Flavouring Your Kombucha!
Flavouring your Kombucha!
Flavoring Kombucha is a lot of fun and allows you the ability to be super creative.
The Possibilities are limitless, you can add good quality fruit, veggies, herbs/ spices, roots, dried fruit or even jam and syrup/cordial to your kombucha.
The best thing about flavouring your kombucha is that the beneficial elements present in the flavouring such as nutrients, antioxidants and minerals will be absorbed into the kombucha and broken down into forms that are easier for the body to absorb. How good is that 😊 !
By the way, you can experiment with varying amounts of different flavourings to find the balance you prefer and get you that great-tasting flavoured homemade kombucha 🙌🏼.
Lets get started!
Below I describe two general ways of flavouring Kombucha.
Method #1:
Suitable for flavouring agents that can be dissolved like juice, cordial, powders… . Not, suitable for fruits and chunky bits.
Place your SCOBY and enough kombucha starter liquid for your next batch of kombucha in a separate Jar or jug (preferably a jar or jug suitable for kombucha preferably not steel).
Remove the kombucha starter liquid from the top of your vessel, as you want to use the strongest bacteria for your next kombucha batch and cover your jar/jug with your kombucha starter liquid with a cloth as you did with your kombucha brewing Jar.
Add your flavouring agents to your kombucha and give it a gentle stir.
Bottle your kombucha from the tap or use a funnel if you want to remove any unwanted yeast that floats in your kombucha.
Close the bottles with the kombucha inside leaving as little air as possible and then leave them for a few days at room temperature (around 20˚C ) before moving them to the fridge. This allows for the second ferment and natural carbonation of the kombucha.
Now you can clean your kombucha brewing jar and make a fresh batch of kombucha.
Method#2:
Suitable for all flavouring agents.
Add your flavouring agents to the bottles where you want to bottle your kombucha.
Fill the bottles with Kombucha. Ensure you leave enough Kombucha liquid for the next kombucha batch in your brewing vessel, preferably 10-20%. You can use the tap to place the kombucha liquid into the bottles with ease, if the tap is restricted then there may be a kombucha SCOBY that has sunk to the bottom of your Kombucha batch and needs moving aside to allow for the flow of Kombucha to move more easily through the tap.
When filling your bottles make sure there is as little air as possible to ensure a better natural carbonation of the kombucha.
Close the bottles with the kombucha and leave them for a few days at room temperature (around 20˚C) before moving them to the fridge. This allows for the second ferment to take place and for a natural carbonation of the kombucha.
Now you can clean your kombucha brewing jar and make a fresh batch of kombucha. Using the SCOBY and 10-20% of Kombucha starter liquid you put aside earlier.
Time guide for second fermentation:
If you have used sugary additions a good reference point would be around four days at room temperature before you move your bottled kombucha to the fridge
For non sugary additions it’s about 7 to 14 days. But always check the pressure to avoid explosions as you don't want to be cleaning up the glass and kombucha you have spent time making.
Tips:
With Method#2 you can choose to add different amounts of flavouring agents into each bottle with the kombucha to experiment with the fermentation process.
If you want to monitor the pressure of the kombucha in your bottles, bottle all your kombucha in glass except for one, which you can bottle in plastic. That way you can squeeze the plastic bottle and check how much carbonation has been created. This will give you a good idea of how carbonated the kombucha is.
I hope this little flavouring guide will help you make the perfect brew for you and give you great-tasting flavoured kombucha.