You will need:

• A SCOBY (we have plenty if you need one!)
• ½ cup of the ‘mother’ liquid, this is the liquid from the jar the SCOBY came from
• ½ cup white sugar
• 2 litres filtered water
• 4 teaspoons of tea, you can mix up the flavours, I use at least 2 tsp of black tea then mix up the rest with green tea and jasmine or a fruity blend – Parry’s Tea ‘Desire’ makes amazing kombucha (not affiliated in any way I just LOVE their tea. Their website is here www.parrystea.co.nz)
• 2.5 litre jar (this can be larger if you want to make larger brews)
• 1.5 – 2 litre flip top bottle (the ones from The Warehouse are ok to start with but I found they’re not very airtight so you don’t get great fizz. The Grolsch swing top bottles are much better.

What to do:

• Get your SCOBY and it’s ‘mother liquid’ and place it in the large jar
• Boil the water and when it’s boiling add in the tea and sugar
• Give it a good stir till it’s all dissolved
• Turn off the heat and leave it to brew for 30 – 60 minutes depending how strong you want it
• Strain out the tea and let the liquid cool on the bench
• Once the liquid has cooled to room temperature add it in with your SCOBY in the 2.5 litre jar
• Cover the jar with a breathable cloth and secure it in place with an elastic band or hair tie
• Wait 5 – 10 days (usually the first brew is about 7 days, then it gets shorter as your SCOBY grows and also if the weather is warmer)
• You want it to be not too sweet but not vinegary either, you can taste it periodically to check how it is doing
• When it’s ready, pour some into your swing top, airtight bottles (leave at least half a cup of liquid remaining in the jar) and then either refrigerate the bottle immediately or leave on the counter for a day or so to get some fizz
• Enjoy!

To Note:

• REMEMBER to ‘burp’ your bottles once they are on the counter or the fridge. They can build up quite a lot of pressure, especially when you leave it on the counter, so once a day take the lid off and then put it back on again to let some of the gas out
• Every time you take the liquid out of the jar make sure to replace it following the above procedure. And then rinse and repeat to get new brews
• If you don’t want any more for a while then you can leave the SCOBY in the liquid for as long as it’s not needed. Then when you’re ready to start brewing again just drain most of the liquid (leave ½ cup) and start again.

If you have any kombucha left over, you can make delicious Kombucha Gelatin Gummies.

Let us know in the comments if you have made this!