Carrageenan Free Cherry Vanilla Kombucha
Tart cherries, floral vanilla, and a satisfying fizz make this homemade kombucha feel like something you'd pay way too much for at a boutique wellness café. The flavor comes entirely from a quick honey-and-cherry syrup that you cook down on the stovetop, strain, and stir together with vanilla powder — no mystery additives, no stabilizers, no thickeners of any kind. That matters a lot when you're trying to avoid carrageenan, which sneaks into a surprising number of flavored and bottled kombucha drinks on store shelves. By starting with plain unflavored kombucha and building your own syrup from scratch, you stay in complete control of every single ingredient. The second fermentation in sealed glass bottles builds natural carbonation over 24 to 48 hours, giving you that lively, effervescent texture without anything artificial doing the work. Chilled and poured over ice, it's bright, a little tangy, and just sweet enough — the kind of drink that makes you wonder why you ever bought the bottled stuff in the first place.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
- 32 oz plain unflavored kombucha (store-bought or homemade first-ferment)
- 1 cup fresh or frozen pitted tart cherries
- 1 tbsp raw honey
- ½ tsp vanilla powder
Instructions
- 1
Combine the tart cherries and honey in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cherries soften and release their juice and the honey is fully dissolved, about 5–7 minutes. Remove from heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
- 2
Press the cooled cherry mixture through a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl or measuring cup, pressing the solids firmly with the back of a spoon to extract as much juice as possible. Discard the solids. Stir the vanilla powder into the strained cherry juice until fully dissolved.
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