• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Road to Living Whole

Therapeutic Food Solutions

  • Schedule Now
  • Search
  • Schedule Now
  • Search
  • Recipes
  • Blog
  • Meal Plans
  • Webinars
  • Resources
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Blog
  • Meal Plans
  • Webinars
  • Resources
  • About
Food allergy guide and meal plans

Continous Brew Kombucha Recipe: Basic Elixir Plus Flavor Varieties

August 10, 2014 //  by Marian Mitchell//  2 Comments

Fermented foods are the foundation to a healthy gut and immune system. They give us the beneficial bacteria and yeast our gut needs to stay healthy, let the good stuff in and keep the bad stuff out. A healthy gut enables us to draw in the nutrients our bodies need and prevent viruses, harmful yeast and bacteria to get into our blood stream and make us sick. Continuous brew kombucha is relatively easy to make, does not require a lot of hands on time, and costs pennies.

Kombucha is probably my most favorite fermented “food.” I have posted about the health benefits of kombucha before. (You can read that post here.) I use to buy it for $4 a bottle because I was nervous to make it myself. I didn’t know where to get a SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast), how to make it appropriately and prevent mold growth. A friend of mine starting brewing her own, had great results and had SCOBY’s to give away. So we had a sleepover, let our kids play and she walked me through the process.

It is SO simple, tastes amazing and my bank account is a bit fuller. A win all around! I am excited to share this process with you.

How To Make It: Basic Ingredients

kombucha ingredients

  • 1 SCOBY
  • 2 cups starter
  • 8 bags of black tea (per gallon)
  • 1 cup organic sugar (per gallon)
  • 6-7 cups filtered water

Supplies

  • 1 gallon glass jar (like this)
  • 1 paper towel or woven cloth
  • 1 large rubber band (like what they bundle asparagus in)
  • 1 medium or large stainless steel pot
  • soup ladle
  • glass jars with tight lids (like this)
  • Funnel (like this)
  • Large glass bowl

Brewing Directions

  1. If this is your first time making kombucha, wash out your jar and glass bowl with hot water, soap and a bit of distilled vinegar. Dry completely.
  2. Place your scoby and starter in the glass bowl and cover with a clean cloth or paper towels.IMAG3063
  3. Fill pot with 3 cups of water and bring to a rolling boil. Turn off the heat and add in tea and cover with a lid. Let steep for 10 minutes or so. Squeeze out tea bags thoroughly.
  4. Pour in sugar and stir until it has completely dissolved. Let cool to room temperature. (Do NOT put SCOBY and starter into hot tea. It will kill everything and thus, defeat the purpose.)
  5. Pour cooled tea into your gallon jar, then pour in all but two cups of the filtered water.
  6. Place SCOBY into the jar and add in starter fluid. Cover with paper towel or woven cloth and secure with large rubber band. Place in a dark place where air can circulate like your pantry (in a cupboard the air won’t circulate.)Kombucha
  7. Let ferment for 7-10 days with the temperature between 70-80 degrees. (In the winter you will want to place a heating pad next to your bottle. This is a good one.)

Bottling Your Kombucha:

  1. After you have let it ferment for desired amount of days, clean your glass bowl, funnel and soup ladle extra well with soap, vinegar and hot water. Dry completely.
  2. Take your bottles and do the same.
  3. With clean hands, remove SCOBY and 2 cups of starter and place is clean glass bowl. Cover with cloth or clean paper towel.
  4. Put your funnel in your first bottle and use soup ladle move kombucha from one container to the other.
  5. Leave at least 1 inch at the top. The gases need room or your bottle will explode.
  6. When finished, go back to brewing directions. Start the process over again.

Infusing flavor:

After 7-1o days (I prefer 7), you will bottle all but 2 cups of your tea (that 2 cups is the starter.) 1 gallon makes approximately 6 12-14 oz bottles. First place your flavor in the bottom of your bottles, then add kombucha, place on lid and let ferment for 3 more days. After 3 days, place in the fridge to slow fermentation process and enhance flavor. (The longer kombucha sits at room temperature, the more sour it will become. You don’t want to let a batch ferment more than 21 days.)

Flavor options:

Grape: 2 oz (or 1/4 cup) of organic pure (no chemicals allowed) grape juice. (This is our absolute favorite.)

Strawberry: in a 1/2 gallon glass jar, fill will kombucha, then add 6-8 organic strawberries with the tops removed. Let ferment 3 days, remove strawberries, bottle and place in fridge. (This is our second favorite.)

Cranberry: 1 oz (or 1/8 cup) organic pure (no chemicals or sweeteners allowed) of cranberry juice. You can use less if you feel this is too tart.

Mojito: 1 tbsp of organic pure lime juice and 2 mint leaves per bottle. In a separate small glass bowl, place proper amount of lime juice and mint leaves per mojito flavored kombucha you want (Ex. 6 bottles=6 tbsp lime juice and 12 mint leaves.) Let flavors mix for at least 1 hour but you can overnight in the fridge as well. Strain out mint leaves and place 1 tbsp into the bottom of each bottle. Add tea, place on lid. (I LOVED this one, but the kids did not.)

Mango: A similar process as the mango, fill up your half-gallon jar with fermented kombucha. Take 1 mango, remove skin and seed. Put the remaining mango flesh into the tea, cover with a lid and let ferment for 3 days. Remove fruit and place infused tea into your glass containers. Place in the fridge until you are ready to drink.

Black Cherry: 2 oz (or 1/4 cup) organic pure juice (This is our least favorite but some of you might like it.)

A few things to note:

  • Your bottles will grow their own small SCOBY’s. It is safe to consume but if they are big, they have the texture of a loogey. (Gross.)
  • This beverage is naturally carbonated.
  • This is an elixer, not a soda or juice replacement. It is not recommended to drink more than 1-2 bottles per day. (I stick with 1 per day personally.)
  • If you have SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), this will make you feel worse. Listen to your body, see your doctor and try again one month after treatment is complete.
  • Mold can contaminate your SCOBY if it isn’t handled properly. This is EXTREMELY rare, but can happen. If you find mold growing, throw out everything and start over. Do not try to save the batch. For more information about mold growth, please read this. 
  • My SCOBY splits about every two batches. You can give these away, start another gallon, compost or toss them. To save for others, store in a clean glass container, covered with a cloth or towel in 2 cups of start fluid. Do not give away a dried out or refrigerated SCOBY as they are more likely to grow mold.
  • My first batch was not carbonated at all. My second batch was amazing. It’s been great ever since.

Feel free to ask me any and all questions! I love to chat.

Where to get a SCOBY and starter

If you are ready to make your own and do not have a friend to give you a SCOBY, I became an affiliate with Kombucha Kamp.

Directly from Hannah Crum:

“KKamp cultures are commercially grown in organic teas and sugars in sterile conditions. Each Full Size Culture is grown in its own half-gallon jar and harvested only after at least 3 weeks of growth, usually longer. They are freshly packed on the day of the order in very strong starter liquid with yeast strands. Never dehydrated! Never Refrigerated!

Her cultures are then shipped immediately via USPS Priority Mail and guaranteed to brew. They do not sit around in plastic for days or weeks waiting for orders, leeching who knows what. All these factors combine to provide a superior brewing experience to my clients.”

I love her passion and giving you the very best and am excited to be an affiliate to a like-minded company.

Do you brew kombucha and have any tips or flavoring recipes you’d like to share? Please do below!

Category: Breakfast, Nutrition, paleo, Recipes, Uncategorized, vegan, vegetarianTag: fermented, GAPS, gut, healthy, healthy gut, kombucha, probiotic, raw

Previous Post: « 48 Kid-Friendly, Healthy, and Gluten Free Snack Ideas
Next Post: Paleo Strawberry-Banana Chia Seed Pudding »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Monique

    December 6, 2014 at 4:35 pm

    I decided to make my own after a great discussion with Ms. Marian for after my surgery to assist with the flushing of toxins from traditional medicine. My first batch was slightly carbonated and I used granny smith apple concentrate from Sprouts. I also added 2 cups of sugar (raw) v. The one cup (raw sugar), because I wasn’t sure with the taste. After a quick sample, I fell in LOVE because it’s like drinking sparkling apple cider! I will continue with making it because of the benefits AND the taste! Thanks Marian!

    Reply
    • Marian Mitchell

      December 10, 2014 at 7:23 pm

      I’m so glad you tried it! I’m sure as time goes on you’ll find you need less sugar for it to taste good. Heal quickly!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

About UsHi friend! I'm Marian Mitchell. Health Coach, Chronic Disease Warrior, Mom, and lover of food. I help you navigate eating and living for Chronic Disease Management with meal plans, coaching, a podcast, and this website. You can thrive when you know what to do. I'm here to help.

Search:

 

book with me

Recently…

  • A Healthy Diet: How To Follow A Well-Balanced Meal Plan June 30, 2022
  • How To Live A Balanced Life In 8 Easy Steps June 16, 2022
  • Healthy Asian Food Everyone Should Try June 15, 2022
  • Positive Habits to Cultivate in Your Life June 3, 2022
  • 5 Ways to Have the Best Time This Summer with Your Family June 1, 2022

mairmitchell

Interviews are really fun. This week's episode is Interviews are really fun. This week's episode is an interview I did on another podcast, Addicted to the Climb with Kelley Tyan. It was super fun and I think you'll enjoy it.
@doctorpoulin joins the podcast again to give you @doctorpoulin joins the podcast again to give you an inside look at what is looked at and shows us through hair mineral analysis. We actually go through my results and you can look at mine to help you follow along! 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/therapeutic-food-solutions-therapeutic-diet-chronic/id1593747334?i=1000567259405
I'm pretty passionate about this topic. There are I'm pretty passionate about this topic. There are many ways to detox wrong. When you have other issues going on, the wrong one can really set you up for real pain. Literally. If you're going to do a detox, do it the right way.
Having your hair thin is a huge blow to your self Having your hair thin is a huge blow to your self esteem. We know firsthand. But like in all things in regards to our health, there is so much at can do to help support the healing process. @mystylist_mariana and I did into what you can do to help your hair regrow including testing, nutrients, and products. You don't want to miss this episode!
Normally I'm not a fan of gazpacho, but then I had Normally I'm not a fan of gazpacho, but then I had one at a local restaurant that I loved. I decided to recreate it and now it's a summer staple. The recipe is over on my website and you can get there with the link in my bio. 

Do you have a favorite cold soup?
Do you feel overwhelmed after getting your food al Do you feel overwhelmed after getting your food allergy and sensitivity results back? We get it. We also know that feeling good is worth the effort. 

Kathlena @theallergychef shares her story and gives you hope for your journey in today's episode. She's my new best friend and I think you'll adore her too.
Camping with friends is the best. Camping with friends is the best.
Gluten free replacements often don't taste good. I Gluten free replacements often don't taste good. In fact, they often taste bland with a weird texture. In today's episode I have my friend Adrian joining me too discuss our favorite swaps that actually taste good. Adrian still eats gluten so it gives our suggestions a bit more weight.
I went gluten free initially for my daughter. My f I went gluten free initially for my daughter. My friend who was on the podcast today went gluten free for his new bride. We both believed that keeping the home a safe haven was more important than eating gluten at home. While I ended up needing to be gluten free as well, he doesn't. He shares his perspective on what going gluten free in the home was like and why it wasn't as bad as you'd think.
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Footer

Get in Touch

15955 N. Dail Blvd Suite 3

Scottsdale, AZ 85260

602-688-4745

marian@roadtolivingwhole.com

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • Coaching with Marian
  • My Approach
  • Programs
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Road to Living Whole, LLC. All Rights Reserved.