FLAVORING YOUR KOMBUCHA
Wow! I am really slacking on providing you content on this blog. I promise that I am going to work to be better at this. I have found that I am pushing off writing articles for you out of fear. I want to be sure that I am providing you with quality content, quality writing, and quality photography (I mean, I am a professional photographer and all). However, that has turned in to fear of creating because I want it to be and look and sound perfect. Which in fact, I just need to start creating.
Now, on to how to flavor your kombucha! This is where the fun comes in and you can get a little creative.
After you have bottled your kombucha, you can drink it plain as is. It is still wonderful and delicious in my opinion. However, some people (aka my partner) does not like the flavor plain, so we experiment with flavoring! This also gives you a chance to have your kombucha go through a 2nd fermentation, which provides you with an even more carbonated drink!
So let’s get started!
WHY FLAVOR YOUR KOMBUCHA?
Besides just wanting to add flavor to your kombucha, there are several other reasons that you may want to spice things up. One of those reasons could be adding the carbonation. When you bottle your kombucha and add a flavoring, the yeast is reawakened and creates more carbon dioxide. This is what causes you to have a refreshing fizzy drink! This is part of the reason why I love flavoring my kombucha. The 2nd fermentation just adds a nice freshness to the drink.
Warning: if too much pressure builds up in the bottle, it will burst! This happened to me, and was quite the mess. I will go more into detail on this soon.
Another reason you may want to add some flavoring is for the beneficial elements in the flavoring. The nutrients, minerals, and antioxidants will be absorbed and broken down into forms that are easier for the body to process.
Lastly, if your kombucha is just a little too tart for your liking, you can combat it with a sweeter fruit! I like to do this with apple. Because life happens, and sometimes you just forget about your brew a little too long.
HOW TO FLAVOR YOUR KOMBUCHA
There are a lot of different ways that you can flavor your kombucha! Seriously the possibilities for this are endless! You can use fresh, dried, powdered, juices, jams, jelly, roots, flowers, compot, herbs, mushrooms, vegetables, fruits, etc.
You can also use these in a variety of ways. You can make a puree with fresh or frozen. You can juice fresh goods. You can also combine many of these options. You really can’t flavor your kombucha wrong. Just try out some of your favorite flavors and see what sticks out to you. It’s time to get creative!
I prefer to either juice my fresh fruits or put some in the Vitamix with a little water and just blend it until it is pretty smooth. I like to try and use fresh herbs as much as possible because I feel like they are more potent in my kombucha. However, I have used powdered herbs with great success! I am looking forward to playing more with medicinal herbs this summer from my herb garden I am growing.
Once you bottle and flavor your kombucha, you want to let it sit on the counter out of direct sunlight for a few days. This will allow that 2nd fermentation to start. Every flavoring reacts differently to this second fermentation. So it’s best to check your bottled kombucha after about 2 days and see if it has a good amount of carbonation for you. Although don’t pop all of them, because it will lose all that pressure we just built up! Then it’s time to but it in the refrigerator. Once it is placed in the refrigerator, the fermentation stop because the yeast slows down and is not creating any more carbon dioxide. If you do not stop the second fermentation, you run the risk of your bottle building up too much pressure and exploding!
Okay, so this happened to me. It was over the holiday, I had flavored my kombucha with lots of yumminess, and these ones in particular I flavored with pomegranate. We were down to the last 2 or 3 bottles of booch left and just hadn’t gotten around to putting them in the refrigerator. It just slipped our mind. At night while sleeping, I thought I heard a loud pop, but wasn’t sure if I was dreaming. So I mindlessly went back to sleep. Fast forward to the morning, I walked into the kitchen and saw glass all over the counter and floor! My two bottles burst, the kombucha was all over the counter, towels, and floor. I am not sure if the bottles just were not able to handle the pressure, or if there really was that much pressure built up, but it made for quite the clean up! So learn from me, do NOT forget your bottled kombucha on your counter top!
SOME IDEAS FOR FLAVORING YOUR KOMBUCHA
Okay so now is the fun part! Let’s start playing with flavors. I have tried so many different flavors over the years. Here are some of my favorites!
Apple Cinnamon
Strawberry Rose
Ginger Lemon
Lemon Lavender
Orange, Turmeric and Ginger
Blackberry
Orange
Carrot Orange
Fall Spice (apple, cinnamon, star anise, clover, ginger)
I would love to hear about what you flavor your kombucha with! Comment below with some of your favorite combos!
Thanks @cmwaller
Love the pics!