How to make a Herbal Kombucha

Kombucha is a probiotic drink we make predominantly with Sencha or White Tea, but May is also a great time to make a herbal kombucha with all the new green leaves (see main picture above).

Basic Kombucha Recipe
Ingredients:

  • 1 litre of water

  • 1/3cup or 55g sugar

  • one good handful of the following young leaves: raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, lemon balm, lemon verbena and peppermint (we especially love Swiss Mint)

  • Kombucha mother (scoby)

  • Some people also use ½ cup mature acidic kombucha. I think this is not essential.

 Method

  1.  Bring 1 litre of water to the boil

  2. Add the leaves and sugar, cover and steep for about 20 minutes

  3. Strain the tea into a wide glass container and allow the tea to cool to room temperature or slightly higher (25 C is ideal)

  4. Add the mature acidic kombucha (if you have) - optional

  5. Place the kombucha mother in the liquid with the firm opaque side up

  6. Cover with a muslin and store in a warm spot (ideally 21 -29 Celsius)

  7. Label (date, ingredients etc.)

 
Looking after:
After 4– 7 days, depending on the temperature, you will notice a skin forming on the surface of your kombucha, this is your new “baby” culture/scoby.
Taste the liquid with a straw, if it is still too sweet, let it sit for a little longer until it reaches the desired acidity.
Take the mother and the new scoby out and store your mature kombucha in the fridge.
Start your next batch using either the new or the old mother for fermentation.

fermenting, DrinksNeantog Farmfermenting