Organic Hibiscus & Raspberry Kombucha Tea
One of the top things on my packing list was my Kombucha scoby. I sealed one up the night before we went to the airport with lots of starter tea and packed it in with my 3 boxes of Body Ecology Veggie Culture starter in a cooler bag and an ice pack. It arrived safely in Vietnam, and I got to work on the second week making my fermented cultured veggies and Kombucha tea.
Unfortunately the weather was so warm I didn’t expect such a quick ferment and after a week, it was not very palatable, so I poured the overbrewed kombucha into a 3 spare jars and within a week I had 3 healthy new scoby’s! Great to have some spares. It took me 3 tries to get the balance right, in the end I used a lot less starter tea and reduced the size of my scoby by tearing it gently and added around 2 litres of green tea & sugar. We were rewarded with some tasty stuff which my 6 yo cannot get enough of!
I proudly showed one of the local ladies my scoby, she laughed at me and said only old people have those. They are really hard to come across! How sad in a country where culture and traditions are still valued and going strong, that these traditional foods are disappearing! I hope I can spread the word over here! 😉
- 2 Litres already brewed Kombucha tea (find the basic recipe here) or halve the recipe below for 1 Litre
- 4 dried organic hibiscus flowers
- 200ml filtered water
- 1 tbsp organic sugar (optional, but this really helps create a lot of fizz for the second fermentation)
- Funnel, mesh sieve(plastic or stainless still is ok)
-
Method:
- Clean all jars and equipment with hot water and white vinegar (distilled vinegar)
- Allow to air dry
- Boil the 200mls of water and add to the jar or bottle
- Dissolve the tbsp of sugar in the water and add the hibiscus flowers (if you are using bottles with narrow necks, dissolve it in a glass measuring jug or jar, then pour it in the bottle afterwards)
Add the dried hibiscus flowers & sugar to the 200mls of water - Allow to cool to room temperature
- Add a handful of frozen raspberries
Add a handful of raspberries - Leave for a couple minutes for the berries to come to room temperature
- Remove your scoby to a clean dish and add 1/2 cup of the already brewed Kombucha tea to your scoby
- Using a mesh sieve to catch any stringy bits, pour the remaining brewed Kombucha tea into the jar/bottle with the hibiscus and raspberries
Add the brewed Kombucha Tea - (If you have you any brewed Kombucha tea left over, you can keep it in a separate jar with a muslin cloth on top to grow a spare scoby)
- Close the jar and leave at room temperature for 2-5 days depending on your climate (I am only leaving it for 2 days as it is so hot in Vietnam. When I was in Australia, I would leave it for a couple weeks at room temp during the winter)
I haven’t been able to find any glass jars with flip top lids in Vietnam, so using this jar for now and it tastes great! <3 - Open the bottle every 3 days or so to burp the bottle and reduce the risk of it exploding especially in warmer climates.
- Move to the fridge if you prefer your Kombucha cold
- Hope you enjoy! xx
- 2 Litres already brewed Kombucha tea (find the basic recipe here) or halve the recipe below for 1 Litre
- 4 dried organic hibiscus flowers
- 200ml filtered water
- 1 tbsp organic sugar (optional, but this really helps create a lot of fizz for the second fermentation)
- Funnel, mesh sieve(plastic or stainless still is ok)
- Clean all jars and equipment with hot water and white vinegar (distilled vinegar)
- Allow to air dry
- Boil the 200mls of water and add to the jar or bottle
- Dissolve the tbsp of sugar in the water and add the hibiscus flowers (if you are using bottles with narrow necks, dissolve it in a glass measuring jug or jar, then pour it in the bottle afterwards)
- Allow to cool to room temperature
- Add a handful of frozen raspberries
- Leave for a couple minutes for the berries to come to room temperature
- Remove your scoby to a clean dish and add ½ cup of the already brewed Kombucha tea to your scoby
- Using a mesh sieve to catch any stringy bits, pour the remaining brewed Kombucha tea into the jar/bottle with the hibiscus and raspberries
- (If you have you any brewed Kombucha tea left over, you can keep it in a separate jar with a muslin cloth on top to grow a spare scoby)
- Close the jar and leave at room temperature for 2-5 days depending on your climate (I am only leaving it for 2 days as it is so hot in Vietnam. When I was in Australia, I would leave it for a couple weeks at room temp during the winter)
- Open the bottle every 3 days or so to burp the bottle and reduce the risk of it exploding especially in warmer climates.
- Move to the fridge if you prefer your Kombucha cold
- Hope you enjoy! xx
