VLOG 16: How to Brew Kombucha (Tutorial Video)

This week Lucy from Black Sheep shows us how to brew Kombucha – https://www.instagram.com/black_sheep_cafe_berlin/

We decided to make a long, slower tutorial to show you that you really can learn how to make Kombucha in 15 minutes! Don’t be afraid of weird looking SCOBYs!! There’s a few things we left out (like sterilization techniques–use vinegar, not antibacterial soap!) but there’s always google for stuff like that, and we may be following up this video with more fermentation videos in the future (since we’re both obsessed, Dana with the fermenting, and Lou with the eating and drinking part). So, we hope this gets you guys brewing! Here’s a step by step version of what we did in the video:

Step 1. The first fermentation. Bring 500ml of water to a boil.
Step 2. Add 25g of tea (black, or green, but no herbal teas or things like Earl Grey, since these have added oils. You have to use tea from the tea plant, but there’s tons of options to choose from! If in doubt, stick with black tea, its easy, delicious, and really cheap!) and 50 g of organic raw sugar.
Step 3. Stir to make sure the sugar has dissolved and let it steep for 1 hour.
Step 4. Strain the tea.
Step 5. Add 500ml of cold water to strained tea.
Step 6. Add a SCOBY and about 300ml-500ml starter tea to your room temperature freshly brewed tea. You’ll want to do this in a big glass jar of some sort that you’ve cleaned well using hot water and white vinegar–dont use antibacterial soaps for any cleaning, instead, use hot water and vinegar! You can find SCOBYs for sale online, but most brewers will also give you one for free if you ask nicely! You can also get starter tea from them, or you can just buy some regular, unflavored, unpasteurized Kombucha and use that.)
Step 7. Cover jar with a paper tower and rubber band or a cloth of some sort to keep bugs and dust out.
Step 8. Put the Kombucha out of direct sunlight somewhere not too drafty, if you would be happy in that space for 3 weeks your Kombucha should be happy too.
Step 9. Let it ferment for approximately 3 weeks. This is the hard part! The waiting game…
Step 10. The second fermentation. Remove your SCOBY and 300ml-500ml of the fermented Kombucha starter and repeat step 1 by brewing your next batch!
Step 11. Add fruit and spices of your choice to the remaining Kombucha (without the SCOBY) and cover that with a sealed airtight top and let it sit for 2-3 days, checking on it daily.
Step 12. Strain out of the fruit (or don’t if you don’t want to) and bottle into glass bottles with pop-tops so that it is airtight.
Step 13. Leave the bottles out (not in direct sunlight) for 2 days to allow them to get carbonated. Make sure to burp the bottles (just uncap them to let the air out) so that they don’t explode in case you chose really sweet fruit and didn’t get brew quality bottles.
Step 14. Store in the fridge and drink within 3 weeks.
Step 15. Have fun, drink Kombucha, be happy : )
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Music Credits:
“In Awe” by Kuiters
https://soundcloud.com/kuiters/
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Video Camera: Canon 5D3 with Canon f4 24-105 lens and Leica 35mm Summicron F2 (1970)
Audio: Sennheiser MKE 600 and for the interviews Sennheiser G3 lavalier microphones
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