Kombucha Flavoring and Recipes
To flavor while fermenting (not usually recommended):
With the mother in the the liquid, add in a couple slices of fresh ginger, or a couple whole vanilla beans. Since kombucha is living, additional ingredients can affect it in unpredictable ways, so we recommend that you only try this once you have a couple back-up scoby's. A lot of people prefer the simplicity and flavor of the ginger or the vanilla, or even dried cranberries, but you can also experiment with dried and fresh herbs, dried fruits, organic citrus peels, as well as flavored tea (subbing in up to half of the tea bags with flavored tea bags).
With the mother in the the liquid, add in a couple slices of fresh ginger, or a couple whole vanilla beans. Since kombucha is living, additional ingredients can affect it in unpredictable ways, so we recommend that you only try this once you have a couple back-up scoby's. A lot of people prefer the simplicity and flavor of the ginger or the vanilla, or even dried cranberries, but you can also experiment with dried and fresh herbs, dried fruits, organic citrus peels, as well as flavored tea (subbing in up to half of the tea bags with flavored tea bags).
To flavor as a secondary ferment (recommended - this is when the mother and baby scoby are removed):
Do the same as above, bottling the jar a couple days on the counter or a week in the fridge. If you would like to use fruit juice, follow these steps below:
1. Pour clear fruit juice (avoid pulp, it can cause lots of yeasty stringiness!) into the smaller glass jars or bottles you're using to bottle your kombucha. Use about 2.5 oz. of fruit juice per quart-sized jar. You can use any size bottle or jar, just be sure to adjust the fruit juice accordingly. A nice flavor is a cranberry-apple juice blend.
2. Pour kombucha tea on top of the fruit juice, allowing about an ounce or inch of breathing room at the top of the bottle, close bottle tightly. Be sure to save at least 10% of your brewed kombucha to use with your saved mother in your next batch before the juice gets into it. To ensure a consistent brew, 25% is a good amount to go by.
3. Place bottles back in your fermenting place for 48 hours and cover with a kitchen towel so they avoid exposure to direct sunlight.
To flavor your Kombucha drink quickly after its done (not using a secondary ferment):
Simply squeeze in a fresh slice of orange, lemon or lime and drink! If you want it sweeter add in honey, agave, sugar, or stevia to taste. Or take 1/4 cup fruit juice of desired flavor, and 3/4 cup kombucha, stir and drink.
To make Slushies, Smoothies and Italian Sodas with Kombucha:
Since Kombucha does have some flavor of its own, we recommend starting out with flavors that compliment it one or two at a time, just in case you are not crazy about the final flavor. Most people love many different combinations though, and even fruits like blueberries and bananas can go well with kombucha. Below are some recipes and recommendations!
Kombucha Slushies:
Put in a blender your finished, ready-to-drink kombucha liquid (a cup or two), fruit of choice and any other add-ins. Blend. THEN add in crushed ice until the consistency is good. Often times people underestimate the amount of ice needed- make sure you have a lot on hand!
Taste, add more fruit or fruit juice if needed (not too much or it will turn runny quickly), and tiny bit of honey or applesauce (or any kind of sugar or stevia) if it needs some more sweetness.
A few great blends to try: lemonade-strawberry, grape, grape-lime, mango-banana, kiwi-raspberry, acai berry, banana-pineapple, cherry, ginger-lemon-orange, blackberry, pomegranate, cranberry-lime, lemon-lime, grape-cherry-strawberry, blueberry-tangerine-banana, banana-apple-raspberry, coconut-blueberry, papaya-banana, strawberry-banana-orange, lychee-coconut-banana, pineapple-banana-guava, orange-banana-grapefruit, watermelon-lime.
Fruit and flavorings can be fresh, frozen, jams or juices. Mix it up and see what new delicious twists you can create! You can also add in carrot juice, aloe, yogurt, soy, cream (make it an italian soda!) ginger, vanilla or chocolate if you're feeling adventurous or looking to boost the nutrition even more!
Kombucha Smoothies (similar to slushies, but with frozen yogurt or icecream!):
Put in a blender your finished, ready-to-drink kombucha liquid (a cup or two), fruit of choice and any other add-ins. Blend. THEN add in icecream or frozen yogurt of your choice until you reach your desired consistency. Vanilla is always a good base to start with.
Taste, add more fruit or fruit juice if needed (not too much or it will turn runny quickly), and tiny bit of honey or applesauce (or any kind of sugar or stevia) if it needs some more sweetness.
A few great blends to try (same as slushy recommendations): lemonade-strawberry, grape, grape-lime, mango-banana, kiwi-raspberry, acai berry, banana-pineapple, cherry, ginger-lemon-orange, blackberry, pomegranate, cranberry-lime, lemon-lime, grape-cherry-strawberry, blueberry-tangerine-banana, banana-apple-raspberry, coconut-blueberry, papaya-banana, strawberry-banana-orange, lychee-coconut-banana, pineapple-banana-guava, orange-banana-grapefruit, watermelon-lime.
Fruit and flavorings can be fresh, frozen, jams or juices (or extracts such as almond). Mix it up and see what new delicious twists you can create! You can also add in carrot juice, aloe, yogurt, cream (to make a very rich smoothie) ginger, vanilla or chocolate if you're feeling adventurous or looking to boost the nutrition even more! You can also of course add in some delicious bites of cookies, cake, candy, nuts, graham cracker, whatever your heart desires! We recommend sticking to a more basic flavor like vanilla and mixing these in at the end for a chunky effect (and possibly using LOTS of icecream for a Cold Stone type mix-in effect, instead of a drinkable smoothie).
Kombucha Italian Soda:
These are dynamite!
1. Fill a tall glass cup with ice
2. (Optional - we recommend trying these after you know what the plain version tastes like) add in some flavoring syrup of your choice (grape, cherry, kiwi, cranberry etc). Jam or blended fruit can be used instead of syrup - add honey or sugar if the blended fruit is too bland).
3. Pour in your fizzy kombucha to about an inch from the top. To get fizzy kombucha, bottle it in a specially designed air-tight bottle, such as a swing-top bottle (used for beer, etc) for a couple days until desired fizziness is reached (then add it to this recipe).
4. Add in half and half (half cream, half milk) to the top.
5. Stick in your straw and drink!
Do the same as above, bottling the jar a couple days on the counter or a week in the fridge. If you would like to use fruit juice, follow these steps below:
1. Pour clear fruit juice (avoid pulp, it can cause lots of yeasty stringiness!) into the smaller glass jars or bottles you're using to bottle your kombucha. Use about 2.5 oz. of fruit juice per quart-sized jar. You can use any size bottle or jar, just be sure to adjust the fruit juice accordingly. A nice flavor is a cranberry-apple juice blend.
2. Pour kombucha tea on top of the fruit juice, allowing about an ounce or inch of breathing room at the top of the bottle, close bottle tightly. Be sure to save at least 10% of your brewed kombucha to use with your saved mother in your next batch before the juice gets into it. To ensure a consistent brew, 25% is a good amount to go by.
3. Place bottles back in your fermenting place for 48 hours and cover with a kitchen towel so they avoid exposure to direct sunlight.
To flavor your Kombucha drink quickly after its done (not using a secondary ferment):
Simply squeeze in a fresh slice of orange, lemon or lime and drink! If you want it sweeter add in honey, agave, sugar, or stevia to taste. Or take 1/4 cup fruit juice of desired flavor, and 3/4 cup kombucha, stir and drink.
To make Slushies, Smoothies and Italian Sodas with Kombucha:
Since Kombucha does have some flavor of its own, we recommend starting out with flavors that compliment it one or two at a time, just in case you are not crazy about the final flavor. Most people love many different combinations though, and even fruits like blueberries and bananas can go well with kombucha. Below are some recipes and recommendations!
Kombucha Slushies:
Put in a blender your finished, ready-to-drink kombucha liquid (a cup or two), fruit of choice and any other add-ins. Blend. THEN add in crushed ice until the consistency is good. Often times people underestimate the amount of ice needed- make sure you have a lot on hand!
Taste, add more fruit or fruit juice if needed (not too much or it will turn runny quickly), and tiny bit of honey or applesauce (or any kind of sugar or stevia) if it needs some more sweetness.
A few great blends to try: lemonade-strawberry, grape, grape-lime, mango-banana, kiwi-raspberry, acai berry, banana-pineapple, cherry, ginger-lemon-orange, blackberry, pomegranate, cranberry-lime, lemon-lime, grape-cherry-strawberry, blueberry-tangerine-banana, banana-apple-raspberry, coconut-blueberry, papaya-banana, strawberry-banana-orange, lychee-coconut-banana, pineapple-banana-guava, orange-banana-grapefruit, watermelon-lime.
Fruit and flavorings can be fresh, frozen, jams or juices. Mix it up and see what new delicious twists you can create! You can also add in carrot juice, aloe, yogurt, soy, cream (make it an italian soda!) ginger, vanilla or chocolate if you're feeling adventurous or looking to boost the nutrition even more!
Kombucha Smoothies (similar to slushies, but with frozen yogurt or icecream!):
Put in a blender your finished, ready-to-drink kombucha liquid (a cup or two), fruit of choice and any other add-ins. Blend. THEN add in icecream or frozen yogurt of your choice until you reach your desired consistency. Vanilla is always a good base to start with.
Taste, add more fruit or fruit juice if needed (not too much or it will turn runny quickly), and tiny bit of honey or applesauce (or any kind of sugar or stevia) if it needs some more sweetness.
A few great blends to try (same as slushy recommendations): lemonade-strawberry, grape, grape-lime, mango-banana, kiwi-raspberry, acai berry, banana-pineapple, cherry, ginger-lemon-orange, blackberry, pomegranate, cranberry-lime, lemon-lime, grape-cherry-strawberry, blueberry-tangerine-banana, banana-apple-raspberry, coconut-blueberry, papaya-banana, strawberry-banana-orange, lychee-coconut-banana, pineapple-banana-guava, orange-banana-grapefruit, watermelon-lime.
Fruit and flavorings can be fresh, frozen, jams or juices (or extracts such as almond). Mix it up and see what new delicious twists you can create! You can also add in carrot juice, aloe, yogurt, cream (to make a very rich smoothie) ginger, vanilla or chocolate if you're feeling adventurous or looking to boost the nutrition even more! You can also of course add in some delicious bites of cookies, cake, candy, nuts, graham cracker, whatever your heart desires! We recommend sticking to a more basic flavor like vanilla and mixing these in at the end for a chunky effect (and possibly using LOTS of icecream for a Cold Stone type mix-in effect, instead of a drinkable smoothie).
Kombucha Italian Soda:
These are dynamite!
1. Fill a tall glass cup with ice
2. (Optional - we recommend trying these after you know what the plain version tastes like) add in some flavoring syrup of your choice (grape, cherry, kiwi, cranberry etc). Jam or blended fruit can be used instead of syrup - add honey or sugar if the blended fruit is too bland).
3. Pour in your fizzy kombucha to about an inch from the top. To get fizzy kombucha, bottle it in a specially designed air-tight bottle, such as a swing-top bottle (used for beer, etc) for a couple days until desired fizziness is reached (then add it to this recipe).
4. Add in half and half (half cream, half milk) to the top.
5. Stick in your straw and drink!
Learn More About Kombucha:
- Kombucha Overview
- Kombucha FAQ
- How to Make Kombucha (Step-by-Step Instructions)
- The History of Kombucha
- Strains: Bacteria and Yeast Strains in Kombucha
- The Difference Between Commercial Kombucha and Homemade Kombucha
- Meet our Kombucha Scobys
- Kombucha Pictures
- Kombucha Videos
- Purchase Kombucha Scobys