How to make kombucha: your first batch

One gallon, about twenty minutes of work, and a week or so of waiting. Here is the whole process, in order, with the pitfalls marked.

Before you start

You need: a SCOBY with at least 1 cup of starter tea, a 1-gallon glass jar, 4–6 tea bags (or 2 tablespoons loose) plain black tea, 1 cup cane sugar, water, a cloth cover and a band. Wash everything well and rinse thoroughly — soap residue is a culture's quiet enemy. Keep metal utensils brief: a quick stir is fine, but the SCOBY shouldn't live against metal.

The first batch, step by step

  1. Brew the sweet tea. Boil about 4 cups of water, steep the tea 10–15 minutes, remove it, and stir in the sugar until dissolved. Add cold water to reach roughly 3.5 litres (about 14 cups) total in the jar.
  2. Cool it — completely. The tea must be room temperature (roughly 20–27 °C / 68–80 °F) before the culture goes in. Hot tea can kill a SCOBY; this is the one step that cannot be rushed.
  3. Add starter tea and SCOBY. Pour in the starter tea, then slide the SCOBY in with clean hands. It may float, sink, or tilt — all normal.
  4. Cover and park it. Cloth cover secured with a band (air in, fruit flies out). Set the jar somewhere warm — 24–29 °C (75–85 °F) is the happy zone — out of direct sun, where it won't be jostled.
  5. Wait 7–14 days. A new, pale SCOBY will form across the surface. Start tasting at day 7 with a straw slipped under the SCOBY: too sweet means wait; pleasantly tart means ready; sharp vinegar means it went long (still usable — blend it or cook with it).
  6. Bottle, saving your next starter. Set aside the new SCOBY plus 1–2 cups of this batch as the starter for the next one. Bottle the rest — plain, or with flavourings for a second fermentation.
The rhythm from here: each batch seeds the next. Your only ongoing purchases are tea and sugar — which is why the whole hobby costs pennies a glass.

Three beginner mistakes

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pH Test Strips

Typical price ~$8–15

A finished brew usually lands around pH 2.5–3.5. Strips won't make you a chemist, but they turn 'is it ready — and is it safe?' from a guess into a number, especially in your first month.

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