Congratulations! You’ve landed at the page to begin brewing your own kombucha at home! We believe in the powers of kombucha so much that we want everyone to be able to consume this “elixir of life” even when they can’t afford to buy a can. Continue reading to learn how you can use our Community Can as starter culture, also referred to as a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast). “So where’s the gooey pancake looking thing,” you might ask? The gooey pancake thing is actually called a “cellulosic pellicle” which is a bio-film that grows on the surface of the fermenting sweet tea. Though useful in regulating air flow, this pellicle isn’t actually needed to START a brew. What is needed is the “starter liquid” which is the actual SCOBY itself. Any raw kombucha that you get from a friend or from us is what you need to get started. So there you go. The key is in your hands. Now all you have to do brew some tea!

Before we begin, it’s important to shout out to the r/Kombucha reddit community for helping us learn how to grow into the commercial size of the business. The single best resource to learn and interact with other kombucha growers is this online community of 400k home brewers. The recipe that we are about to share below has been modified from this community “master recipe.” We modify this recipe to work with one 12 oz can of our raw Community Can.

Items Needed:

-3 cups boiling water or 180 F

-3 cups cold water

-1/2 cup organic cane sugar

-2 Tablespoons loose leaf tea

-1 12 oz Hedge Apple Community Can

-1 gallon glass mason jar

-breathable natural fiber cloth and rubber band

Method:

-Bring 3 cups of tap water to a boil. We like 180 F to be exact.

-Once water is 180 F, turn off heat source.

-Add loose leaf tea. You can use tea bags, tea balls or reusable cotton bags.

-Remove tea or strain if necessary.

-Pour tea into a 1/2 gallon mason jar.

-Add 1/2 cup organic cane sugar, stir.

VERY IMPORTANT:

-Add 12 oz kombucha starter ONLY when your sweet tea has cooled to 80 F or cooler. Living cultures can die if they get too hot. 80 F is a safe bench mark.

-Stir, cover with cloth. Wait 10-12 days.

-Stir in a stable room temperate of 78-82 F our of direct sunlight.

PRO TIP: In order to make sure your brew stays safe and never molds monitoring pH is crucial. Once you get used to the process you can trust you recipe and your taste buds. Until you get to this point, buy some cheap pH paper tabs at your local health food store. Your kombucha solution should always be under a pH of 4.5 other wise it can mold. We like to begin our ferments at a pH of 4 and when the pH drops to the 2.80-3.15 range fermentation is complete. The lower the pH the stronger the acid content.