Can You Make Kombucha With Herbal Tea?

Kombucha tea is an ancient fermented drink packed with healthy bacteria, yeast and B vitamins that’s known for detoxifying your body while relieving symptoms from various health conditions. Kombucha can come in various flavors such as black and green teas, fruity varieties or herbal mixtures; and is often asked if herbal tea can also be used when brewing it – the answer to that is yes but you need to keep some key factors in mind when selecting one for use when creating this beverage.

Kombucha’s success depends on finding an already-made tea that’s low in sugar and contains live cultures necessary for its formation, such as purchasing it from a specialty store or asking friends who make their own to share some with you. When creating homemade kombucha at home, unflavored raw types tend to contain less sugar.

Once your jar and tea are prepared, it’s time to add the kombucha starter. A starter helps your kombucha become both fizzy and sour; it is a symbiotic association of bacteria and yeast known as the “scoby,” that will ensure deliciously fizzy results!

To create the starter for a kombucha starter, start by boiling 7 cups of water in a large saucepan. After it has reached the boil, remove it from the heat and allow the tea to cool for five minutes before adding 3/4 cup of regular granulated sugar and stirring to dissolve it.

Next, strain the tea into a glass jar – this step requires using only glass because metal could damage your SCOBY. You may wish to sterilize your jar by placing it into boiling water for 10 to 30 seconds prior to sterilizing with cotton towel over it and secure with rubber band.

When making herbal tea, it’s essential that you select well-dried herbs or pre-packaged tea mixes that have been dried appropriately. Otherwise, fresh or dried herbs that have not been sterilized properly may endanger the SCOBY and cause contamination of kombucha brew.

Avoid teas containing essential oils, other oils, extracts or artificial flavorings which contain essential oils as they could compromise the health of your kombucha brew and even pose health risks to yourself and/or others.