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Kombucha tea is a sweet tea infusion that is fermented with a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). This beverage has a wide range of reported health benefits, and has been used to aid digestion, reduce or stop acid reflux, eliminate “morning breath”, improve quality of bowel movements, reduce or eliminate sick feelings from drinking alcohol. Best of all, though, it’s delicious and can be prepared in many ways. Many people, including myself, find that when it is made with black tea, its flavour and texsture are similar to sparkling apple cider. You will need to get a kombucha SCOBY to make your own kombucha tea. If you ask around, you’ll probably find someone who would just love to pass one on to you with a little kombucha tea to inoculate your first batch. Otherwise, check craigslist, do a google search, etc. So, here is how to make your first batch, and continue brewing more…

Ingredients:

• 1 gallon of water
• 1 1/2 cups sugar, any kind except honey because through time it will kill the culture
• 2 tablespoons of tea, or 3 tea bags, any kind will do, though I highly recommend black tea
• 1 kombucha SCOBY with 1/2 cup of kombucha tea

Procedure:

1. Mix half of the water and all of the sugar in a pot and heat to boil.
2. Once mixture is boiling, add tea, stir, and remove from heat.
3. Allow the sweet tea to steep for several hours until the liquid has cooled to about room temperature.
4. Strain the sweet tea into a gallon-size container, preferably one with a spout near the bottom.
5. Add remainder of the water and stir it until completely mixed.
6. Add kombucha kombucha and 1/2 cup kombucha tea to the sweet tea. Stir.
7. Cover with a breathable material such as cloth or food-grade screen.
8. Place container somewhere dark and warm, such as on top of a refrigerator or in a cupboard by a stove.
9. Wait 8 to 14 days for the culture to digest most of the sugar and tea. From about day 8 and on, take a little taste test to see how far along the tea is in the fermentation process. Once sweetness is no longer the main property of the beverage (and usually fizzy), it is ready to drink. From this point, if you continue to wait, the tea will eventually turn into vinegar.
10. Drink some kombucha tea, save about 1 to 2 quarts to inoculate the next batch, and place the rest in a cold environment to slow the fermentation so that you may enjoy the same quality beverage for several days.
11. Make a new batch by repeating the above steps, adjusting the amount of water, sugar, and tea you use depending on how much kombucha tea you saved. (If you saved 2 quarts of kombucha tea, then use quarts of water and 3/4 cup sugar, and 1 tablespoon of tea or 2 teabags.