Kombucha starter organic

Kombucha as a healthy soft drink

Kombucha is a fermented drink made from green or black tea, sugar and bacterial cultures. So delicious, healthy and refreshingly sour. The fizzy drink energizes your body and has detoxifying properties.

The ideal kombucha starter to make your own kombucha

And good news, because from now on you can make your own kombucha, and experiment endlessly with flavor. Get started with our kombucha starter. With it, you create the bacterial culture needed to ferment your tea.

Essential part: the SCOBY

With the kombucha starter, you create a bacterial culture needed to ferment your tea. That culture is also called the SCOBY. SCOBY is a type of tea fungus, a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. It develops on the contact surface where liquid and air meet.

You add the SCOBY to a small amount of existing kombucha to prepare new kombucha.

Make your own kombucha with this simple step-by-step plan

In three simple steps, you've made kombucha. You pour tea with sugar into a pot. You add kombucha starter. And you let the mixture ferment. In a little more detail, you do it like this:

• Put a pot (900 ml) of your favorite tea. The flavor may be strong. Preferably use 4 grams of tea or two bags.

• Dissolve 50 g of sugar in the tea.

• Add 100 ml of kombucha starter.

• Have you made kombucha before? Then instead of the starter, you can take the SCOBY you already have, along with 100 ml of kombucha from your previous batch.

• Let the mixture ferment for 7 to 14 days. Seal the weck jar with a clean kitchen towel, at room temperature, make sure your kombucha is not kept below 22 degrees, the colder, the slower the fermentation. Your scoby evolves fastest at a temperature around or above 25 degrees. Taste occasionally, until the flavor is to your liking.

Grow your own SCOBY

You don't need to activate kombucha starter like you do with milk or water kefir grains. You simply add it to the tea. After 1 to 4 weeks, a translucent or milky slimy substance forms on top of your kombucha. This is your SCOBY. You can keep it to make new batches of kombucha in the future. If you take good care of it, your SCOBY will continue to multiply and you can use it for years.

Tips for a successful DIY kombucha

• Use white sugar or virgin sugar

Your SCOBY's favorite food is white sugar or organic cane sugar, also called primal sugar. They are easy for your SCOBY to digest and give stable results. What doesn't work? Artificial sweeteners or sugar substitutes. These ferment with difficulty. Also avoid mineral-rich sugar types like coconut sugar. Those are too bright for your SCOBY. So it's best to keep it simple.

• You can make kombucha from any tea, including your favorite blend. But don't use flavored tea, as it will damage your SCOBY.

Usually you take green or black tea as a base. But other types can also give tasty and surprising results. A smoky Lapsang Souchong will give your kombucha a powerful smoky touch, for example. A white tea, in turn, will taste sweeter and more floral. Flavored teas should not be used. Want to add a flavor or aroma? Do this when your kombucha is ready and you have removed the SCOBY from your drink.

• How do I get more bubbles in my kombucha?

If you want more bubbles in your kombucha, you can opt for a second fermentation in a sealed goblet. The second round of fermentation will cause more carbon dioxide to form. You can also use this period of second fermentation to add flavors such as herbs or fruits. Taste occasionally to see if your kombucha is still sweet: as long as it is sweet, the kombucha is still digesting the sugars. The kombucha is ready when it takes on a sour taste. Don't like the sour? Keep the second fermentation a little shorter and enjoy your drink faster.

• What does a healthy SCOBY look like?

The SCOBY may float in the jar, sink to the bottom or float on top. This is all perfectly normal. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors. A healthy SCOBY is milky, yellow, brown or white. Your SCOBY is no longer useful if a wig of hair grows on it or if it turns black, green or purple.

• How do I store my SCOBY?

Always store your SCOBY in a clean environment. Wash or sterilize all your materials regularly, especially with each new batch. Store your SCOBY in enough liquid to keep it from drying out. Pour enough fresh tea or sugar water to keep it alive. And store the SCOBY in the refrigerator to prevent further fermentation.

REMEMBER: brewing kombucha means you are reusing the SCOBY. And that SCOBY keeps multiplying. This is normal. Feel free to share your SCOBY babies with other kombucha lovers!

Ingredients

Kombucha scoby*, black tea*, sugar* (*) from organic farming.

Allergens

This product contains no allergens.
May contain traces of: milk.

This product is packaged and/or stored in a facility that also processes products containing nuts, peanuts, mustard, celery, gluten, sesame, soy and sulphite. Despite all precautions, this product may contain traces of these allergens.