DIY KOMBUCHA

Home-made kombucha usually tastes so much better than store-bought varieties. It’s easy to make, delicious and good for gut health. Even if you haven’t made it before, with a bottle of kombucha from a supermarket or health shop, you can get started on your own.

What you’ll need:

3l glass jar

Cheese cloth

1 large elastic band

2.4l filtered water

2 cups store-bought kombucha 1 cup sugar

15g black tea leaves

Glass bottle for gifting

Ribbon for wrapping

Method:

Boil the water and add to a large pot with the tea leaves and sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and leave to cool.

Once cooled, strain the sweet tea mixture through the cheese cloth into the glass jar, removing all the tea leaves. Add the store-bought kombucha, cover with the cheese cloth and secure with the elastic band. Leave in a warm room out of direct sunlight.

The fermentation process will vary depending on where you store it, but on average it should be ready in about seven days. Once it has fermented properly, it will be slightly fizzy and pleasantly sour — and it should lose its sweet taste. To prevent it from over fermenting and becoming too acidic, don’t leave it for too long.

Pour into a pretty glass bottle, wrap with a ribbon and store in the fridge until you’re ready to give it away.

● The kombucha will likely form a scoby on top as it ferments. Keep this culture to add to your next batch to speed up the fermentation process. If you use the scoby, you can halve the amount of kombucha or starter tea you add to the new batch and increase the water to around 2.8l. Start experimenting with other teas and flavour infusions as you progress. Sanet Oberholzer