HOW TO MAKE KOMBUCHA AT HOME ● A SIMPLE RECIPE ● FOR BEGINNERS (WITH PHOTOS!)
How to Brew Kombucha at Home: A Beginner's Recipe
Brewing kombucha at home is more straightforward than most people expect, and genuinely enjoyable. With the right temperature, clean technique, and accurate quantities, the result is an aromatic, fully fermented drink that shows exactly how the process works.
BOUCHE Insight: We work with fermentation at scale every day. The fundamentals are identical to what you do at home: quality tea, clean processes, a healthy culture. That same precision is what makes every bottle of BOUCHE taste stable, fresh, and balanced.
What you need
A clean, stable batch requires only a handful of basics:
- Green and black tea
- White sugar
- Filtered water
- A 2–3 L glass vessel
- A SCOBY with starter liquid
- Breathable cover (cloth, kitchen paper, or a coffee filter)
Recommended quantities: 6 g of tea per litre, 60 g of sugar per litre.
Step 1: Measure your ingredients
Weigh out your tea, sugar, and water. The 6 g of tea per litre delivers enough aroma without overwhelming the culture, and the 60 g of sugar is fuel for fermentation, not a sweetener. The culture consumes most of it during brewing.
Step 2: Brew sweet tea at 82 °C
Heat half your water to around 82 °C. This is the sweet spot for extracting tea without drawing out bitterness.
Then: stir in tea and sugar, steep for 8 to 12 minutes, and make sure the sugar has fully dissolved.
You are making a concentrated sweet tea that you will dilute with cold water. This approach gets you to the right temperature for the SCOBY without a long wait.
Step 3: Bring to 26–28 °C with cold water
Remove the tea leaves or bags and add the remaining cold water. The temperature should now sit between 26 and 28 °C, the ideal range for the SCOBY.
Temperature note: Above 30 °C risks damaging the SCOBY. Too cold, and fermentation starts sluggishly.
Step 4: Add the SCOBY and set it to ferment
Pour the diluted sweet tea into a 2–3 L glass vessel. Add the SCOBY and 200–300 ml of starter liquid. Cover, secure the cloth, and place the vessel somewhere warm and undisturbed, away from direct sunlight.
Keep it clean
Fermentation requires cleanliness, not sterility. That means washing your hands thoroughly, cleaning glass and utensils with hot water, rinsing away any soap residue completely, and keeping the vessel away from plants or compost. This minimizes the risk of unwanted microorganisms taking hold.
How fermentation progresses
Over the following days:
- Days 1–3: Yeasts get to work, CO₂ builds, first aromas emerge.
- Days 4–7: Bacteria follow, producing organic acids that shape the characteristic kombucha flavor.
- Days 7–10 and beyond: The longer you leave it, the drier and more acidic it becomes.
To taste, use a clean straw.
Common questions
Can I use flavored tea?
Better to avoid it. Oils and additives can interfere with the culture. Plain, unflavored teas are the most reliable choice.
What is the layer forming on the surface?
Normal. A new SCOBY forms at the surface during every fermentation cycle.
My kombucha tastes too sweet. What now?
It is still young. Give it another day or two, but keep an eye on cleanliness.
How much alcohol does it contain?
Trace amounts, usually under 0.5 percent. Kombucha remains an alcohol-free drink. More sugar means more acid and slightly more alcohol.
No time to brew? BOUCHE is made with genuine craft and precise processes, naturally fermented and stabilized at peak flavor.