Xanthan Gum Free Pineapple Ginger Fermented Tea
Bright, tropical, and alive with a zippy ginger kick, this homemade fermented tea is the kind of drink that makes you feel genuinely good about what you're sipping. Store-bought kombucha can be a minefield of added thickeners and stabilizers, but brewing your own means you know exactly what's in every bottle — just black tea, raw honey, fresh pineapple juice, and real ginger. The two-stage fermentation process does the heavy lifting: the first ferment builds that signature tang, and the second ferment in sealed swing-top bottles creates natural carbonation without any additives whatsoever. Xanthan gum and other gums have no place here, because the SCOBY and starter liquid handle all the texture and effervescence on their own. The pineapple-ginger combination is genuinely inspired — sweet and citrusy up front, with a warm, spicy finish that lingers in the best way. It takes patience across a week or so of fermentation, but the hands-on time is minimal and the payoff is a fridge full of bubbly, complex, completely clean-label kombucha you made yourself.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the sweet tea base
- 8 cups filtered water
- 4 bags black tea
- ½ cup raw honey
- 2 cups plain unflavored kombucha (store-bought, no added flavors or sweeteners), as starter liquid
- 1 scoby (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast)
For the second ferment (flavoring)
- 1 cup fresh pineapple juice (from about ¼ of a fresh pineapple, juiced or blended and strained)
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
Instructions
- 1
Bring 8 cups of filtered water to a boil in a large saucepan. Remove from heat, add the tea bags, and steep for 7–10 minutes until the tea is deep amber. Remove and discard the tea bags.
- 2
Add the honey to the hot tea and stir until fully dissolved. Allow the sweet tea to cool completely to room temperature, about 1–2 hours — the liquid must be below 80°F (27°C) before the SCOBY is added, or the heat will damage the culture.
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