This is a tea-based kombucha recipe, to which you can add lovely seasonal, garden-inspired twists (see below).
It’s important to create a strong, vibrant flavour before adding your scoby, as kombucha is a tangy drink and delicate flavours can be overwhelmed.
By Rachel Dethample
Our Wild Kombucha Recipe Makes 1 litre
Ingredients
- 4 tea bag or 4 level tbsp loose-leaf tea (black, green, white or herbal)
- 1 litre boiling filtered water
- 85g raw, organic caster sugar
- 1 kombucha from a previous batch, or 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
You will also need
- A 1.5 litre jar or jug, for fermentation
- Cheesecloth or a clean tea towel
- Bottles, for storage
Method
- Brew the tea with the boiling water in a heatproof jug, allowing it to steep for 30 minutes -1 hour. Strain the tea into the jar or jug, then whisk in the sugar until dissolves (I tend to ferment kombucha in the Kilner-style jar).
- Once your tea has cooled to room temperature, add your scoby. Pour in the 2 tablespoons kombucha or apple cider vinegar – this helps to kick-start fermentation; add more if you want to speed up the fermentation (or brewing) process. Cover with a clean cloth and leave to ferment at room temperature (10-22 °C) for 5 days to 2 weeks.
- Strain the kombucha through the cloth-lined sieve into a jug. Pour into bottles and seal with corks or stoppers. Leave at room temperature for 24 hours to build carbonation. Then, keep in the fridge until ready to drink, or for up to 6 weeks; the longer you leave it the tangier it will become.
Seasonal Foraged Kombucha Flavours
Blend the kombucha with a large handful of wild blossom, fruit or leaves, and an extra 1-2 tablespoons sugar (or honey, if using jun), to taste. Strain through a cloth and pour into bottles. Seal and ferment at room temperature for a day before placing in the fridge. For optimum flavour, drink within 1 month. These are some of my favourites.
Spring:
Summer:
Elderflower, Dog rose and wild strawberries
Autumn:
Blackberry and fig leaf, Pear and wild fennel, Elderberry and Alexander seed, Crab apple and bay
Winter:
HOW TO STORE YOUR KOMBUCHA SCOBY
Kombucha scobys like lots of oxygen and they don’t like to be cold. To meet these minor demands is easy. Simply store your scoby in a jar large enough for it and enough liquid from a previous batch of kombucha or jun to cover it.
Keep the jar covered with a thick, but breathable cloth vs a lid and store at room temperature. It will keep for a month (often longer) without needing any attention at all but to keep it happy refresh the liquid with newly brewed sweetened tea or simply drop a little sugar or honey into the jar – this will literally keep it sweet, as well as well-fed and thriving.
You can store more than more kombucha or jun scoby in the same jar and if you’re lucky, the ones you have will produce babies – i.e. new layers you can remove and gift to friends (or experiment with in recipes, such as making scoby ‘jerky’ by dehydrating it and brushing it with a sweet, salty and spicy marinade.
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