BHA & BHT Free Plain Kombucha
Brewing your own kombucha at home is one of the most satisfying fermentation projects you can take on, and this plain version is the perfect foundation. Many store-bought kombuchas contain added preservatives like BHA and BHT to extend shelf life, so making your own from scratch is the cleanest way to enjoy this tangy, lightly effervescent drink without any of those additives. The ingredient list is refreshingly short — just filtered water, black tea, sugar, a SCOBY, and a splash of starter liquid — which means you have complete control over exactly what goes into every bottle. The process is mostly hands-off: steep, cool, ferment, and wait. That 7-to-10-day fermentation window lets the SCOBY work its magic, converting the sweetened tea into something genuinely complex and pleasantly tart. Tasting daily from day seven means you get to dial in the exact level of sourness you prefer, whether you like it mellow and lightly fizzy or bold and vinegary. Once you have a finished batch, you also have your own starter liquid ready to go, so the cycle just keeps rolling with zero waste and zero guesswork about what's in your glass.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
- 3.5 quarts filtered water, divided
- 4 bags plain black tea (or 1 tbsp loose-leaf black tea)
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 scoby (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast)
- ½ cup starter liquid (unflavored, unpasteurized kombucha from a previous batch or store-bought raw kombucha)
Instructions
- 1
Bring 1 quart of the filtered water to a boil in a large pot. Remove from heat, add the tea bags (or loose-leaf tea in a strainer), and steep for 5–7 minutes, until the tea is deep amber and strongly brewed. Remove and discard the tea bags or strainer.
- 2
Add the sugar to the hot tea and stir with a long-handled spoon until fully dissolved, about 1 minute.
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