Very simple Kombucha (чайный гриб) continuous brew recipe
I wrote an earlier blog post on kombucha SCOBY and described what a scoby is compared to the pellicle and starter liquid. That post started to get a little long so I decided to stop there and write a separate post on the kombucha recipe we use.
There are plenty of kombucha recipes on the internet. They pretty much all work because it is actually hard to go wrong brewing kombucha when you use both pellicle and starter liquid.
I am not suggesting that the way I brew kombucha is the best way to do it, or even a good way to do it, I am only saying it is simple and it works for me. This blog post is partly a way for me to record this in case I ever forget how to do this in the future.
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| Continuous brew чайный гриб |
I tend to do continuous brew rather than messing around with batches and bottling and using fridge space. Continuous brew works for me, it never goes wrong, I don't see how it could go wrong, and it takes very little time and effort.
Some people much prefer batch brewing. I hear about these going wrong from time to time. Apparently the issues with batch brewing are simple enough to avoid. I can't offer any advice on batch brewing or flavouring kombucha because I don't do that.
Continuous brew and batch brew are both good methods, which one to use is more about personal preference than anything else. The scoby doesn't care if you do continuous brew or batch brew, you could try both and see what you prefer.
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| Kombucha ready to drink |
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| Kombucha looks like beer or apple cider |
I have a large glass jar with a tap. This jar contains one or more pellicles and some finished kombucha/starter liquid.
I drew two lines on the jar, one at 4 liters, the other at 6 liters. I fill it up to the 6L line, we drink it as wanted and I refill it once it drops to the 4L line. It is simple, and a little inconsistent, but can never fail unless there is some mechanical failure such as the jar gets smashed or the tap falls out.
I don't put the lid on the jar as the scoby needs some air. Instead I tend to keep a cloth on top of the jar, this keeps out insects and dust. I used to hold the cloth on with a rubber band, but stopped bothering with that a few years ago and the cloth just sitting on top still does the trick.
Continuous brew чайный гриб recipe
Once we drink enough that the liquid drops to the 4L line I fill it with sweet tea that has cooled. Never use hot tea as this will kill (or at least damage) the scoby.
- I boil 2L of water, add 1/2 cup white sugar, and 2 or 3 tea bags. I mostly use regular black tea bags, but sometimes also include a bag of green tea.
- I let this steep for about 5 to 15 minutes, then remove the tea bags.
- I let this cool to room temperature.
- Once cooled I pour this sweet tea in my jar, and it is ready to drink in a few days (or immediately if you prefer it sweeter).
Let me stress that I
always allow it to cool before adding it to my jar,
never add this when still hot or it will kill the scoby.
Some people use more sugar while others use less sugar, some people use more tea bags others use less tea bags. Sometimes I use some black tea and include some green tea, other times I only use black tea. I use tea bags so I don't have to strain out any leaves, using loose leaf tea would also be fine as long as you can strain out the leaves.
If I go away for a while I just fill it up and it is fine when I return. I don't have a lid on my jar so there is no risk of building too much pressure. The contents of the jar are too acidic for most pathogens to survive, so there is no danger there. A pantry moth or something could get in and I would have to deal with that, but that hasn't happened here yet.
Continuous brew kombucha simply works, you can't really go wrong as long as you let the tea cool before adding to the jar and the scoby is strong.
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| Continuous brew kombucha, I keep a cloth on top |
My jar already has a pellicle, and 4L or so of starter, so it brews quickly and is ready to drink in next to no time. I hear of other people having to wait two weeks before their brew is ready, they tend to use significantly less starter liquid than I do.
Sometimes when we are drinking a lot of kombucha this drops a bit below the 4L line before I have a chance to refill it, that doesn't really matter. Other times I refill before it reaches the line, again this doesn't really matter. Over summer it brews a lot faster, over winter it brews far slower. This is not a precise science.
Most recipes suggest adding a pellicle and 10% starter liquid to 90% tea, this works fine but is a lot slower than how I do it. I use about 66% starter liquid and about 33% sweet tea, and it brews very fast. We tend to drink some kombucha most days, so want to fill my jar and have it ready to drink as soon as possible. Sometimes my kids drink it as soon as I filled it, I prefer to wait a few days as I like the sharper taste.
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It usually has more bubbles
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While my method may not be the best way to brew kombucha, the fact that I can keep a continuous brew going like this for a few years is testament to the fact that this method is working. Perhaps there are better methods, but this works for me, and it is so simple.
If you have a kombucha recipe that is different, and it works for you, please keep using it. If you try one recipe and don't love it, then change it and try something different. One of the best parts of kombucha is nothing is precise, and you really can't fail.
If you are new to brewing kombucha, it is difficult for anything to go wrong if you brew using
both pellicle and starter liquid. Some people discard the pellicle from every batch, which works for them, but when first learning how to do this it is best to include the pellicle as well as the starter liquid.
чайный гриб has been brewed by people at home since at least the 1800s, it is simple and inexpensive. I have never used a heat mat, I don't have a thermometer, nothing is overly precise and nothing ever goes wrong. At worst I leave it too long before drinking and it tastes a little too sour for my liking.
If you want to try brewing kombucha at home, you could try using unflavoured kombucha from the shops. This will likely have a significantly lower number of strains and you can't be certain it has not been pasturised (killing many of the bacteria and yeasts) prior to sale. You are better off finding someone who brews kombucha and buying a scoby (not just a pellicle) from them. If you can't find any locally, and you are located in Australia, my contact details can be found on my
for sale page.
