Homemade Kombucha - Second Fermentation

When you make kombucha, fermented tea, you have the option of making kombucha tea up to the first fermentation and then enjoying it immediately with all the probiotic health benefits or you can go on to do a second fermentation, which is optional but very much recommended.  The second fermentation is an opportunity to add both flavor and fizz to your kombucha tea.  Most of the kombucha sold in stores are flavored kombucha that have gone thru second fermentation.

We have found the addition of extra flavor to really boost the taste of the kombucha.  Especially enjoyable is the delightful fizz that can be produced due to the carbonation created by the further fermentation.  A fizzy fruit flavored healthful homemade drink, what more can you ask for?!

Homemade Kombucha - First Fermentation

Making kombucha, or sweet fermented tea, is easily done at home!  It’s a fabulous drink, tart and refreshing, to have handy for you and your family, full of gut healthy probiotics and anti-oxidents.  And did you know that kombucha originally came from China?  That's right, kombucha came originally from northeast China around 200 B.C.  After that kombucha traveled around the world, passing through Japan, Europe, and Russia, celebrated everywhere for its health benefits.

The thing about making kombucha is that you have to set it up first.  Once you’ve got everything set up it’s just a matter of keeping it going, very easy.  I’m breaking my homemade kombucha posts into three parts so as to be really clear and avoid the misunderstandings that confused me when I first started my kombucha journey.

The first thing to do is to make the SCOBY, a gelatinous blob that contains all the good bacteria and yeast that is needed to power the kombucha fermentation.  We’ve done that in our first post on How To Make a SCOBY.  Once you have a viable SCOBY you’re ready for the next step which is making the kombucha tea, first fermentation, which is what this post is about.  In our next post we’ll talk about the final optional step:  kombucha tea, second fermentation.

Homemade Scoby for Making Kombucha

I’ve seen kombucha, a fermented tea drink originating long, long ago from China, around on health food store shelves for a long time.  Never tried it.  But it has stuck around and I've heard more and more about it.  But it's expensive!  

Recently I realized that it could be made at home.  As our dear readers will already know we've much interest in fermentation and its health benefits - probiotics!  anti-oxidents!  We've been fermenting all sorts of things.  This is our first fermented drink.  

Overall I found that homemade kombucha is pretty easy, but you gotta setup a system first.  I really love, love that I can make a refreshing and healthful homemade fizzy drink that the whole family enjoys!  How cool is that!?

Okay, then, the first essential step to homemade kombucha is to make a ‘SCOBY.'  What is this thing with the cute name, you say?  Well, SCOBY stands for 'symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast'.  In reality it's a gelatinous blob (see photo above) that acts as the central control station of kombucha fermentation.  Let's make a SCOBY!