Ahhhh kombucha, the probiotic elixir adored by health nuts everywhere! Store bought kombucha can be upwards of $5 a bottle, not bad for a splurge, but if you are a kombucha connoisseur, your daily habit could start to break the bank. Which means, you may be interested in brewing your own at home! The process is not for the faint of heart, but if you are up for a bit of chemistry, have a batch of my roasted pear sauce handy, and have about 14 days this Chai Pear Kombucha recipe just may peak your interest and inspire you to give your own home brew 'booch a try!
{{ This Chai Pear Kombucha recipe and the post that goes with it was made in partnership with Stemilt ! We received compensation and product in exchange for it. Opinions are always our own. If we don’t love it, you don’t hear about it. Thanks for your continued support! }}
What is kombucha anyways and where does it come from?
Kombucha has been around for nearly 2,000 years getting its start in China. It wasn't until the '90's that it gained popularity here in the United States, though. These days you can find kombucha in most grocery stores and restaurants. We've even spotted bottles in gas station coolers, needless to say, kombucha is a fan favorite and is most certainly here to stay!
Kombucha starts out as a sugary tea, you can use ANY basic tea for making Kombucha, but just know that your choice of tea will determine the base flavor of your brew. A quick Google search will tell you that Black tea is the most popular choice for a batch of kombucha, however, Green tea or a blend of teas works just as well. For this particular batch we went with chai tea which is a spiced black tea.
What the heck is a scoby?
Once the sugary tea is made it is then fermented with the help of a scoby, which is short for “symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast.” I'm going to be REAL honest and say that a scoby is about one of the most unappetizing things I've ever come across in a kitchen. It's rubbery and slimy and rather unpleasant to look at. But, a scoby is vital to the kombucha making process because it is the place where the bacteria and yeast that transform sweet tea into tangy, fizzy kombucha lives. I know, it doesn't sound that appetizing, but a scoby is actually very close cousins to the "mother" used to make vinegar, and for some reason that fact makes me feel way more comfortable about the whole scoby situation.
Unfortunately, you can't just walk into your local grocery store and grab a scoby from the shelf like you could a bottle of kombucha, but you can easily grow one yourself, buy a fresh one complete with its own "mother juice" from a reputable online retailer, or if you are lucky enough to have a 'booch brewing friend like I have, they can actually share some of their scoby with you to get your home brewing process started.
While I am not usually a fan of excess kitchen gadgets and gear, this is one of those times when you actually will need to invest in a few key pieces of equipment to get started.
Don't worry though, these items will more than pay for themselves after your second batch of home brew!
One-gallon glass jar with a cloth cover || 7 glass bottles || stick on thermometer || a fermentation heat pad ( if your kitchen is cold.)|| a plastic funnel
Now you have your kombucha gear, head on over to the Stemilt website to learn how I make 'booch and to grab the recipe for this Chai Pear Kombucha!
If you’ve made my Chai Pear Kombucha or any of the other recipes on our site, don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know what you think in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, and PINTEREST to see more.
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