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I learned how to make kombucha at a fermentation class at a community center. The first batch of kombucha I made used the cheapest bagged tea available. Being a beginner I went out and purchased the same brand of tea. Once it was gone I started experimenting with other types of tea and I learned the type of tea you start with greatly influences the resulting kombucha.
Black tea is the standard type of tea used for kombucha, it works well for producing a pleasant flavor. Green tea is also a good choice for a milder kombucha flavor. Other tea types can be used as well, providing different flavors, health benefits and culture makeup.
The tea is the basis for great kombucha. A high quality tea will produce superior kombucha to the cheap tea dust which can be purchased for bargain barrel prices at local grocer.
Tea types which can be used to make kombucha
Camellia sinensis tea
Tea in its strictest terms is a hot water infusion of the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. This includes black, green, oolong, pu-erh and white tea. How the leaves are processed produces the wide variety of tea types we have today. All of these teas are great options for making kombucha and will produce unique but familiar kombucha.
Black tea
Black tea is the most popular tea to make kombucha with and if you are new to kombucha making it is a good place to start. Kombucha made with black tea has the familiar color and tangy flavor. It makes good kombucha soda as the kombucha flavor still comes through in even the most overwhelming flavors used such as ginger or grape juice.
Green tea
The second most popular tea used to make kombucha, green tea produces a milder flavored kombucha with a paler color. Still a good candidate for making flavored soda although the tea’s flavor does not come through as much as black tea.
Green tea is the basis for Jun, which is a kombucha fermentation which is made with green tea and honey. It is fermented in the same manner as kombucha. Jun tea is not usually second fermented but rather consumed after the first ferment.
White tea
White tea is generally considered to be the least processed type of tea. It is harvested when the leaves are young and can sometimes include the bud. Quality white tea is then dried in the sun and packaged without further processing.
Kombucha made from white tea is very mild in flavor. It has a similar color to green tea kombucha but can be a little lighter depending on how much oxidation the tea sustained while air drying. If used to make kombucha soda the flavor of the tea will be hard to detect in stronger flavors. Use it for milder flavors like rose petal or chamomile flavored kombucha.
Pu-erh tea
Pu-erh tea is a very strong flavored tea which is made from extremely mature tea plants. The tea is highly oxidized and traditionally aged 10-15 years. Making kombucha with pu-erh tea will result in kombucha which has a strong smooth flavor if the tea was made correctly prior to fermentation and does not need additional flavorings.
It can be carbonated using small amounts of sugar to prime the bottle or by adding flavors as you would for black or green tea kombucha soda.
Oolong
Oolong tea has an oxidation level between green and black tea. This makes it a stronger flavored tea with a darker color than green tea. It is a good choice for kombucha soda, drinking plain or for using to make kombucha vinegar as the slightly milder flavor in the oolong tea reduces the bitterness of the finished vinegar.
Is bagged tea or loose leaf tea better for making kombucha?
The quality of the tea is the important thing here. Some people do not consider the tea they start with as important but as you improve your ability to sense the flavors produced in good kombucha this becomes more and more important.
Both bagged and loose leaf tea can be used to make kombucha and both have their pros and cons. Bagged tea can be more convenient to use but may not produce the best tasting tea. Loose leaf tea can produce high quality tea but be more difficult to remove prior to fermentation.
Tea not from the Camellia sinensis plant
Sacrilege! How can kombucha be made without the camellia plant?
The kombucha culture, which is made up of a consortium of bacteria and yeast species, can and does ferment all sorts of substrates.
This culture is a dynamic culture which changes over time. The population of the strains of bacteria and yeast species will grow and decline depending on the substrate used, time of year, ambient temperature, maturity of the culture and a whole host of other things.
When tea made from something other than the camellia sinensis plant is used the population of the culture changes to suit the available nutrients. This produces new flavors and colors which cannot be found in the traditional teas.
Rooibos tea
Rooibos or redbush tea has its own flavor and has no caffeine. It is a good choice for those who can’t or don’t want to have caffeinated drinks. It is oxidized like black tea so it has a darker color than some of the caffeinated teas. Before making kombucha with rooibos tea, try making some to drink normally. If you don’t like it as tea you won’t like it as kombucha.
Yerba mate
Yerba mate is made from the Ilex paraguariensis plant. After harvest it is dried by heating over an open fire. It contains caffeine as well as its own unique flavor.
When making kombucha with yerba mate do not use boiling water for steeping and steep for less than 5 minutes to avoid high caffeine levels in the kombucha. Yerba mate does not taste at all like traditional tea so make sure you like the flavor before you make kombucha with it.
Herbal tea
Okay if you have been making kombucha for a while you probably have heard that herbal teas do not make very good kombucha. This could be stemming from the people who make kombucha regularly have developed a flavor profile they consider to be the kombucha flavor and anything which departs from that just isn’t kombucha.
Some make statements like the SCOBY can be damaged if you make kombucha with herbal teas and you are risking your culture and may kill it by using such strange herbal infusions like peppermint or chamomile. The key to making kombucha with herbal tea is to ensure the starter is properly acidified prior to fermentation. Mold and other spoilage microorganisms do not like low pH levels so ensure you add enough of finished kombucha to lower the pH to 4.0.
Herbal teas of all sorts can be made into kombucha. The SCOBY is produced by a collection of acetic acid bacteria which are not susceptible to damage from herbal tea infusions. They use the sugar and some of the minerals in the substrate (the tea infusion) to produce the cellulose which makes up the kombucha SCOBY (which is called a pellicle in microbiology).
The population of the culture will change when it is used to make kombucha with a different substrate because the nutrients and available minerals will be different. This gives it new flavors and health properties.
Here are a few options for you to try. Remember to make small batches of these first to see if you will like them. Once you determine if you like them you can make larger batches to suit your demand.
Peppermint
Peppermint kombucha can be made using fresh or dried leaves. The kombucha will have a milder flavor with a strong undertone of peppermint which will vary depending on the strength of the tea infusion you used.
Kombucha made with peppermint is calming, low in sugar and has several organic acids which promote health. Make this kombucha to drink in the evening as it is great for a before bed tonic.
Chamomile
Another great choice if you want to have kombucha in the evening without the stimulation effects. Kombucha made this way is better not second fermented but rather consumed non-carbonated as a tonic. The flavor is light and delicate which can be lost when it is carbonated.
Hibiscus
Kombucha made with hibiscus has a strong tangy flavor with a deep red color which goes well with other flavorings. It is astringent when made strong and has a sharp distinctive flavor. It can be second fermented without loss of the underlying hibiscus flavor and tang.
Turmeric
With its deep yellow color and spicy flavor turmeric is another substrate which can make a unique kombucha. A relative of ginger turmeric has been used to flavor a wide variety of foods from curry to soda. Kombucha made with turmeric is a refreshing summer drink. When making turmeric kombucha don’t forget the black pepper as it helps the absorption of curcumin which is one of the proven health elements of turmeric.
Kombucha tea types which are right out of the wheelhouse
These ideas can in no sense of the word be considered tea! They are not something anyone would think of when considering making kombucha but they can still make good substrates for the kombucha culture to grow in.
Oak leaf
Oak leaves are full of tannins which make them useful for making various lacto fermented foods. The tannins in the leaves help to keep the food crisp and they are also good for feeding the acetic acid bacteria. The flavor is very woody with a smoky undertone depending on how the leaves were dried. It can be very astringent depending on how many leaves you use. Flavor it with rich flavors if you are going to second ferment it. Blackberry juice or elderberry juice are good options.
Coffee
When coffee is used to make kombucha it produces a deep colored kombucha with the distinct flavor of coffee. It is a flavor which takes a bit to get used to as it is a combination of cold coffee with a sharp tangy flavor and bitter aftertaste if not made correctly. The coffee needs to be of high quality as it is the main player in the flavor profile even after fermentation of 14-21 days.
Best Tea for kombucha depends on your criteria
There are several criteria which can be used to determine what is “best”. These are only three of many criteria which have appeared regularly in searches. Not included are the health effects of various tea types for making kombucha.
Personal Taste
As mentioned above, the most common types of tea used to make kombucha are black and green tea varieties. Most people agree that teas without additional flavors are best because flavorings have an unpredictable effect on the flavor but any type of tea which you enjoy could be a good candidate for kombucha.
SCOBY Growth
If you judge your tea choice on the growth of the SCOBY then your best choices are high tannin leaves which include traditional tea, oak leaf, grape leaf, bay tree leaf and coffee. The tannins in the leaves help the acetic acid bacteria to produce abundant amounts of cellulose which forms the SCOBY. This study done to determine the conditions for fast SCOBY growth for medical applications indicated that higher concentrations of black tea were better for SCOBY growth than lower ones.
The above study was focused on how to grow cellulose fast for use in medical applications such as temporary skin, structure for blood vessels and cartilage.
Culture Makeup
The culture makeup is not something which is readily apparent. It changes constantly with a variety of variables such as the temperature, water quality, type of substrate, type of sugar and fermentation time. Each SCOBY is made up of different microorganisms with no two SCOBYs being the same.
For someone to say which tea is best from this criteria they first need to have an ideal in mind and a very well equipped biology lab. Stop thinking about the makeup of your culture and start focusing on what you like and how you feel after you drink it.