brewing (currently 3 months old).  It has formed a scoby, really thin but covering the top of a 1 gallon jar.  Can I use this scoby to start a brand new batch of Kombucha?     2.  Put several large scobys  in Kombucha liquid and have been storing in the back of my second refrigerator for almost 2 years.  Do you think they will be okay to start a brand new batch of Kombucha?    Like you, I have made any for awhile but ready to start up again.  God Bless.

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Top 3 brewing kombucha recipes from across the web

The most viewed brewing kombucha recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

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How To Brew Jun Kombucha Tea

How To Brew Kombucha

Homemade Kombucha Recipe (How to Ma...

The most viewed brewing kombucha recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine