How to Ferment Kombucha and Water Kefir
Kombucha is a type of fermented tea that's been around for centuries. It's made by fermenting sweetened tea with a "mother" or "SCOBY," an acronym for Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast. You can make your own kombucha at home, or you can buy it from a shop or online. The SCOBY is an essential part of making kombucha—it's what gives the drink its slightly sour flavor (and also makes it a probiotic).
How to Ferment Kombucha
Kombucha recipes are a great way to use up excess SCOBYs. You'll need to make sure that you have a fresh SCOBY, or you can use an old one that's been sitting in your refrigerator for a few months. The most common kombucha recipes include a combination of tea, sugar, and water, but there are many variations out there..
First, you'll need to get some starter culture. You can buy one from a store or find it online, or if you have access to fresh kombucha, you can use this instead.
Next, fill a glass jar about halfway with tea (black tea works best), then add sugar until your jar is about three-quarters full. Make sure to leave enough room for the SCOBY and liquid to expand during fermentation!
Then add the SCOBY and cover everything with water. Seal tightly with an airlock or balloon and let sit out at room temperature for 7–10 days. You'll know when it's ready when bubbles stop forming in the jar and the liquid becomes slightly fizzy (not as much as store-bought kombucha). At this point, strain through cheesecloth into bottles and enjoy!
Kombucha is a fermented tea drink with many health benefits. Water kefir is a similar beverage, but instead of using tea as its base, it uses water with active water kefir grains.
Water kefir Grains:
Water kefir grains are a combination of yeast and bacteria that live in symbiosis. The yeast eat sugar and produce alcohol and carbon dioxide, which the bacteria consume. The bacteria also produce lactic acid, which gives water kefir its tangy flavor. Water kefir grains are the source of probiotics in your water kefir drink. They can be used over and over again to make more batches of delicious, healthy water kefir. If you want to know that how to make water kefir at home follow the below steps:
If you're just getting started with water kefir, the process is pretty simple. First, you'll need:
- A SCOBY (aka a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast—the "mother" in kombucha)
- Water kefir grains
Once you've got those things, here's what to do:
1. Make sure your hands are clean and sanitary before handling any of the equipment or ingredients.
2. Add the grains to 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water in a clean glass jar or other container.
3. Shake it up! This will help dissolve the sugar into the water so that it's ready for fermentation. It also helps introduce oxygen into the mixture, which helps make sure everything gets off on the right foot with your SCOBY!
4. Wait 24 hours for your first batch of fermented water kefir to brew! Then enjoy!
To read more: Health Benefits of Water and Milk Kefir Grains
