Making kombucha in tropical country like Malaysia, it doesn't take 10 days of 1st fermentation, I don't like it too sour, hence it only takes about 5 days of 1st fermentation then move to 2nd fermentation.
Pineapple Kombucha |
Strawberry Kombucha |
Scoby |
Ration of 3 litre Kombucha 1st fermentation:
Scoby and juicy : Water : Sugar : Tea leaves
Scoby+ 10% juice (from previous batch) : 100% Filtered Water (I am using Kangen 9.5pH) : 10% Sugar : 2% tea leaves.
250g juice : 2.5 litre water : 250g Sugar : 50g Tea leaves ( I'd like it to have stronger tea taste)
Tools you need in 1st fermentation:
Pot and stove, sugar, tea leaves, 3 litre glass container, clean cloth, elastic band, scoby and kombucha juice starter.
1st Fermentation Steps:
1) Boil water with tea leaves. Let's cool it till warm about 40°C.
2) Add sugar to mix well.
3) Pour everything in a 3 litre jar, cover with kitchen towel or cloth, using an elastic band to secure the edges to avoid little bugs from sneaking in.
4) Let sit for 5 days. You should be able to see a thin layer of new scoby is starting to form on 3rd day.
Kombucha in 1st fermentation in 3 litre glass container |
2nd Fermentation Ingredients:
Fruits that you preferred, play around with your choice, I like ginger (also for more fizzy) too much! 100g Sugar if you are using sweet fruits like grapes, oranges, pineapple, mango... 120g sugar if you are making ginger kombucha. Adjust sugar amount to your liking.
Tools you need for 2nd fermentation:
Sugar, fruits, chopping board and knife, bottles (flip-top/ screw cap), a sieve, a jar
2nd Fermentation Steps:
1) Diced fruits, even ginger is good! Size that can fit in bottle easily.
2) Remove Scoby.
3) Prepare a jar, add sugar in it, use a sieve to sift away unwanted recidue then only pour kombucha into it slowly, bubbles is forming in this Carbonation reaction, then slowly teh-tarik the rest of kombucha until they are evenly mixed.
4) Reserve 250g juice for next making.
5) Put in fruit dices in every bottle (the amount for each bottle roughly like 1 1/2 grapes), fill kombucha until bottle neck by using the jar, allow 1-2 inches of head space.
6) Let it sit in room temperature for 2 days before storing in fridge.
Sometimes you get surprises, some too strong batch and yet you forget to store them in fridge!
Only happened once.... that I won't forget anymore!
Enjoy!