🍄Kombucha02 First Fermentation

Now that we have the SCOBY pellicle, we can actually make the kombucha.

Ingredients

  • 14 cups filtered water

  • 1 cup granulated white sugar

  • 8 bags black tea

  • 2 cups unflavoured kombucha, ideally from a previous batch

Supplies

Steps

  1. Bring 4 cups water to a boil, dissolve sugar in water, remove from heat, add all 8 tea bags, and steep for 20 minutes

  2. Remove tea bags, add 10 cups room temperature water

    • Ensure water is room temperature before continuing; hot water will kill the SCOBY pellicle!

  3. The goal here is to combine 2 cups raw kombucha, 14 cups black tea, and SCOBY pellicle in a 1 gallon jar. Whether you're using leftovers from a previous first fermentation or from ../01 growing the pellicle, you want to pour 2 cups of kombucha out of that jar and set those 2 cups aside. If there's any kombucha left (as there would be if you're coming ../01 growing the pellicle), pour it all out. With thoroughly clean hands, set the pellicle on an equally clean plate. Pour the tea from the pot into the jar, pour the 2 cups of kombucha into the jar, ensure the black tea and kombucha are mixed with a clean spoon, then slip the pellicle into the jar.

  4. Cover with cheese cloth and secure with rubber band

  5. Store in dark, room-temperature area and wait about a week

  6. Begin tasting your kombucha every day. It will start out rather sweet, then mellow out, and eventually taste like vinegar. When it gets to whatever level of sweetness you prefer, immediately move on to the ../03 second fermentation