Bottled my fourth batch of home brew kombucha today. I'm kinda breaking the rules, or at least how the instructions read. For a one gallon brewing vessel I can't make quite a gallon of kombucha, it's closer to three quarts (75% of a gallon). But I still added a whole cup of sugar at the start of the process (supposed to be one cup per gallon). I don't think my finished product is overly sweet, and it tastes good, so no harm no foul. Probably should try with the appropriate amount of sugar next time to see what happens. This is still very much experimental but it's been fun and I'm already quite happy with the results.
For this batch:
Bring 1 quart (32oz) of water to just boiling, then pour into gallon brewing vessel.
Throw in tea bags, which were 3 green tea, 1 raspberry leaf.
Steep for 4 minutes.
Pull out tea bags, then add 2 more quarts (64oz) of water.
Make sure water is cooler than body temp, then add SCOBY to vessel.
Pour 2 cups of starter liquid (mature kombucha from previous batch) over SCOBY.
Cover with cloth top, and hold with rubber band.
Ferment out of sunlight, at room temp, for 9 days. This is the 'primary fermentation.'
Remove SCOBY, and two cups of kombucha for SCOBY hotel.
Add 1/2 cup of lightly mashed raspberries and 1/2 cup of lemon juice.
Cover and let ferment again for 3 days. This is the 'secondary fermentation.'
When the taste is right, you bottle. I pour the vessel contents through a mesh strainer and a funnel into previously used (commercial) kombucha bottles. The yield was six full and one mostly full bottle. The mostly full bottle went into the fridge for immediate consumption while the others were set aside, in room temp, to add carbonation. After a few days at room temperature, they should be delightfully fizzy. Then they will be refrigerated to stop the process. Plus it's better to consume it cold.
I do think there was a bit too much lemon juice in this batch so will decrease the amount when I make it again. For now it's just going to be called 'Raspberry Lemonade.'
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