Can You Make Kombucha With Herbal Tea?

Kombucha is a fermented beverage created from tea, sugar and bacteria and yeast (called a SCOBY), often with fruit added for flavor. Kombucha may provide many health benefits including strengthening immunity, aiding digestion and detoxifying your body as well as fighting cancer and helping with weight loss or increasing energy levels. Unfortunately, however, some brands contain large amounts of added sugar; to find those without additional added sweeteners it’s important to read labels closely or brew your own. If brewing it yourself you can control its sweetener content either using less fruit or adding sweeteners after fermentation has finished.

Kombucha can be made using any variety of tea, but black is recommended as it’s easiest for the SCOBY culture to adjust to it quickly. Once established, however, other kinds may be introduced later.

Oolong tea is an ideal addition to kombucha as it falls somewhere between green and black tea in terms of its levels of oxidization, with slightly more flavor than green but less than black tea. Oolong can add earthy, floral, and fruity notes that bring out its best qualities in your beverage.

As a rule of thumb, the more tea has been exposed to air exposure, the bitterer its flavor will become. Therefore, for optimal results when making kombucha use as little oxidized tea as possible.

If you opt for a flavored tea, make sure that it does not contain artificial aromas and flavors as these may weaken the SCOBY and cause it to collapse. When adding flavorings, use natural ingredients such as spices or herbs instead of extracts as these contain additives which could negate some of its health benefits.

Your kombucha can also be enhanced by adding a mix of black and herbal tea. This may appeal to people who find plain green tea too vegetal and bland; in such instances chamomile and green tea combined can make an excellent, gentle option.

When making your own kombucha, it’s essential to remember that fermentation takes at least seven days – faster if you add colder temperatures into the environment.

Make your kombucha more unique by adding chopped fruit or herbs before you seal the bottle, which will give it a delicious new flavor while encouraging carbonation in its bottle. Just be careful when opening, as the bottle could explode slightly when opening – opening over a sink may prevent damage to both yourself and others, protecting both them.