- Gather your ingredients and supplies. Make sure any equipment you are using has been cleaned well.
- Boil your water.
- Steep the tea in the hot water for 5 minutes. If using tea bags, simply remove them. If using loose leaf tea, strain all the tea leaves from the mixture.
- Stir in the sugar until completely dissolved.
- Allow the sweet tea mixture to cool completely. It should be at room temperature before moving on to the next step.
- Once it is cool, add the kombucha SCOBY. Some SCOBYs float, others may sink to the bottom, either way it’s fine.
- Cover the jar with a tight-weave cloth lid and rubber band. You must use a cloth lid to allow oxygen flow.
- Keep the jar of sweet tea with the SCOBY at moderate room temperature, out of direct sunlight, for seven days. The temperature should be between 65 and 78 degrees F.
- After 7 days, you should see a new SCOBY forming on the surface.
- Make a fresh batch of sweet tea as in steps 2-4. Remove the SCOBY from the fermented tea and place it in the jar of fresh sweet tea.
- The fermented tea is now ready for flavoring and bottling (secondary fermentation).
- For secondary fermentation, you need pressure-safe glass bottles. Mix 1 packet of LMNT Citrus Salt, 1 tablespoon honey, and 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger into the fermented tea.
- Using a funnel, fill the pressure-safe bottles with the fermented tea mixture, leaving a little room for headspace (see pictures above for fill level).
- Once the bottles are sealed, carbonation builds. Secondary fermentation can take anywhere from 5 to 12 days, depending on the temperature. At 5 days, check the carbonation carefully in the sink. If it’s not carbonated enough yet, let it sit undisturbed for a few more days.
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