07.13.2012

Flavored Kombucha! (2nd ferment)

It’s Kombucha Time Again!

Do you love flavored kombucha?

So A while back I posted how to make kombucha and a little extra information about it! Today I am going to teach you how to 2nd ferment your kombucha so you get that flavor and fizz. If you buy your kombucha at your health food store, then you are probably going to like this part of the kombucha process. The kind you buy at the store is flavored with some kind of juice and bottled in individual bottles. We are going to do the same thing, but in your own kitchen!

Store bought

If you want a recommendation for a good store bought kombucha brand, try Kombucha Wonder brand. They have some really good flavors and are all organic. Though for some of you who drink it like crazy or like to choose your own flavors, you are better of making it yourself! You save a lot of money this way too.

Fizz it up!

The second fermentation is so easy and quick. The juice increases the carbonation of the komucha and makes it taste fruity and yummy! Experimenting with different flavors are really fun too. I find that some juices make the finished kombucha fizzier then others. Lemon ginger really isn’t that fizzy while cranberry, cherry, and pineapple are really bubbly! I think it has to do with the sugar content. Though, sometimes your kombucha has a mind of its own, so you might be in for a little surprise!

 

 

 

Here are a few questions answered for you..

What do i use? I reuse bottles from the store-bought kombucha, pellegrino bottles, ball jars, or quart juice bottles. Just make sure it is glass.

How much flavor for my bottle size? Well really it depends on your taste. These are the measurements I use. If you have no idea what you like, go ahead and try my recommendations and you can always alter it to your liking as you learn!

80z (little glass juice bottle)- 2 TBS

160z (GT bottle)- 1/4 cup

24oz (Pelligrino bottle)- 1/3 cup

32 (Big glass juice bottle)- 1/2 cup

Flavor options:

I like to fresh squeeze my juices (when I can) and then strain out the pulp & seeds with a nut milk bag, muslin, or cheesecloth. I then use the pulp to make pulp crackers in my dehydrator or add it to smoothies or baked goods. Get creative!

Cherry vanilla (Cherry juice and a few tsp of vanilla extract)

Orange Grapefruit (Orange juice and Grapefruit juice. Fresh squeezed is always best!)

Pineapple pomegranate (My favorite!)

Apple berry (Apple juice and mixed berries)

Peach

Mango strawberry

Kiwi (a favorite)

Watermelon lime (Ha! this one is easy. Watermelon has so much juice to share ).

Blueberry lemon

Ginger lemon (Boil a handful of fresh chopped ginger for a few hours to make a syrup. This syrup if potent so you might not need the whole amount I recommended. A few tsp-TBS of lemon juice should be good, just taste it as you go if you question yourself!)

Raspberry grape (Careful, grape tastes like wine pretty quickly- only ferment a few hours!)

Herbal tea! (Remember i said don’t use herbal tea for brewing kombucha? Well, If you want the health benefits of herbal tea, now is the time to add it. This won’t make your kombucha fizzy, because herbal tea has no sugar. Though you can always sweeten it with a little honey afterwards)

Be creative and go wild!

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

Brewed Kombucha (to your liking)

Juice or a combo of juices. Fresh squeezed or bottled (preferably organic). *You can always just plop in fresh, frozen (defrosted), or dried fruit. It just won’t be as flavorful as the fruit juice.

 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Gather a bunch of empty old kombucha bottles, Pellegrino bottles, mason jars, or any glass bottle. Clean them very well.

2. Clean your hands and a bowl (big enough to fit your scoby into) well! Remove your scoby from your jar with your hands and place in a plastic or glass bowl and set aside in a clean area. **

My homemade ginger syrup is in the jar on the left. Look at flavor options above to learn how to make it.

3. Make or pick out your juices/fruit. I always like to do many flavors at once!

I used a 16 oz GT bottle. So I added 1/4 cup of juice.

4. Line up your glass bottles and fill them with the right amount of juice depending on your bottle side (look at chart above). Don’t worry if you add too little or too much. Kombucha is very forgiving!

I pour my brewed kombucha in a spouted measuring cup to make it easier to pour. A funnel is also a good idea too!

5. Pour your brewed kombucha in your glass bottle. Make sure you leave 2 inches from the top! You don’t want it to explode.

Don’t forget to leave 2 inches form the top!

 

6. Screw your caps on tight and let the bottled kombucha/juice sit on the counter or in the cabinet (out of direct sun light).

 

I keep mine in my food pantry. I have a whole shelf for my kombucha! I also line the shelf with a towel just incase it leaks.

7. Let it sit for a day at the minimum. Though, you can even go up to a few weeks. (The longer you let it go, the more it will turn into alcohol because you are fermenting it. If you are giving this to your kids, only ferment it for a day please.)

See the fizz?

8.Chill in your fridge (optional, but it tastes better) and carefully open! Some juices seem to fizz more than others so you will have to experiment! I always open mine over or near the sink because I have volcano kombucha’s all the time!

9. Sometimes if you ferment your kombucha/juice for a couple of days to a week, a little “juice scoby will form”. It usually looks like a piece of jelly. Just scoop it out and dump it or compost it.

Sometimes if you let it ferment for a few weeks, your little “juice scoby” will grow thick! This kombucha was blueberry flavored and I let it go for 3 weeks. It was a little strong, but still good :). Just take out these big juice scoby before you drink, or else they pretty much plug up the top! Kombucha is so fun.

10. Enjoy your homemade cup of Kombucha. A slice of lemon always makes it taste better. Remember (especially if you are on GAPS), to start off slow if you have never had kombucha before (like a few TBS at a time). This is because, like any fermented food, it can give you die off. Die off is when your body releases toxins because you are detoxing. Drinking kombucha is one way of detoxing. Just build up your serving size SLOWLY!

 

**SCOBY care:

I always put my scoby back in a new brew to keep it healthy and strong! Don’t forget to keep some starter liquid!

1. Always wash your hands very well before handling your scoby and always put in glass/plastic bowl or jar. Use a plastic knife if you want to cut it. Metal can sometimes kill your SCOBY.

2. After you have set aside you SCOBY what are you going to do with it?…there is 3 choices.

a. Ferment another batch: continuous brewing allows your kombucha to be as healthy as possible and it will brew faster.

b. Place in a jar or container in the fridge with enough reserved kombucha to cover your scoby. Putting it in the fridge will slow down your fermentation process when you start it back up. But it will definitely still work! You can forget about it in the fridge for many months!

c. Give it away, either your baby or a part of your scoby (cut it with a plastic knife).  *Tip: always keep an extra for yourself just incase yours get moldy!

So now you know how to make Kombucha! It is fun and will get easier the more you do it!

 

~Stay Gutsy, Caroline

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Comments

  1. I think I like Traditional and Cherry Cassis best.

  2. My favourite flavour is the blueberry maple. mmmmmm

  3. Ooops totally messed up that last comment! I was on a weird train of thought. My favourite flavour is the asian pear and ginger. I love the tanginess!

    Thanks for the info on second fermentation and flavouring. I have recently started making my own kombucha and was wondering how to flavour it! Thanks 🙂

  4. Cherry Cassis! :o)

  5. To me, flavoring and 2nd fermenting of Kombucha is quite an experiment…..I’d love to see more “experiments”. 🙂

  6. I would love to try Essence of Juniper Berry, Spearmint & Lemon Myrtle – sounds delish!

    • dorothy says

      can I use dried juniper berry , I bought some for flavering pork .LOVE THE SMELL AND TASTE whats the thought on this

  7. Christine says

    I am new to GAPS and Kombucha, so I honestly haven’t tried it. I am going to go look for the Cherry Cassis and the Pear and Ginger though. They look great!

  8. I haven’t tried it yet, but I think grape or cherry would be my favorite!

  9. I’d love to see more kombucha help! I’m really interested in making my own at home.

    • What exactly would you like to see? I covered two separate posts, did i leave anything out that you need help with, sorry if
      i did? If so just e-mail me or ask me in the comments!

      • Since I haven’t made it yet, it’s hard to say what else would help. I like ongoing posts, like flavor successes, if you tried something new, etc.

  10. Angela says

    Great blog! After tasting your kombucha I tried a 2nd ferment with raspberry/strawberry puree. My tasters were not keen on the puree as they couldn’t tell if was the “slime” they’ve seen in the plain stuff in the fridge. Thanks for the help on the nut bags/use for the pulp, that I need to increase the amount of juice and the ideas for different flavors!

  11. Peach sounds great! I posted your giveaway on twitter and facebook. 🙂

  12. essence of juniper berry, spearmint, and lemon myrtle!

  13. Melissa H says

    Essence of Mango!

  14. dearani says

    i am excited to try the pear ginger flavor! they only sell original here locally and i like it, but i love ginger flavoring! I always put ginger juice in my homemade kombucha. <3

  15. Niagara Grape!

  16. Emily Rozan LeCrone says

    Asian Pear& Ginger!

  17. Emily Rozan LeCrone says

    I want lots of gluten free tasty treats! Nicole told me about avocado chocolate mousse… i want in.

    • Ok! hey next time you are around the neighborhood, come on over and I am sure we will have some kind of gluten free food for you to try! Yes the mousse/pudding is a MUST!! Nicole is in love with it 🙂

  18. I haven’t tried this brand yet, but I would be most interested in the Peach

  19. Hi Caroline its great to find your site. I have been making Kombucha for qjuite some years now and love it especially all elderflower to it which of course makes it very fizzy but I add that as a made up drink on its own. I didn’t realise you could add squeezed juice in this way and get the same result. Would adding the pulp not damage the mushroom? Or is it best to just add the juice extract? Sorry if I missed the beat here. Thankyou for your website. I will visit it often for inspiration. Cheers Susan (NZ)

    • Susan! Thanks so much for sharing how you make kombucha! You take the scoby out before you put the juice in. No i don’t think it would mess up the bacteria in the liquid! I would just do juice unless you like the pulp then knock yourself out!! I hope you come back too 🙂 I love readers who comment and ask questions, thanks

  20. Thanking you! I forgot to tick the Notify button 🙂

  21. Jessica Moore says

    Instead of juicing my fruit, I just pop a couple pieces in my second ferment bottle. For example, I slice fresh or frozen ginger and put a few pieces of ginger plus a strawberry or two.
    Or blueberries, cranberries, etc.
    Much easier than juicing and then my kids will eat the fruit out of the bottom of the bottle! It’s a little fizzy and has given most of its flavor to the rest of the liquid, but they love it anyway!

    • Bill Holman says

      I just did my first 2nd ferment (on my first ‘buch batch ever!) , and for one used Asian and Bartlett pears, and shaved ginger. The drink was good, and the pears were delicious! I’m totally into the hunks of fruit in it. Still trying to figure out how long to 2nd ferment – and for that matter, how long for a 1st ferment. I’ve got 2 new batches going, this time with black tea (used white for my initial batch). So excited about the possibilities here!

  22. how much water/ginger do you use to make the ginger syrup?

  23. just found you…this is SO SO helpful to me…the newbie to kombucha. just about to go into the second ferment and you have giving great info. i can’t decide what flavor to go for. i just gave away about 40-50 old store bought bottles, but i think i’ll use the Grolsch bottles with locking lids. i’ll let ya know what happens…thanks

  24. Is it okay to do a second fermentation in Mason/Ball jars with a metal canning lid? Or should I find a different material? The mother scoby is never in contact with metal, just the liquid/tea I pour into the jars. I love all your flavoring suggestions!

  25. Laura Lee says

    I just picked Prickly Pear Cactus fruit ripe in our National Forest. TY for the help in knowing how much juice to use. ❤️

  26. I love how you included all the different flavor options for how you can change up your kombucha! This sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try this at home!

  27. I see youve recommended to make a tincture type of thing with the ginger and lemon

    I’ve just juiced lemon and ginger with my juicer….

    Hopefully this works too!

  28. I’m so glad it’s to put in a cabinet to ferment . Do you leave the door open or can you shut it ? I got too many windows in my house and I think the sun light kill my first attempt second fermenting , the second batch came out better. Going to work on my third batch today and start my 4th brew. I love kombucha tea! I even have a book called ” The BIG BOOK of KOMBUCHA Tells you everything you need to know .

  29. Does anyone try to brew Kombucha in regular carboys fermentors?? I have plenty of those 5 gall , 6 gallons demy johns 7 gallons i brew my beer on those , but i don’t know if a can brew Kombucha in those kind of carboys>!!!

    • Susane Vinther says

      You can make your kombucha in an ordinary carboy, but it will be hard to lift the SCOBY in and out. And you have to remove it before transfering the liquid to their bottles for second ferment or storing.
      So I’d say it would be more trouble than it’s worth to try with a regular glass carboy.

  30. Alyssa Ball says

    Thank you so much for this post! I just followed it and it was EXTREMELY helpful!

  31. Jody Drake says

    Have you ever had glass bottles explode during the second ferment? It is a scary thing. Luckily no one was in the room. There was glass and kombucha everywhere. Now I use non-BPA plastics bottles.

  32. Terri Kellums says

    I recently brewed my first batch of Kombucha and had plenty of fizz until I did my second brew and then every bottle was flat. I’m not sure what I did wrong 🙁

  33. Oh my goodness! Impressive article dude! Many thanks,
    However I am experiencing troubles with your RSS.
    I don’t understand the reason why I am unable to subscribe to it.
    Is there anybody else getting similar RSS issues? Anyone that
    knows the answer will you kindly respond? Thanx!!

Trackbacks

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