Interested in gut health? New to fermentation? Fermented foods at your fingertips. A few tips for you to make a simple, delicious, Low Sugar Home Made Kombucha, much cheaper than store bought kombucha.

How many bottles of kombucha did I buy before I started making my own? Literally: two. I kind of liked it, but not enough for the price tag. Making it seemed a good solution, but I didn’t have notions of how. For a time I forgot about it, but then, a family member left some on my lap. To be honest, the SKOBY, or probiotic mother in the jar, didn’t inspire me too much trust, and my friend’s one-fermentation kombucha didn’t have a taste I was into. However, now that I had SKoBY I might as well look into how to make it and see how to make some I’d like. all it took was finding out it could be a carbonated drink with ginger – I love ginger. I knew as a fact turmeric was very healthy and the combination with ginger seemed appealing. And it was fantastic!

Do you struggle with sugar cravings? Do you love your soda? Kombucha is the perfect home made soda replacement ! Better, you can actually try your own taste combinations everytime you fill a bottle to proceed to the second fermentation. It literally can be different every time you make it. You can adapt it to seasons by adding seasonal fruit and plants. Here is to learning HOW you make it.

Kombucha Bubbles come with two fermentations

Kombucha is made in two steps, or two fermentations. The first doesn’t end up in carbonation. It ferments with a simple cloth or paper on top. The way I make kombucha, the real fruity taste and carbonation results from the second fermentation – bottled kombucha.

Why ferment?

Fermentation consists in developing good bacteria of choice into a food or drink you like so you can consume it and develop good bacteria in your digestive system. Your digestive system contains a wide variety of bacteria, good and bad. Providing good ones allows you to keep your immune system in check. Good bacteria are defense against aggressors, and allow your nutrients to get absorbed from your digestive system into your blood. The more diverse your good bacteria sources are ( kombucha, kefir, sourdough bread, kimchi, yogurt, fermented vegetables), the healthier you are and the more balanced your digestive system.

What feeds your bacteria ? SUGAR and PREBIOTICS

Prebiotics are contained in fibers, Bacteria feeds on them and sugar. The more prebiotics in your foods ( fresh fruits and vegetables contain the most along with many vitamins and trace minerals ) the more your good bacteria will be abundant in your gut. That’s why I advocate for steaming food: steaming food preserves not only the taste and vitamins, but also the fibers ( texture!) in your foods while allowing it to remain easy to digest.

For the first fermentation, all you need are tea and sugar.

My Low Sugar Home Made kombucha contains a very discreet kind of tea, Oolong. I am not too fond of black teas, like Earl Grey (Bergamot) or English Breakfast – or at least not in sweet drinks. Frontier’s organic Oolong though, is very smooth, has a discreet taste that is very agreable and does not overpower the sweetener I use for second fermentation. May be it is the brand’s quality ( I will vouch for Frontier coop, all their herbs teas, and spices are so far excellent!), may be the type of tea in general. It just works. I may once try some jasmine tea combination. For now, I am very happy with oolong.

For sugar, I use organic sugar that I dissolve into hot water then mix with the tea.

I ferment the sweet tea with 500ml kombucha from a previous fermentation and one SKOBY. The SKOBY is. the probiotic mother, a white rubber-like circle that growths while the first fermentation happens. That way you only get more, so it’s easy to give away to your friends.

First fermentation takes 1-2 weeks. At home I leave the one gallon first fermentation jar alone it up to a month. Iff I leave, sometimes two. All it changes is a slighty more sour taste, compensated by the second fermentation.

Second fermentation involves fruity sweetener and bottled fermentation

The second fermentation consists in bottling the fermented tea, and adding in a sweetener of choice that provides flavor to your kombucha. Carbonation is developed during the second fermentation. It takes about three days to start carbonating. In the summer, beware of not letting bottled kombucha ferment too long or the pressure from fermentation may end up in an explosion.

The Fruity Flavor of Fresh Fruit

Most days I make Low Sugar Home Made kombucha with a mix of organic grated ginger and turmeric. Turmeric is famous for his anti-inflammatory virtues, activated by ginger ( or pepper). The two roots pair very well! I recently tried other combinations and will share the results soon.

No need to add more steps ! I do not feel the need to remove the roots at the end of fermentation, or blend anything. Even with guests! I either just eat the grated root in the kombucha, or strain it with a little strainer as I pour it into the glass. It remains a product that is sweet, but its sweetness doesn’t overpower the flavoring. It is a very natural sweetness, akin to the one of a fresh fruit.

ingredients and equipment

First thing, you need the probiotic, a Skoby. What is THAT? Ask around, you probably know a crunchy someone that makes their own kombucha ! They are the best guarantee that the probiotic works. This person will have to provide not only a SKOBY but also 500 ml of their own kombucha so you can make your own. So bring your gallon jar when you get your SKOBY!

Organic ingredients

You need organic products to make kombucha: fermentation requires developing bacteria of choice, which is impeded by pesticide treatments. Bacteria ( probiotic) feeds on prebiotic, i.e. the fiber contained in the ginger and turmeric roots I grate into my bottles. Pesticides kill all bacteria – wether good or bad. it leaves in its wake a vacuum for just any bacteria to build up in its demise. The downside is, you never know wether it will be a good one. Something can ferment, you just don’t know if hat bacteria could be toxic to you. In short… prefer organic.

• Organic Turmeric root. You will find them at your local health store.
• Organic Ginger root
• Frontier Coop Organic Oolong Tea. Frontier Coop has excellent quality spices, herbs and tea that I use all the time. They all will up your cooking game. Highly recommend.

Equipment

For the first fermentation:

• One gallon jar for first fermentation;
• Unbleached coffee filters and rubber bands;
• Swing top bottles for the second fermentation.
• Kitchen scale

Make it by the gallon… or two

Making Low Sugar Home Made Kombucha can feel like a lot of work, it just depends on how often you make it. Just like sourdough, I opted for making more, less often. Instead of one gallon jar, I make two, and land with 8 bottles of bubbles! This is possible depending on how much counter space you have to store them. I have a corner cabinet counter space big enough for 2 one gallon jar and 8 bottles, which lined up well, don’t look bad or disorderly at all!

Step By Step Process

This process can be done very fast, or over a few days. YOu previously need one skoby and 500ml kombucha from a friend, tea and sugar.

For the sake of clarity, i will refer to first fermentation as “skoby kombucha” and to the second fermentation as “carbonated kombucha”

Make your Skoby kombucha

Right After getting A skoby:

1. First using a large pot, make the sweet tea with 1tbsp Organic Oolong tea, 220g organic sugar, and filtered water (4L/ gallon is enough).
2. Once the tea is at room temperature, pour it ( using a strainer to remove the tea) into the gallon jar in which you previously placed SKOBY and 500ml skoby kombucha.
3. cover with a unbleached coffee filter and Let the new kombucha ferment for 2 weeks.

make carbonated kombucha

Each time you make more kombucha from a gallon jar:

1. Make more sweet tea with 1tbsp Organic Oolong tea, 220g organic sugar, and 4L filtered water tea) let it cool down.
2. Make more Skoby Kombucha: Once it has cooled down to room temperature, or the next day, fill four bottles with the SKOBY kombucha from 2 weeks before, i.e. the content of the gallon jar, into four bottles, while setting aside 500ml of skoby kombucha along with the SKOBY you will use to make skoby kombucha again. Rinse your gallon jar with water and a little white vinegar. Then pour the sweet tea into the gallon jar, add the skoby kombucha set aside before and the skoby. Cover with a coffee filter attached to the top with a rubber band. Let it ferment the next two weeks.
3. Make carbonated kombucha: Grate your sweetener of choice (1 tbsp grated turmeric, 1 tbsp grated ginger in each bottle) into four bottles. Close the bottles tightly. Ferment your carbonated kombucha for three days at least to obtain carbonation. After that, burp the bottle at least once every day to release pressure as carbonation levels increase daily.
4. Once your desired carbonation level is reached, refrigerate.
5. BEWARE, during hotter months, as carbonation builds faster, you can get surprised to see a bottle explosion. It has happened to me over the years, thankfully nobody was around as it happened at night. Be sure to refrigerate as soon as you obtain the level of carbonation you wish for. Also make sure to burp refrigerated bottles from time to time. If fermentation slows down in the fridge, it does not stop !

Other Sweeteners

Other taste combinations I’ve loved to sweeten the carbonated kombucha:

• Use two tablespoons of my cranberry apple sauce as a sweetener ! It’s delicious!
• Two tablespoons lemon juice, one tablespoon hibiscus flowers
• One tablespoon fresh orange juice, one tablespoon grated organic ginger

Yield: 4 bottles

Oolong Ginger Turmeric Kombucha

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Interested in gut health? New to fermentation? Fermented foods at your fingertips. A few tips for you to make it simple, delicious, and much cheaper than store bought kombucha.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp Organic Oolong tea
• 4 tbsp organic ginger, grated
• 4 tbsp organic turmeric, grated
• 220 g organic sugar

Instructions

First fermentation, to obtain one gallon of Oolong skoby kombucha

Need ; Oolong tea, sugar

Equipment: Gallon jar, scale, possibly water kettle.

STEPS:

• Heat up 3 Liters water and steep 2 tbsp oolong tea . Let it cool down until temperature is under 86F (Alternatively, let it steep 10 minutes in 1 Liter hot water and then add 2 Liters room temperature filtered water which will cool it down);
• Heat up 1 Liter filtered filtered water. Measure 220g sugar into a 1L pyrex container on your kitchen scale and add 500 ml (1/2 liter) hot water. Mix to dissolve sugar into the hot water. Pour the mix into the tea. Pour the rest of the 500 ml hot water into the container to gather the rest of the sugar, and pour it into the tea.
• Make sure the temperature is under 86°F ( a bit cooler than your skin). Then pour the sweet tea into the gallon jar with the SKOBY and kombucha I gave you. Cover with two coffee filters tightened with a rubber band.
• IT IS IMPORTANT that you make sure the SKOBY does NOT touch metal.
• Let the first "skoby" kombucha ferment for 1 week to a month.

Second fermentation, Make a week to a month later, to obtain 4 bottles carbonated Ginger Turmeric Kombucha

Ingredients:

• GALLON SKOBY KOMBUCHA
• 2 tbsp ORGANIC TURMERIC, GRATED
• 2 TBSP ORGANIC GINGER, GRATED
• 4 Liters filtered Water

Equipment: Swing top bottles

STEPS:

• MAKE A NEW SWEET TEA ( STEP 1)
• Save 500ml kombucha and a Skoby in a separate jar.
• Pour the rest of the skoby-kombucha into 4 different swing top bottles. Leave a little space for the sweetener and gas build up.
• Insert the grated turmeric and ginger into each bottle ( 1tbsp of each root) and close them tightly. Label.
• Ferment for at least three days until you obtain your desired carbonation level. Refrigerate.
• Burp daily to avoid too much carbonation build up. Once refrigerating, carbonation build up slows down, but it still can build up to explosion, so burp weekly.
• With the new sweet tea: pour the 500ml reserved kombucha and the skoby into the gallon jar and add the new sweet tea. Cover with a double layer of coffee filters and tighten with a rubber band. Ferment until the next time you make kombucha.

Other possible sweetening version: Cranberry Apple with 2 tbsp organic cranberry apple sauce

Notes

EQUIPMENT:

• GALLON JAR

• kitchen scale ( I do recomment the OXO brand ! always excellent quality and top notch customer service)

• Unbleached coffee filters and rubber bands;
• Swing top bottles for the second fermentation.

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• Gallon jar