Brewing kombucha is easy and only requires a few basic ingredients. The primary kombucha fermentation consists of four ingredients – Tea, Sugar, Water, and a SCOBY. If you have all four, you’re ready to start making kombucha. From here, the recipe is simple; we’ll make sweet tea, add the SCOBY, and allow it to ferment at room temperature (75-85°F). The standard kombucha recipe is for a one-gallon batch. If you need the recipe, here is where you will find it how to make a gallon of kombucha or how to make a gallon of jun kombucha. Otherwise, let’s go over the proper amounts and ratios needed to brew kombucha tea.
How much starter tea do you need to brew kombucha? When brewing kombucha, the most important rule of thumb is the sweet tea to starter tea ratio. The sweet tea to kombucha starter tea ratio is 9:1 or 90% sweet tea to 10% kombucha starter tea. Obviously, this applies to both the standard imperial measurement and the metric system. By adding 10% kombucha starter tea, your kombucha brew should be inoculated with enough beneficial bacteria and yeast for a successful brew. It also helps by bringing down the pH of your kombucha to safe levels. If you don’t fully understand the relation between pH and kombucha, see our quick guide to kombucha pH. To figure out how much to use, find the total batch size and times it by 10%. The remaining amount will be the amount of sweet tea needed.Â
One Gallon Batch
One gallon = 128 ouncesÂ
128 Ounces x 10% = Kombucha Starter Tea Needed
128 x 0.1 = 12.8 or 12 oz of Kombucha Starter Tea
You’ll need 12 oz of Starter Tea Per Gallon
Pro Tip – When buying a kombucha SCOBY, be sure you are getting the proper amount of starter tea for your batch size. Different sources use different measurements, so it can get confusing on what you are getting. If you are provided measurements in cups rather than ounces, just know that you will need 1.5 cups of kombucha starter tea per gallon. One cup per gallon is often sold to use for a gallon batch, don’t settle for this. Â
How much sugar do I need to brew kombucha? This one is easy; it’s 1:1 or one cup of sugar per one gallon. Making a quart? Divide by four. Making a half-gallon? Divide by two. Making two gallons? Multiply by two.
How much water do I need to make kombucha? For the water amount, we will again use the sweet tea to starter tea ratio above. Essentially, two liquids make up the total batch volume – sweet tea and liquid kombucha starter tea. Let’s take a look at a gallon batch again which will look like this:
One Gallon BatchÂ
90% Sweet Tea + 10% Kombucha Starter Tea = 1 Gallon (128 ounces)
= 115.2 oz + 12.8 oz = 128 oz
Since the sweet tea in this equation is your water. Your complete sweet tea/water batch will be about 115 oz.
Pro Tip – Rather than taking exact water measurements and making a large batch of sweet tea, it is much easier to make a small batch of concentrated sweet tea. For example, make the sweet tea concentrate by boiling two cups per gallon, steeping the tea, and adding your sugar accordingly. Once cooled, pour the concentrate into your brew jar, add your SCOBY and then top with water to the fill line.Â
How much tea do I use to make kombucha? The amount of tea to use for each batch is also easy to remember. It’s 6:1 or six teabags or six teaspoons of loose leaf tea to each one-gallon batch. Again, making a half-gallon? Divide by two. Making a five-gallon batch? Times it by five.Â
Now that you know the proper kombucha brewing ratios, you now have everything you need to scale up or scale down your next batch of kombucha. You’re now free to run with this information. Don’t forget to share, follow, and comment below. Thanks for visiting!
For a 1-gallon batch of kombucha, you’ll need 1 cup of sugar, 6-8 bags of tea, and 12 fl oz of starter tea. The rest should be filled up with clean, filtered water.
You can use any true tea derived from the Camellia sinensis plant. This includes green, black, white, and oolong tea. Herbal teas can be used, but they may not provide the necessary nutrients for the SCOBY.
To make kombucha, you need 12 oz of starter tea per gallon
You need 1 cup of cane sugar per gallon to make kombucha
To make kombucha tea, you need 6-8 tsp of tea or 6-8 tea bags per gallon.
