Walnut Free Plain Kombucha
Brewing your own kombucha at home is one of those kitchen projects that feels almost magical — a living culture slowly transforming sweet tea into something tangy, lightly fizzy, and genuinely refreshing. The ingredient list is beautifully minimal: filtered water, black tea, sugar, a SCOBY, and a splash of starter liquid to kick off fermentation. There are no hidden additives, no mystery flavorings, and absolutely no tree nuts to worry about, making this a clean and straightforward brew from start to finish. The process does ask for a little patience — anywhere from seven to fourteen days depending on how tart you like it — but the hands-on time is surprisingly short, and most of the work is just waiting and tasting. Tasting daily from day seven is honestly one of the more satisfying parts, watching the flavor shift from sweet to pleasantly sour right before your eyes. Once it hits that perfect balance of tartness and mild effervescence, you bottle it up and chill it down, ready to enjoy within a couple of weeks. Once you have a finished batch, you also have your starter liquid and SCOBY ready to go again, so this one recipe essentially keeps on giving.
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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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