Cashew Free Plain Kombucha

Total time168 hr 30 min

Prep time20 min

Cook time10 min

4.5

(13)

Brewing your own kombucha at home is one of those deeply satisfying kitchen projects that rewards patience with something genuinely delicious — tangy, lightly fizzy, and alive in the best possible way. The ingredient list here is beautifully minimal: filtered water, black tea, sugar, a SCOBY, and a splash of starter liquid to kick off fermentation. There are no nuts, no nut-derived ingredients, and no shared processing concerns to stress over, making this a clean and straightforward brew from start to finish. The process is mostly hands-off — steep, cool, combine, and wait — with the real magic happening quietly on your countertop over seven to ten days. Tasting daily starting on day seven lets you dial in exactly the level of tartness you love, whether that's bright and gently sour or deeply vinegary and bold. Once you have your first successful batch, you'll also have a SCOBY and starter liquid ready to go, so the cycle just keeps rolling. It's the kind of recipe that turns into a ritual.

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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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