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Kombucha · Recipe
Kombucha SCOBY Starter
Recipe card
Kombucha SCOBY Starter
Ingredients
- 1 gallonFiltered Water
- 1 cupOrganic Cane Sugar
- 4Black Tea Bags (or 2 tbsp loose leaf)
- 1 cupStarter Kombucha (unflavored)
- 1SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture)
Instructions
- 1Boil 4 cups water and dissolve sugar completely
- 2Steep tea bags for 10-15 minutes then remove
- 3Add remaining water to cool mixture to room temp
- 4Pour into clean 1-gallon jar
- 5Add starter kombucha and SCOBY
- 6Cover with cloth and secure with rubber band
- 7Ferment at 70-85°F for 7-10 days
- 8Taste daily after day 5 until desired tartness
- 9Reserve 1 cup and SCOBY for next batch
Notes
- Keep away from direct sunlight. Warmer temps ferment faster. Always reserve starter liquid.
What the recipe assumes you have
The gallon jar and the breathable cover are the two items the recipe names that are easy to get wrong. The jar must be glass and wide-mouthed, because the SCOBY has to come out whole; the cover must let air through but not fruit flies, which rules out a solid lid.
Jar and cover together
Cornucopia Brands 1 Gallon Glass Kombucha Jar with Cotton Cloth Cover
Why it fits
It is the gallon the recipe specifies, in glass, with a wide mouth you can reach into to lift the SCOBY out, and it ships with the cotton cloth cover and band that steps six calls for. Glass is the right material because kombucha finishes around pH 2.5-3.5 and that acidity will attack metal and pull compounds out of plastic over a long ferment. A plastic storage lid is included for after fermentation.
Limitations
Glass at a full gallon is heavy and awkward to pour from, and there is no spigot, so serving means ladling or tipping. Cotton covers need washing between batches. The jar takes up real counter space for the seven to ten days the recipe runs.
Culture and starter tea
Bucha Brewers Deluxe Kombucha Starter Kit with SCOBY and Starter Tea
Supplies the two ingredients the recipe cannot improvise: a live SCOBY and the cup of unflavoured starter kombucha that acidifies the batch from day one and keeps mould out.
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