- Welcome to You Brew Kombucha.
This is your guide to flavoring.
(upbeat music)
When it comes to flavoring
your Kombucha during the
second fermentation phase,
the options are pretty much
limitless.
You can flavor with store bought
juices, juice concentrate,
frozen berries, fresh
berries, pureed fruit.
You can use cut up fruit, dried
fruit, I've even heard that
some people use jam.
You can even use fresh or
dried herbs to add that extra
dimension to your flavors too.
Like I said, the options are
pretty much endless here.
As a general rule, I like to
use about a quarter of a cup
to maybe a third of a cup of
flavoring per 16 ounces bottle.
If I'm using a 12 ounce bottle,
I use a little bit less.
It doesn't need to be super
precise, and it really depends
on how flavorful your
flavoring actually is.
For instance, if you're
buying frozen apple juice
concentrate from the store,
you won't need to use quite as
much of that concentrate as
if you were using freshly
juiced apples.
The more sugar that's in the
bottle, the more carbonated
it can get.
I tend to prefer to use fruit
purees and juices myself.
Only because during that
second fermentation process,
the yeast really needs an
extra kick of sugar to get
them going again and so they
can eat something and convert
it into carbon dioxide.
I happen to like my Kombucha really fizzy,
and so I want to make it as
easy as possible for the yeast
to access that sugar.
If I was using fruit pieces
instead of fruit purees,
the yeast would have to do a
little bit of extra work to
get that sugar and extract
it from that piece of fruit
instead of extracting it from
the smaller molecules of the
juice or puree.
There are a lot of people
who say they have difficulty
getting good carbonation during
their second fermentation
phases in the bottle,
and I suspect it might be
because they're not using enough
sugar to give the yeast
something to feed during that
process.
I tested out a bottle of just
plain, unflavored Kombucha
myself, I second fermented
it for a few days at room
temperature, and then I
chilled it and opened it,
and it was completely flat.
So it really does matter
that you add an extra kick of
sugar through the flavoring
during that second fermentation
process if you want to
get nice carbonation.
The fresher the fruit and
the more pulp there is in the
fruit flavoring that you use,
the more likely that you'll
see a scobe form in your bottle.
For instance, this is some
cherries that I pureed
in the blender and I added into
my Kombucha as the flavoring
and you can see that there's
a lot of cherry pulp that's
settled at the bottom and
at the top of the vessel.
That's totally okay, that's
just a sign that your second
fermentation is going well
and that the yeasts are
breaking down the fruit even further.
If you don't like the pulp or
if there's just too much pulp
in the bottle, you can go
ahead and strain it out,
no problem.
But if you like the pulp,
you can drink it and that's
totally fine too.
On the flip side, if you're
using store bought juice that's
been pasteurized or from
concentrate, you might not get
as big of a scobe as if
you were using fresh juice,
and it might actually take
a little bit longer during
that second fermentation
phase for that carbonation
to build up.
The sweeter the fruit, the
more carbonization build up
and the faster the
carbonation will build up,
so for example, pineapple
has been super fizzy for me,
same with watermelon and
a lot of really, really
sweet fruit.
If you find that the fruit
you're using is on the sour
side or it's not as sweet
as you think it should be,
you can always add a little
bit of sugar to your flavoring
to help bump up that sweetness.
And if you're concerned about
sugar content, remember that
a lot of that sugar will
get eaten up by the yeast
so there won't be a ton of
sugar left in the remaining
product that you're actually drinking.
If you want your Kombucha to
be on the more acidic side,
then go ahead and let it
first ferment longer before
you bottle it and add
your fruit flavoring.
Just remember that whatever
you flavor with will likely
have some sugar that will
also get eaten away during
the second fermentation process.
So it's a little bit of a balancing act.
You're just going to need
to find a first fermentation
duration and a second
fermentation duration that works
best for you depending on
your taste preferences.
Now if you don't want to add
any flavoring to your Kombuchas
and you want to just drink
it straight after the first
fermentation phase,
that's totally okay too.
If you want to build up
carbonation in your plain Kombucha
just add about a teaspoon
of sugar per 16 ounce bottle
and let that plain Kombucha
ferment in a sealed bottle
for another three to four
days before moving it
to the refrigerator to
test the carbonation.
And likewise, if you're
bottling a flavor that doesn't
have a ton of sugar, like
lemon ginger for instance,
then you can go ahead and
add a little bit of sugar
to that as well to use as
priming sugar that the yeast
can eat and convert into carbon dioxide.
So it's definitely a balancing
act, but this is honestly
my favorite part of Kombucha home brewing.
The variety of flavor
combinations you can go with
are endless, and you can
oftentimes make a lot of flavors
that they don't sell at the store.
I made a tangerine rosemary
one that was divine,
and here I have plum,
pineapple passion fruit,
watermelon, and cherry, all
using fruit that are locally
sourced and in season.
So I highly recommend that
you look into what fruits
and flavor combos you like.
Happy brewing.
(upbeat music)
