The first thing you need is a vessel to brew in- after much research I went with a $7 sun tea jar which can be purchased from any hardware store or online. You must brew the tea in a glass container as it can leach contaminants from plastic or metal. The sun tea jar has a spigot which makes it much easier for bottling the finished tea. The tea becomes fermented by the addition of a funky looking mass of microrganisms often referred to as a "mushroom," "mother" or " "scoby (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast)." I procured a "mother" culture from a kind woman off of Freecycle (craigslist may work as well but I find the people on freecycle to be less flaky and creepy). She gave me a culture and a fair bit of "starter tea" (this is just previously brewed kombucha that helps balance the pH of the new batch- a mother can live in kombucha in the fridge for up to 6 months). The rest of the process goes like this:
1. Clean and sterilize everything the tea will come in contact with- utensils, container, pot, hands.
2. For 1 gallon of tea I boiled 2 quarts of water.
3. Turn heat off and steep 5-6 tea bags for about 15 minutes (many people use black tea- you can use black, green or white but not herbal teas or earl grey- I use 3 bags of black and 3 bags of green).
4. Mix in 1 C. Sugar (this is what the culture "eats" as it ferments)
5. Let the tea cool for at least two hours or overnight (this is very Important! Hot tea will kill the mother)
6. To speed up the cooling process I mix in 1 or so quarts cold water with the tea in the jar. Fill jar up to about 3 quarters with tea.
7. Add starter tea and then with clean hands carefully place the mother on top.
8. Cover with clean cotton cloth (not cheesecloth as bugs can get in) and secure with rubber band.
9. Place somewhere away from direct sunlight where it is relatively warm (the warmer the temperature the faster the tea will ferment).
10. Sample tea after about 5 days- if it is still sweet it's not done yet. It will start to develop a vinegar like taste- at that point it is a matter of personal preference how long you want to continue brewing for. I have bottled mine after about 10 days and it has a cider-like taste. You can leave it for as long as you like, and if you want to get really serious you can test it's pH for the optimal level of 2 to 3.5.
To Bottle:
I start steeping the next batch of tea before I bottle- that way it is ready to go by the time I am done.
1. A "baby" scoby will have formed on top of the mother. You can use this new culture for the next batch. You can discard the mother, save it as a backup or give it to a friend (just remember to leave some of the tea with it). A new baby will form each brewing cycle.
2. Pour tea into glass bottles of your choice (swing top bottles can create more carbonation) leaving about a tenth of liquid as starter for your next batch.
-If you wish to flavor the tea put flavoring in first (grated ginger, fruit, juice etc.)
3. Leave bottles at room temperature for a few days to flavor, the place in fridge and enjoy!
*I have read that putting a few raisins in the bottles makes the tea more fizzy but I haven't tried it yet. I have done a ginger batch and a batch with pomegranate lemonade.
Here is a useful site on the process:
http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-to-brew-kombucha-double-fermentation-method/
Here are flavor suggestions:
http://www.giveittomeraw.com/group/rawincollege/forum/topic/show?id=1407416%3ATopic%3A11014
There's a good video here:
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Kombucha-Tea
Here you can see the mother culture on top, and my first completed batch:
