KOMBUCHA BONG RECIPES

Steps:

• Brew tea in hot water for 15 to 45 minutes. Remove tea bag of tea leaves.
• Add sugar and stir to dissolve.
• Pour the sweet tea into the fermentation container and add, in the following order, the cold filtered water, the starter and, if desired, the kombucha scoby (whole or a piece of it). Be sure to use everything in the starter jar, as yeast tends to stick to the bottom.
• Cover with a cloth and secure it around the container with the rubber band or string. Allow fermenting for 5 to 14 days at a room temperature of 28°C or higher, or until it is sufficiently acidic to taste. Fermentation at high temperature will produce a drier and less acidic kombucha.
• Set aside 500ml of the liquid and the kombucha scoby in a jar and store it in the fridge. This will be used to start the next production.
• Flavour the remaining kombucha. Hard kombuchas are often a little low in sugar, so don't hesitate to add 50ml of honey or 200ml of fruit juice.
• Filter the kombucha with a strainer or cotton cloth over the pitcher to remove particles. Stir the bottom of the fermentation container to collect all the yeast.
• Place the clean bottles in the sink. Using a funnel, fill them up to 1cm from the mouth. Close the bottles.
• Store the bottles in the warmest possible space for rapid fermentation (between 25°C and 35°C). Caution: kombuchas that are high in yeast content will quickly ferment in bottles.
• Taste. If the quantity of fizz is sufficient for you, slow down the secondary fermentation by putting the bottles in the fridge.

Steps:

• Put the sugar and 1 litre of just-boiled water into a pan and heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Add the tea bags and leave to infuse for 5 minutes. Carefully remove the teabags and leave the tea to cool completely.
• Once cool, tip into a large glass jar with the scoby and kombucha liquid, cover the top with kitchen paper or muslin and seal in place with an elastic band or string. Leave in a cool, dark place for 1-2 weeks, tasting daily after the first week – it should be funky and acidic but not overly sour. Make sure you remove the scoby and 100ml of the liquid when you’re happy with the final result. Drink within a couple of days, keeping it in the fridge, or ferment a second time using the recipes below.