Guide to Kombucha Second Fermentation Process Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the ratio for kombucha second fermentation? ›

Ratios for Kombucha Flavoring

If flavoring with fresh, frozen, or dried fruit, start with 10-30% fruit and 70-90% Kombucha. If flavoring with juice, start with 10-20% juice and 80-90% Kombucha.

After this, you are ready to add another batch to the container! Pour in your cooled sweet tea (room temperature). Gently add your SCOBY(s) and starter tea from the glass container you stored them in. Cover the vessel and store it away to begin the primary fermentation process once again!

Burping is essentially just opening your bottles ever so slightly during the second fermentation process to release air or “excess pressure” in the bottle. Many brewers recommend burping bottles every day, or every other day while your bottles are fermenting at room temperature.

There are two main fermentation phases when making your own kombucha: First Fermentation: Transforms sweet tea into tart and tasty kombucha (see our guide to homemade kombucha here). Second Fermentation: Carbonates the kombucha by adding flavor and sugars (like orange juice) and bottling it.

The secondary fermentation is where most of the carbonation magic happens. So if you are a fan of fizz, this is where it's at! You can use fresh fruit, dried fruit, juice, herbs, spices, or extracts to flavor your kombucha.

There will likely be some residual sugars leftover from your primary fermentation, so if you really don't want to add any extra, you can certainly try it. But without the extra sugar, you may not have enough sugar to get carbonation or only enough sugar to get low carbonation.

The amount of scoby to keep depends on the volume of the next recipe; it is essential to add enough to ensure the fermentation process starts correctly. The general rule is to keep at least 10% of the volume of your next recipe.

If you've been able to produce a successful batch of first fermented kombucha and you've gone over a week without any mold in your brew vessel, it's very unlikely that you'll develop mold during second fermentation in the bottle.

Put simply, kombucha SCOBYs can be reused for many years. Realistically, however, you simply won't need it to last that long. Your SCOBY grows and divides with each batch of kombucha, so you will constantly be growing new SCOBYs. Simply remove the older layers and transfer the new layers to your next batch.

This is the simplest option – you can brew a normal batch of kombucha with multiple SCOBYs in the one jar. Normally they will fuse together into a mega SCOBY over time. Depending on what sort of jar you are using, this can make them difficult to get in and out when harvesting your fresh kombucha brew.

How to store SCOBY when not in use? ›

All you have to do is put all your extra SCOBYs in a glass container along with some room temp sweet tea or some finished, unflavored kombucha. An extra brewing vessel like a 1 gallon glass jar works perfectly as a SCOBY hotel.

Secondary fermentation is essential when making kombucha at home. It's the final step that makes the fermented tea drink fizzy and flavorful, and more like kombucha you find at the store. This is also an opportunity to add flavor to your kombucha with fruits, ginger, or juice to personalize it to your taste.

For F2, you want good-quality, food-grade glass that's thick enough to handle high pressure contents. And equally important is the cap. You want a cap that can be secured tightly enough to make an airtight seal. That's what'll allow you to trap the carbonation into the liquid as your brew ferments in the bottle.

Herbs and Spices – Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, thyme, mint, lavender, rosemary, etc. Works well in a combination with fruit, however if using alone, add 1 tsp honey per 1L during second ferment to reactivate beneficial bacteria.

When brewing kombucha, the most important rule of thumb is the sweet tea to starter tea ratio. The sweet tea to kombucha starter tea ratio is 9:1 or 90% sweet tea to 10% kombucha starter tea.

The continuous brew kombucha method involves removing only some of the liquid each time and replacing with the same amount of fresh brewed sweetened tea. Leaving at least 30% of the brew after each decant is ideal, but you can drink a little at a time and add tea when the level gets low.

Leaving a lot of SCOBYs in the brew will also shorten how long it takes to brew Kombucha. This can be good or bad, but always depending on flavor.