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Our family has been making kombucha for years and this health-boosting drink is a favorite in our house. Many of my friends and family have been gifted a “baby kombucha” as my kids call the SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast).
What is Kombucha?
From a previous article:
Kombucha is a fermented sweetened tea that has been around for centuries. It is slightly tangy and slightly sweet, and a great treat on a summer day. Just as with water kefir, kombucha can be double fermented into a fizzy soda with a slight fruit taste.
Kombucha contains high levels of antioxidants, b-vitamins, probiotics, and glucaric acid. It has been reported to have a variety of health benefits including:
- liver detoxification
- improved pancreas function
- increased energy
- better digestion
- improved mood (helps with anxiety/depression)
- kills candida (yeast)
- helps nutrient assimilation
Kombucha has gained popularity in recent years and there are some pre-made commercial versions available. While they taste great, homemade versions are a much more frugal alternative (and equally delicious in my opinion).
Continuous Brew Kombucha vs. Batch System
For years I had been brewing with the batch system for making kombucha and while I still really like that method, I’ve found that the continuous brew method is easier to fit into our schedule now. As the names suggest, the batch method is where kombucha is brewed in batches and re-started with each batch by using the SCOBY “baby” and some of the liquid from the previous batch.
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.
This yields a fresher brew (in my opinion), helps it brew faster (good when there are 6 people consuming it each day) and takes up less room on the counter. This article from the Weston A. Price foundation talks about the benefits of continuous brew.
From that article:
The benefits of continuous brewing are both practical and nutritional. They include:
- Less risk of mold and other contamination in kombucha batches, as once established, the liquid maintains a far more acidic environment, more hostile to outside invaders because of smaller amounts of free sugar and a greater population of good bacteria and yeast.
- Less overall work to produce more overall volume.
- More consistent supply of kombucha (a few bottles every day or every few days rather than having a large batch all at once).
- A broader array of bacteria and other beneficial compounds in the final product.
Continuous Brew System
The main difference in the methods is that continuous brew uses a larger container with a spigot so some of the brewed kombucha can be removed, leaving enough mature brew to start again. This means the container, spigot, and other materials must be of proper quality for kombucha production.
To choose a good vessel for your homebrew, consider:
- Size. The best size for most families is between 2 and 5 gallons. It is important to have a larger capacity since at least half of the liquid will remain in the vessel at all times.
- Material. Kombucha is a powerful detoxifier and is best brewed in inert, food-safe materials such as porcelain, stainless steel, stoneware, or glass. Oak barrels are also a great way to brew up a batch of tasty booch! They have been used in fermentation since, forever! (I got my brewing vessel here.)
- Spigot. A continuous brew vessel works best with a spigot so kombucha can be drawn off easily into your bottles. It is important that the spigot be made of a quality material such as BPA-free plastic, stainless steel, or wood. Some cheap beverage dispensers have spigots covered in metallic paint that will chip off and give the brew an off flavor. Also avoid any spigots that use glues, epoxies, or other adhesives to attach to the vessel as you will want to remove the spigot at cleaning time. Be sure to test the container and spigot thoroughly for leaks prior to filling it with the kombucha mixture. (These are the spigots I’ve used.)
- Cover. The cloth cover is vital to prevent contamination from fruit flies while also permitting oxygen to penetrate the brew. It is important the cloth be of a tightly woven yet breathable material such as cotton. Cheesecloth has a loose weave that will allow fruit flies or ants to invade the brew. Make sure it is snug fitting so they can’t sneak in another way. While you could use a paper towel or coffee filter, we prefer to not waste paper products and use these cute fermentation covers instead.
Where to Get Fermentation Vessels
I have several friends who use a two gallon mason-type jar with a spigot or any of the fermentation crocks here. Really any glass or ceramic jar with a spigot works as long as the spigot is safe. Or, you can take the guesswork out by getting a complete brew package from here.
How to Get a SCOBY
SCOBYs are living and thriving colonies of bacteria and unfortunately, you can’t just pick up a high quality one at your grocery store. There are a couple of ways to acquire a SCOBY.
- If you know anyone who already brews kombucha, ask them for an extra SCOBY and they will probably be glad to pass one on. The SCOBY has a “baby” every batch or two and this baby can then be used to brew kombucha. This is the best way if you are able to find one. Just make sure to ask them to include 1 cup of the brewed liquid to use as a strong starter liquid in making your own. You’ll need one SCOBY and 1 cup of starter liquid for each gallon you plan to brew.
- You can order a SCOBY (or two) from an online source. Just make sure the source is reputable. I’ve seen SCOBYs on sites like eBay or Amazon, but prefer a trusted site like Kombucha Kamp
Once you have a SCOBY, the actual process of making kombucha is very easy! You’ll also want to make sure you have the correct amounts of tea and sugar for your container size.
Courtesy of The Big Book of Kombucha, here is a handy chart for batch and container size:
How to Make Continuous Brew Kombucha
It’s easy to get started, and if you are a regular kombucha drinker, you’ll save so much money!
Equipment
There’s a few things you’ll need before making a continuous brew, including:
- Brewing vessel – you’ll need a 2-5 gallon brewing vessel and spigot of a safe material. Check this page out for lots of options
- A stirring utensil – for making the sweetened tea
- A fermentation cover – you can use a coffee filter and a rubber band, but I love these reusable breathable fermentation covers
The Recipe
Continuous Brew Kombucha Recipe
Ingredients
- tea this is my favorite blend for a delicious finished brew
- sugar
- starter tea from a previous batch of kombucha
- one kombucha SCOBY rehydrate first if you order a dehydrated one online
- filtered water preferably free of chlorine, chloramines, and fluoride
Instructions
- Prepare the sweet tea. I use 2 Tablespoons of loose tea, 2 family size tea bags, or 8-10 small bags per gallon of water. Add 1 cup of regular sugar per gallon. Do not use raw honey!
- Let tea cool to room temperature and make sure it really is cool! This step is very important as too hot of tea can kill your SCOBY.
- Once tea is completely cool, pour into glass jar, leaving about 20% of the room at the top.
- Pour in the correct amount of liquid from a previous batch of kombucha or if starting from a dehydrated SCOBY, pour in ½ cup from a store-bought bottle of kombucha. If you don't have starter liquid, vinegar can be used instead.
- With very clean hands, add the SCOBY. The SCOBY may sink or float, it makes no difference, as the new SCOBY will eventually form on the top.
- Cover the jar with a fermentation cover or coffee filter and rubber band.
- Put the jar in a warm (around 75-85 degrees is best) corner of the kitchen where it is at least a few feet away from any other fermenting products. If your kitchen isn't warm enough, it may help to use a heating mat on the side of the brewing vessel.
- Let sit to ferment for around 7-21 days, though the length of time may vary depending on your temperature and batch size. You can taste test the kombucha to see if it is done. It should taste tart but still very slightly sweet also.
- At this point, kombucha is ready for a second ferment to add carbonation. If you aren’t doing the second ferment, just pour the kombucha into another jar or jars with airtight lids and seal until ready to drink.
- For continuous brew, we dispense into several quart size mason jars with plastic storage caps (don't use metal!), leaving about 20% of the room on top.
Nutrition
Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!
For more specifics, here is a helpful video from my friend Hannah (the Kombucha Mamma) and you can watch the full series of tutorial videos here:
Second Ferment (How to Make Soda!)
Kombucha can be consumed as soon as it is done brewing, but adding fruit juice or fruit can make kombucha carbonated and slightly sweeter, which is often more appealing to kids. It is an easy second step too!
- Dispense the kombucha into mason jars with plastic lids or these type of Grolsch beer bottles, leaving about 1/5 of the room at the top for add-ins.
- Add fruit juice to almost fill the jar, or fresh fruit of choice and then cap tightly to allow the mixture to carbonate.
- Leave at room temperature for 2-3 days to allow to carbonate, but check it carefully as pressure can build up and break the jars if left for too long.
- Store in refrigerator until ready to drink.
My favorite add-ins:
- minced ginger root and blueberries
- ½ organic lemon (quartered) and ½ tsp grated ginger (tastes like Sprite)
- minced ginger root and citrus
- ¼ cup fresh or frozen berries
- mango
- prunes and vanilla (Dr. Pepper/Cream soda type taste)
Special Notes for Continuous Brew
Continuous brew can be even easier than the batch method and is my method of choice. It just requires a few small tweaks for best flavor:
When to add sweet tea?
You can add it right away after decanting, or wait until you are ready for more kombucha. After adding the tea, wait at least 2 days and then begin tasting. The more mature the brew is, the faster it will turn that sweet tea into kombucha, so when you first start the continuous brew, it may take a little longer to be ready. The longer it ferments, the more tart the brew will be, so harvest when you like the flavor.
Flavor is the key!
The brew is ready when you like the flavor, that is the most important factor. If you don’t like the taste, you won’t drink it! Of course, the longer it brews, the less sugar is present, so those who are concerned with keeping sugar content low should ferment a few extra days until the flavor is more sour. Trust your taste buds to let you know.
Less cleaning…
One of the great things about continuous brew is not having to clean the vessel between each brew. However, every couple of months it will be time to clean out the vessel, remove excess yeast from the spigot, and even cut down the SCOBY so that it doesn’t take up too much room in the vessel.
To clean, remove the large SCOBY and remaining liquid to another vessel or bowl, then remove the spigot and rinse all elements clean. If soap is used, rinse again very well to prevent any residue from causing issues with the brew. Then trim down the SCOBY as needed (you can use a knife or scissors as brief contact won’t be a problem) and re-start just as before.
FAQs and more info
If you would like more detailed instructions, I highly recommend The Big Book of Kombucha as the ideal resource for all your kombucha questions. Or you could choose to get an online kit that includes the book, videos, and complete instructions, as well as the supplies. They have taken out all the guesswork!
For even more on the science and lore of kombucha, check out my podcasts with Hannah Krum:
- 269: Kombucha Questions Answered: Alcohol, Candida, Pregnancy, and More With Kombucha Kamp
- 36: Getting Started With Homemade Kombucha
Do you make kombucha? Ever tried this method? Share below!
Chicken Tortilla Soup – Kid Favorite!
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Hi! Thanks for the awesome article! I went to order the 3-gallon jug you mentioned and pictured, but the description says it’s crystal, not glass. Is it actually glass and just branded as crystal? The article mentions that crystal can be bad for Kombucha fermenting.
Thanks!
Hmmm… I’ll check on that. It didn’t say crystal when i bought it. I know there are some other good options out there that are definitely glass though.
Could the crystal have lead in it?
Back in the 1990’s when it was popular in Australia to make Kombucha. In 1999 a couple who had been making kombucha for 6 months, were indeed hospitalized for lead poisoning at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Here is the Pubmed article about this case which includes the recommendation not to brew kombucha in either a ceramic or crystal vessel. I’m already struggling with high lead levels, as shown on test results, so I follow these guidelines. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9887919
I just harvested my first batch of continuous brew. It took a few weeks as my SCOBY was still a bit small as she was homegrown from a bottle of store-bought kombucha.
She’s now nice and big and beautiful! I harvested nearly a gallon and a half.
3 liters are second-fermenting with lemon and ginger, a fourth with pomegranate juice. The remaining is in the fridge being drunk plain.
It is perfect!
Thanks so much, WM for introducing me to kombucha in the first place and giving me the tools and know-how to set up my own system. It’s so worth it, and pretty awesome to drink something so healthful that I produced myself.
I’m not a mama, I’m a guy, but I have implemented sooooo many of your ideas and recipes. For about three and a half months now, I eat paleo, make my own deodorant, body wash, laundry detergent, shampoo, etc. I oil cleanse. I spray magnesium oil every night. I eat a tablespoon or two of organic coconut oil everyday. I grow my own organic vegetables and herbs on my patio. Whenever I am about to eat something or use it externally, I check the ingredients and ask myself, “Would WM approve?”..lol.
I have quit smoking, drinking, and binging. I’ve quit taking my anti-depressant. My testosterone levels are going up and stabilizing, and I’ve lost 20 lbs so far.
Best of all, I feel terrific!!!! You have really helped turn my life and health around.
Just simply, THANK YOU!
That’s awesome! Thanks so much for reading and congrats on your progress!
Was just browsing the comments and had to reply. HOW AWESOME TO READ! I have lost 65 lbs, improve my family of 6’s health all around. I found WM 2 yrs ago and SHE HAS SAVED MY FAMILY! Kudos to you and God bless!
Do you still use the water from the Berkey water filter? It’s crossed out in the directions so I was wondering if you had encountered any issues?
Yes… broken link checker just thought it was a broken link, it is fixed now but I haven’t had time to update.
You said you use Black Tea. Can you use any tea, and if you use herbal, do you still get the “energy” from the Kombucha?
Yes, although a lot of sources recommend using 1/2 black tea and 1/2 of one of the approved herbal teas as the kombucha does best with some of the tannins from the black tea…
So can you use green tea with lemon grass? I cannot find a link anywhere that says one way or the other.
I used a herbal tea of ginger and Lemon, after nearly two weeks the scoby was VERY thin so the friend I got my scoby off, advised me to had more sugar, so I made a hot sugar syrup and put some blueberries and strawberries and a big knob of ginger and left that for an hour to steep the flavour and then strained it and put all the flavoured sugar syrup into the jar – wow, within an hour the scoby went from 2mm thick to about 2cm thick and the colour took on red, like strawberry and the flavour is absolutely beautiful, very moorish. I gave my mother some and she wouldnt give the glass back till every drop was gone. Im loving the experimentation with flavours. But the stawberry is definitely a go, with lots of ginger.
I’ve been reading about how to make kombucha and wanting to try it! I tasted store-bought kombucha recently and it’s delicious, but expensive, so I’m very interested in making my own, especially since I’ve heard it can really help with autoimmune issues and I have a little psoriasis. So far I’ve only heard about the batch method, but I really like the idea of a continuous brew method! I think I’m going to pick up some kind of large jar with a spigot and get started as soon as I find someone with a scoby to share! Thanks for the great post Katie!
I tried to do the second ferment but it didn’t carbonate and after three days gave me another little SCOBY on top. Do you know what I might have done wrong? I added cranberry juice and used quart mason jars with plastic lids.
Was it pure cranberry juice? Im guessing either it wasn’t fermented strongly enough the first time (the first run takes the longest and then it will be faster to add in subsequent times) or there wasn’t enough sugar in the cranberry juice to create carbonation.
It’s 100% juice (apple, cran & pear) with 35 g of sugar per serving. LOL I’ll learn.
The carbonation comes from producing gasses and being trapped in a tightly sealed container, so make sure that:
1. your ferment is active
2. your second ferment container is tightly sealed
3. there isn’t a large air gap at the top of your second ferment container
If it formed a scoby at the the top then likely it is active, most likely the culprit was the gasses escaping from the second ferment container, hence it went flat, same as carbonated water would. Remember to use strong bottles for second ferment carbonation, as you don’t want any bottles exploding, and make sure to leave them out for a full 24hrs prior to refrigerating. If they aren’t getting fizzy, feel free to leave them out longer, you can adjust the per-refrigeration time of the second ferment to increase or decrease the activity of the brew.
I hope that helps. 🙂 Happy brewing.
I had a new scone grow in my second fermentation, as well. What do I do with it?
Katie – I had my first bottle of Kombucha (raw with Ginger) last weekend, trying to help get over a stomach ache and I was immediately hooked! I knew I couldn’t keep forking over the $3 a bottle so I’ve decided to start my own continuous brew thanks to your post. I’m wondering, when you add dates and vanilla, is it vanilla extract? Or some vanilla bean? Roughly how much of each are adding to the equivalent of 8 ounces? (This flavor is the most likely to get my husband on board so I wanted to make that right away.) 🙂
About 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and a couple dates or to taste…
Thanks so much!
I’m so going to try the prunes and vanilla. Thanks for the info. My husband is a Dr Pepper addict.
I searched for continuous brew kombucha because two of my kids & I drank my batch of kombucha for the week. Now that they like strawberry k’bucha I’m going to have make bigger quantities.
Thanks again. You have helped our family so much. Magnesium, recipes, chlorine neutralization, and much more.
Why is honey a no?
It is naturally antimicrobial so it can kill the scoby
I have actually used raw honey in my kombucha with no negative side affects (even though I read not to, I wanted to try it because I prefer to buy everything I use locally). My SCOBY is going strong!
You also need to be careful with honey because it may contain Clostridium botulinum spores. The spores are harmless (to adults) and are unable to germinate due to the high sugar concentration in honey. However, if you give them a cozy environment they will germinate and cause illness.
Wow! When I started reading, I knew nothing of this drink and now I’m pretty certain I will be getting my own SCOBY. What do pediatricians have to say on giving children a beverage with 1% alcohol? I’d love my girl to benefit from this!
I see people who say theirs is blueberry flavored. Do they add blueberry juice in second phase or are they using blueberry in phase one?
In the second phase and you can add frozen blueberries or blueberry juice. I give to my kids starting at about a year…
I want to mention gelatin comes from beef hooves, and as a vegan, I use agar agar flakes for a much healthier jelled product, vegans also do not use honey, and maple syrup is my preferred sweetener Just an FYI We get our protein from plant based sources only.
If you are looking for a great product in order to gel, use pectin. It is completely plant based and works great.