25 Kombucha

This section will be a bit different, as it’s more of a process for a single thing, rather than recipes for multiple things. Kombucha is a fermented tea. That’s it, really. It has gained some popularity for a variety of reasons, including hipsters, probiotic content, and sometimes supposed health benefits. I don’t care about any of that, I just wanted to make it because I think it’s tasty and I was looking for a way to reduce how much soda I drank, but I like carbonation.

The original recipe was from a friend, but it’s fairly basic and widespread from what I’ve seen. The r/kombucha subreddit has a master recipe that was basically identical. The basic overview to make kombucha is:

1. Get your hands on a live culture. This can be purchased, or obtained from a local hippie / hipster.
2. Brew a batch of sweet tea and mix in the culture.
3. Let it ferment.
4. Optionally flavor the fermented tea. Optionally bottle it and let it sit for a few days to build up carbonation.

Since kombucha is a fermented drink, there is some alcohol. I haven’t even attempted to measure it, but from what I’m told (from speaking to someone who brews it commercially) the amount of alcohol is negligible.