Place scoby and 1 cup starter kombucha in a brewing vessel. It can be as simple as a 1/2 gallon mason jar. In fact, let’s go with that for these directions.

Boil a few cups of water. Take the pan off of heat and soak 1 TB of organic black tea (or 4 tea bags) in the hot water for 10+ minutes… see my favorite teas for kombucha below. Remove your tea.

Add 1/2 cup sugar while the tea is warm and stir until dissolved. Or, to make all-natural maple kombucha, add 1/3 cup of maple syrup. (While refined sugar will not dissolve unless your tea is hot, maple syrup of course isn’t necessary to add while the tea is hot.) Add some cold filtered water at this point if you’d like your pot of tea to cool down quickly (but not more than will be able to fit in your 1/2-gallon jar).

Once it’s room temperature, you can add your tea mixture to the mason jar. Never add hot or even warm tea to your scoby; always let it cool to room temperature or you will kill your scoby.

Cover this first ferment jar with a breathable covering for 2-7 days (fabric, not cheesecloth, which will allow fruit flies in). After 2-3 days, feel free to taste it daily. When it’s not too sweet but not vinegary tasting, it’s ready. If it starts to get a little vinegary tasting don’t wait… it will get very vinegary very quickly (especially if it’s warm in the room).

When your kombucha is ready, remove the SCOBY to a bowl. Stir the liquid with a plastic or stainless steel spoon. If it’s nicely fermented it will get nice and fizzy as you stir. After stirring, pour 1 cup of starter fluid in with the scoby to start the process all over again and bottle and flavor your kombucha.