Classic Black Tea Kombucha Recipe: 5 to 31 Gallons
The everyday house kombucha: black tea, white sugar, a clean tart finish and a light sparkle. Start here, and use it as the base for every flavour.
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Classic Black Tea Kombucha at a glance: The everyday house kombucha: black tea, white sugar, a clean tart finish and a light sparkle. Start here, and use it as the base for every flavour. Bright, tart and lightly sweet, with a little apple-cider note from the black tea.
Bräu Supply recipe · Kombucha
Classic Black Tea Kombucha
First ferment · for 5 gal
| 4.27 gal (16.2 L) | Filtered water | |
| 45 g | Black tea, loose | 9 g/gal |
| 2.2 lb (1 kg) | White sugar | 200 g/gal |
| 0.6 gal (2.3 L) | Starter liquid: plain kombucha from your last batch | 12% |
| 1 | SCOBY |
Second ferment: flavour and fizz
| 7.5 tbsp | White sugar | |
Process
- Steep: 195–200°F (90–93°C) for 10–15 minutes, then dissolve the sugar
- Cool: below 85°F (29°C) before the culture goes in
- Culture: starter and SCOBY; pH below 4.6, ideally 4.2 or lower
- First ferment: 78°F (26°C), open under a cloth, 7–10 days, to pH 3.0–3.5
- Second ferment: 75°F (24°C), sealed, spunding valve at 12 psi, 2–5 days
- Cold crash: 36°F (2°C) for 1–2 days
- Carbonate: 2.8 volumes: about 13 psi at 36°F
Make it in
Per US gallon of finished first-ferment kombucha. Water allows for the room the sugar takes up and the water the tea holds back. Sugar in juice and fruit varies: taste, and watch the gauge in the second ferment.
How to make it
- Fill the fermenter with the full batch of filtered water, heat it to 195–200°F and steep the tea in the basket for 10–15 minutes. Lift the tea out and stir in the sugar.
- Cool the batch below 85°F, through a counterflow chiller or overnight with the lid sealed.
- Add the starter liquid and the SCOBY. Check the pH: below 4.6 right away, ideally 4.2 or lower.
- Ferment open to the air under a tight cloth at 78°F for 7–10 days. Taste from the sample valve from day five; it’s ready when sweet and tart balance, around pH 3.0–3.5.
- Dump the yeast from the cone and save starter liquid and the SCOBY for the next batch.
- Add the second-ferment ingredients through the top, seal the lid and set the spunding valve to 12 psi. Hold 75°F for 2–5 days, tasting as you go.
- Crash to 36°F for a day or two, then set CO₂ to about 13 psi to reach 2.8 volumes, or keg it and carbonate in the keg. Strain out fruit and herbs before kegging.
Making a different amount, or your own flavour? Open this recipe in the kombucha calculator: it scales the tea, sugar and starter, and works out the second-ferment sugar, carbonation pressure and alcohol.
Tips
- Use plain black tea: Ceylon, Assam or an English breakfast blend. Avoid Earl Grey and other teas flavoured with oils.
- Keep a jar of this batch as starter before you flavour anything. Plain starter keeps the next batch predictable.
- If it turns sour before it gets fizzy, the tank ran warm: hold 75°F next time and start tasting on day five.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use honey instead of sugar?
Not with a regular SCOBY. Honey brings its own microbes and a different sugar balance; kombucha made with honey and green tea is called jun and uses its own culture. Stick with plain white sugar for this recipe.
How strong should the tea be?
About 9 g of loose tea per gallon, or four to five tea bags. Much stronger gets bitter, much weaker leaves the culture short of the nitrogen it needs.
Is there alcohol in homemade kombucha?
A little. The first ferment usually leaves 0.2–1% ABV, and every gram of sugar per litre that ferments in the second ferment adds about 0.065%. In the US, 0.5% ABV or more is regulated as alcohol, so if you sell kombucha, crash it cold, keep it cold, and test every batch. The kombucha calculator shows how much your second ferment can add.
Related
How to make kombucha in a stainless fermenter, the kombucha calculator, ginger lemon kombucha, raspberry hibiscus kombucha, pineapple mint kombucha.