Kombucha soda is what most people are familiar with as it is what you buy at the store. It is flavored with a variety of flavored like grape or cranberry and is pleasantly carbonated.
You can achieve the same thing at home by second fermenting your home made kombucha and the best part is you can make it however you want, with whatever flavor you want and as strong or weak as you want.
You can make a variety of flavors by adding your choice of store bought juice, using fresh fruit pieces, herbal infusions, vegetable juices or any other source of flavoring.
To carbonate the kombucha the yeasts in it must have some type of fermentable sugar. They will eat the sugar and produce carbon dioxide which makes the kombucha fizzy.
The sugar can come from the flavoring choice like fruit or vegetable juice or if you are using a herbal flavoring you can use a little more of the sweetener you used when you made the kombucha.
The number of varieties you can make is unlimited. Each new batch gives you another chance to experiment with new flavors. Try adding something different to one or two bottles of a batch as a test. If you like it you can make a whole batch that way next time.
It is valuable to keep a diary of what you added and how much, that way when you find one which is particularly good you have a hope of reproducing it.
Warning
Just like any carbonated drink it is important to use the proper containers which are designed to hold pressure without breaking. It can be dangerous to carbonate liquids in glass containers not meant to hold pressure and it can also be messy if the jars explode in a cupboard. I recommend swing top bottles which can be reused over and over again. They are meant to hold pressure and can be readily found at thrift stores if you have the time or online if you don’t.
Equipment:
- Bottles which can stand pressure
- Funnel or syphon
- Ingredients:
- Fermented kombucha
- Flavoring of your choice
Instructions:
Put however much juice you want in the bottle. If you like it strong then use more juice in each bottle or less if you like it weak.
Remember the more sugar which is available the more carbon dioxide will be produced so if you are using alot of juice don’t let it ferment too long as it will become over carbonated.
The ratio for juice to kombucha I use is four to one. This means I pour juice into the bottle until it is a quarter full
Then fill the bottle up with kombucha and seal the top.
If you are using fresh fruit use a ¼ cup of fruit for every 8 ounce bottle to start and go from there.
Once you have made a few batches you will find a ratio which you like.
Cap the bottles and leave them in a warm place out of the sun. The kombucha soda will be ready in 3-5 days depending on how carbonated you like your soda and the ambient temperature of the room.
Alternatives to using fruit juice:
Fresh fruit
- Pineapple
- Berries of all types
- Apples or pears
- Orange sections
Frozen fruit
Any of the above from the freezer section
Vegetable juices
- Carrot
- Beet
- Tomato
- Fennel
- Peppers
For best success with vegetable juices juice the vegetables yourself. Use the juice immediately as the natural vitamins and enzymes start to break down quickly when exposed to oxygen.
Spices can also be added but remember that dry spices are concentrated and will easily overpower the flavor and they don’t have much sugar in them so you will need to add a little of something sweat for the micro-organisms to produce the fizzy carbon dioxide.
Experiment with different flavors, try different combinations. Why not pair two unconventional flavors together like apple and jalapeno peppers or grape and beet (neither of which I have tried yet).
The main thing is it should be fun and interesting. Not all your flavors will be successful. Some will be downright offal that’s all part of the fun. Just be sure you make enough of the one’s you like so that the experimental ones are extra.