Kombucha

Makes
5 pints

Ingredients

12 cups (2880ml) water
1 1/4 cups sugar (8 3/4 ounces; 248g)
1/4 cup (24g) loose-leaf black tea
2 cups (473ml) kombucha starter 
1 SCOBY 

Directions

First Fermentation:

In a 1 quart bowl, add sugar and tea. Bring 4 cups water to a boil and pour over the sugar and tea.  Stir to dissolve the sugar.  Allow to sit and steep until a strong, sweet tea. About 15 minutes.

Allow to cool to warm to touch or room temp.

Set a fine-mesh strainer over a one-gallon glass jar. Strain tea through it; discard tea leaves. Stir in kombucha starter until well distributed. Add enough cold water to fill the glass jar. 

Gently place SCOBY on top (you should have at least 2 inches of headspace in the jar after adding the SCOBY). The SCOBY may float or sink to the bottom of the jar; either is normal.

Cover the jar with a  layer of cheesecloth and a rubber band. Store in a dark area between 70 and 80°F  and let ferment until kombucha tastes sour, small bubbles rise to the surface, and a new layer of SCOBY has formed at surface, about 7 days and up to 4 weeks. 

For the Secondary Fermentation:

Using clean hands, remove SCOBY and place it on a plate. Stir kombucha with a wooden spoon, making sure the sediment is evenly dispersed. Remove 2 cups for kombucha and set aside as starter fermentation for the next batch.

Repeat the above steps for the First fermentation with scoby and reserved Kombucha.

With the remaining Kombucha in the gallon jar, add fruit syrup, fruit if desired to flavor the kombucha. Cover with a screw cap and allow to sit for 5 days.

Third Fermentation

Thoroughly wash and dry five 16-ounce (1-pint) twist caps or flip-top glass bottles. Using clean hands, remove SCOBY and place on plate. Stir kombucha with a wooden spoon, making sure the sediment is evenly dispersed. Then, using a funnel, fill each with kombucha; make sure to leave 1 to 1 1/2 inches of headspace in each bottle.

Seal bottles and store in a dark area between 70 and 80°F  until beverage reaches desired level of carbonation, 3 days to 2 weeks.

Check one bottle periodically to monitor carbonation: it is ready when you see small bubbles rising fairly rapidly to the top, even when capped; if using twist caps, the cap will pop up slightly when a good level of carbonation is reached; if using flip-top bottles, you may need to open one bottle to check the carbonation, resealing if there isn't enough fizz. When kombucha has reached desired level of carbonation, move bottles to refrigerator and store for up to 8 weeks.

To Continue Brewing Future Batches of Kombucha:

Repeat above Steps using the leftover kombucha as starter along with reserved SCOBY.