Mustard Free Plain Kombucha
Brewing your own kombucha at home is one of those deeply satisfying kitchen projects that rewards patience with something genuinely delicious. The process starts with a strong, dark cup of sweetened black tea that gets cooled down before the SCOBY and starter liquid are introduced — that careful temperature step is what keeps the culture alive and thriving. Over the course of a week or two, the fermentation transforms the sweet tea into a tangy, lightly effervescent drink that you can taste and adjust to your liking, from gently tart to boldly sour. Store-bought kombucha can sometimes include flavoring blends or additives that introduce unexpected ingredients, so making it yourself from just tea, sugar, water, and a live culture gives you complete control over what goes into every bottle. The SCOBY does all the heavy lifting once it's settled in — you just need a warm corner of your kitchen and a little patience. Bottling day is genuinely exciting, and that first cold glass straight from the fridge has a brightness and fizz that's hard to beat.
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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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