How to Make Continuous Brew Kombucha
Why the Switch?
I am a self-admitted milk guzzler. I keep milk on hand in the fridge for my 5 year old, because...growing child. But I am 44 and pretty sure I eat enough dark leafy greens, sardines and tofu to keep my bones strong. The milk guzzling needed to stop. My solution, replace milk guzzling with Kombucha guzzling. The guzzling urge is not for a whole glass, just a few gulps to quell my urge...but I do it several times a day. I am hoping that taking mini glasses of kombucha several times a day will satisfy the same urge, thus replacing a terrible habit. Enter the need for a continuous brew kombucha located conveniently on the cabinet in my dining room. I am also excited about having a semi-regular inundation of helpful microbes into my gut microbiome.
Easy Directions
Kombucha is already a regular in my kitchen, so the first step for conversion was to obtain an appropriate brewing vessel with spigot for easy dispensing of brew any old time of the day or night. The acidic environment of a kombucha brew can leach toxic metals, so I knew I wanted to invest in a brewing vessel with an all stainless steel spigot and silicon gasket. These run about $60 online, or you can find a cheaper vessel and upgrade with a new stainless steel spigot, which costs about $15 on Amazon. Luck was with me at a recent trip to a thrift store as I found a brand new 1.5 gallon Crate and Barrel beverage dispenser with stainless steel spigot ready to go, and steeply discounted over purchasing new from manufacturer.
Converting to continuous-brew was a snap. I’ve been brewing in 1 gallon glass jars, so I simply followed my typical 1 gallon recipe, making a sweet tea with 2 tablespoons loose leaf black tea, 1 cup sugar, and 12 cups filtered water. After cooling I added it to my new (larger) vessel along with 2 cups of brew from my last batch and the SCOBY. I started this batch on December 31st and just tasted it today, January 7th. It is delicious, and ready to drink.
The Balancing Act
Here is wonderful and tricky part of the continuous brew. This is a live drink and it will always have a varying level of sweetness and sour depending on when you add your next batch of tea to the top. If you like your kombucha to be a particular level of sweet and/or sour, I suggest you bottle and refrigerate your drink on the day it tastes perfect to you, thus retarding the brewing process. But, in my case, having my kombucha bottled in the fridge makes it less accessible for frequent sips and takes up too much valuable cold storage. Being able to drink anytime from the tap, the results will vary from a sweeter brew after you add your new tea to the top, to a more sour brew over time. I happen to appreciate novelty and enjoy kombucha at both ends of the spectrum, although I definitely prefer it right in the middle sweet spot.
My current plan is to add new tea in ½ gallon batches whenever my jar goes below ½ full. The recipe is 8 cups of filtered water, 1 tablespoon black tea and ½ cup of sugar.
SCOBY Growth
The new 1.5 gallon brew vessel also has a larger diameter than my typical 1 gallon glass brewing jar. With this in mind, I was very interested in how long it would take for the SCOBY to grow to fill the space. In just one week I am happy to report that there is now a thin film of SCOBY that covers the entire surface.
Next Adventures in Jun
My other kombucha experiment is converting from a sugar and black tea fed SCOBY to a honey and green tea fed SCOBY which produces more delicately effervescent sister drink called Jun. I am two batches into this experiment and the SCOBY is looking bad (see left vessel in photo below). I’m hoping it will turn around, but if it doesn’t work out, I am thinking to try converting slowly with a continuous brew vessel instead. I still need to procure a larger vessel, but am excited to give it a try.
I'm looking forward to posting more brewing experiments, from kombucha and kefir to country wines and whole grain beers. All feedback from novice to expert appreciated.
Wising you bubbly brews and many blessings!
Have you tried kefir?
Yes. I used to brew water kefir. Funny story. We vacated our basement last winter to make way for an earthquake retrofit. In the process, we found a case of water kefir from 2008. Not liking to throw anything away, we decided to cautiously try a little. It was so delicious my partner drank the whole bottle. I was a little more cautious, not wanting to make myself sick from a very old, live, and not refrigerated drink. They were mostly ginger lemongrass with whole chunks of both in each bottle. I felt fine the next day, so over the winter we proceeded to drink the whole case. They were extremely carbonated and we had to open them very slowly and outside, but oh were they delicious. I have tasted, but not made dairy kefir.
That was funny and brave.
Agreed, and I did not serve them to guests. Our roommate however drank quite a few.
That stuff looks so weird! I've heard of some of the benefits of kombucha, but never knew exactly what it was.
Thanks for using the #naturalmedicine tag and for spreading the word about fermented drinks and their benefits. 100% upvote for you!
Thanks for the upvote. I didn't give much of a description of the SCOBY, but it stands for Symbiotic Colony of Yeast and Bacteria. And yes, it does look weird, but it brews a delicious fizzy drink.
Ooh, that sounds like something that's worthy of a post all it's own! :) It's curious to me how our culture (here in America, perhaps not elsewhere) has rejected microbial cultures. Somewhere we've collectively decided that all microbes are bad simply because there are a few that are bad. By far, most of those little critters are very beneficial.
Nate
I'll add "All About SCOBYs" to my future posting list :) Regarding microbes, if we can collectively understand that "we" are a collection of microbes this will change in the west. When I learned about how integral our microbiome is to our health, I stopped thinking about them as separate than myself, and incorporated them into my concept of "self". This was a major paradigm shift in how I view both myself and others. The earth is not earth without all the living things, and they belong to the collective definition of earth, much like the microbes inside belong to our collective definition of self. Going a step further, we are not just of the earth, we are part of the earth herself. Blessings Nate.
Excellent. I stupidly forgot to feed mine and a two year brew went mouldy. Tried to start another and it went mouldy too. Waiting for mates boosh to fatten up so she can give me some.
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Thanks. I left one in my basement for a couple of years and it never did mold, but I also was a too scared to brew with it after it had been a few months. I feel lucky to have gotten such a vigorous SCOBY recently from a friend. I should have never moved the old one to the basement as they require regular love.
Yeah don't mess with a good scoby. I stupidly used mine for green tea and then back to black again. I should have divided it full stop it we can do it and then it was gone. I had it for quite a while as well. I started it from a store-bought one. Tried to do that the other day and that went mouldy as well. Don't know what's going on . My kombucha brewing skills are cursed clearly.
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That is curious to have a continued mold problem. I wonder if you could increase the ratio of old brew to new tea so that the new brew is more acidic? I'm not sure my Jun SCOBY is going to survive. So glad I divided. It's not really bubbling much. I'll make a post soon regardless of outcome, as I think there is much to be learned from failed experiments.
Yeah that's what I suspect. Gains from failures... absolutely!!! And conversations too!!!
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I've been brewing Kombucha for many years now too @belleamie. Totally addicted.
About 6 months ago, a stallholder at our organic farmers' market, who sells Kombucha, gave me a Jun SCOBY. I could be wrong but my understanding is that it has different properties to a Kombucha SCOBY. Or maybe it takes a while to convert. Will have to ask.
I like the idea of being able to have a continuous Jun brew: My rational is that being formed from green tea and honey, it would still be a healthy drink even if it wasn't fully fermented.
The Jun seems to be a milder brew and less bubbly. I usually make a second ferment for Kombucha by adding fresh ginger and this really makes for quite a fizz. ♥︎♥︎⚖️♥︎♥︎
Yes, Jun SCOBYs are different than Kombucha because they are adapted to green tea and honey, so have a pretty different colony of yeast and bacteria. Some folks say they are evolved separately, but there are also folks who say you can slowly convert one, which I am trying to do. I am now curious, since you have one, does it look any different than the Komucha SCOBY?
Hey I was recommended to read you page after asking around in NM server!
I am trying to brew my first Kombucha. I am glad that you mention about this,
In my " How to" it mentioned that I should never use anything but stainless steel. Now I know why :-D
finger crossed for my first trial!
Yes, I was even hesitant with the silicon, although I know it is food grade. It is a compromise I had to accept in order to have a spigot. Glad I could help. Best of luck with your first brew! Let me know how it turns out.
Okay, so it's been three days and I don't see any scoby forming ! should I be worried?
Typically you start with a scoby already intact. It is very difficult to grow one from scratch.
I heard so, but since I don't have anyone to help me with a scoby, I need to grow one first :-D * fingers crossed*
Did you put some commercial kombucha in the batch? I've heard it is possible to get one started that way. Best of luck!
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I did not and well, I asked over NM discord group, it's failed :( so, I'll have to try again!
If you put some commercial kombucha in, you may have better luck. I would start by adding a small amount of sugar and tea to a commercial kombucha and trying to coax a scoby that way. Or, you can also order a scoby online.
I hope it's all going well, it looks like fun. I think it's great to try this type of stuff. I'm not sure I would know where to start. Maybe I can learn something here. Have a great day.
I am very pleased with the continuous brew. And it's so easy. The first step is to find an appropriate vessel. That really was the hardest part to do on a budget.
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