We love kombucha.
If you’ve never heard of it, then you need to. It’s a bubbly, fermented tea that contains natural probiotics. It’s very healthy! In our home, it’s replaced soda completely, and we honestly prefer it anyway.
Kombucha is really easy to brew, but a lot of people feel intimidated by it at first. I created a video a few years ago to explain more about the brewing and bottling process, so that’s a great place to start.
5 Easy Kombucha Flavors
A lot of people like kombucha plain. It tastes a little bit like hard apple cider (or what I’m told hard cider tastes like, as I don’t drink — I do know when we tried to add apple juice to kombucha, it didn’t really change the flavor any!). But of course, you can get really creative with it, too.
We usually stick to a few very basic flavors. These are easy to make, and you don’t need a lot of time or any special ingredients to make them. (Next month I’ll share some of the “fancier” ones, which I really enjoy, but are a bit more time-consuming or require some special ingredients.) I promise this is super easy!
Lemon
This is currently my favorite, and oh-so-easy.
Per bottle:
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 15 oz. plain kombucha
Strawberry Lemonade
This one was featured in the video above. It’s also one of my favorites.
Per bottle:
- 1 – 2 tsp. lemon juice
- 3 – 4 strawberries
- 1/2 tsp. sucanat or organic sugar
- 15 oz. plain kombucha
Lemon-Lime
This is a really refreshing one for summer! And kombucha loves lemon and lime juice, so your finished product will be very bubbly.
Per bottle:
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. lime juice
- 15 oz. plain kombucha
Grape
This is my husband’s favorite! The kids really enjoy it, too.
Per bottle:
- 1 – 2 oz. grape juice
- 14 – 15 oz. plain kombucha
Ginger Berry
This is a yummy and fun one, and soon blueberries will be in season.
Per bottle:
- 4 – 5 blueberries
- 1 – 2 slices fresh ginger
- 15 oz. plain kombucha
To make all of these flavors, simply add all the ingredients to a 16-oz. bottle and cap tightly. We use old commercial kombucha bottles. Let this sit for 2 – 4 days. I often let it sit more like 6 (I use a continuous brew system now, so I bottle every 3 days — this takes me through two cycles). Then it’s nice and fizzy.
I actually really like the continuous brew system, now that I’ve adjusted to it. Every 3 days, I draw off 4 bottles, and I add 1/2 gallon of sweet tea. I have even taught my 7-year-old to do it herself because it’s so easy.
Of course, you don’t have to feel “stuck” to these flavors — these are just some of our favorite ones! Feel free to add any type of juice or whole fruit and figure out what flavors you like. Next month I’ll teach you about adding herbal tea and other more unique flavors! I really like adding rose to mine. 🙂
I’m a big fan of pomegranate/blueberry right now. I use maybe half a cup of pomegranate/blueberry juice and add some fresh or frozen berries…it’s a beautiful color and delicious!