Fizzy, Flavored Kombucha: Everything You Should Know | Joe vs. The Test Kitchen

Kombucha has some serious stans-and for good reason. This fermented tea tastes refreshingly bubbly and tart, sometimes with fruity and/or floral notes. In this episode, Joe shows you the best way to make delicious kombucha at home.
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Professional Test Cook Joe Gitter has worked on over 20 cookbooks and performed hundreds of recipe tests. Joe vs. The Test kitchen is an inside look into the mistakes and wins from the recipe testing process, showing the right and wrong ways to cook amazing food.
ABOUT US: The mission of America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) is to empower and inspire confidence, community, and creativity in the kitchen. Founded in 1992, the company is the leading multimedia cooking resource serving millions of fans with TV shows (America’s Test Kitchen, Cook's Country, and America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation), magazines (Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country), cookbooks, a podcast (Proof), FAST channels, short-form video series, and the ATK All-Access subscription for digital content. Based in a state-of-the-art 15,000-square-foot test kitchen in Boston’s Seaport District, ATK has earned the trust of home cooks and culinary experts alike thanks to its one-of-a-kind processes and best-in-class techniques. Fifty full-time (admittedly very meticulous) test cooks, editors, and product testers spend their days tweaking every variable to find the very best recipes, equipment, ingredients, and techniques. Learn more at www.americastestkitchen.com/.
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[@josephgitter]

What drinks do you think are worth making at home? I'd love to hear your favorites!

[@fmradio42]

1963 memories drinking a Coke out of a steel diamond Coke can age 3. I always wanted to make a GUS Cola Soda. maybe on your next video?

[@delight743]

Kefir

[@lindacgrace2973]

Frugal Budget Tip: a home dehydrator rack with the trays removed at the low temperature setting (which is about 80 to 85 degrees fahrenheit with my dehydrator) is excellent for fermenting kombucha.

[@DavidFobare]

There’s room for big jars & bottles?

[@brigidlaffey7343]

So’s my Hot Water cupboard 😊

[@lindacgrace2973]

@@brigidlaffey7343 Ingenious housewives for the win! ;-)

[@roystahl2308]

I prefer to add priming sugar before bottling and fill one in a plastic soda bottle. Test for fizz by squeezing the bottle, once the bottle is firm but not rock hard, refrigerate.

[@jonbrown6265]

Jack Bishop sighting! 9:34

[@WatchingNinja]

I wish my job would let me explode bottles of kombucha. Lol Loved the episode!

[@josephgitter]

Thank you! It was so much fun - it was the episode I've been most excited about making.

[@JHaven-lg7lj]

The grolsch-style bottles are great, but the gasket doesn’t *always* fail like it should. I went on vacation and forgot about the bottles of cranberry-ginger soda I had put in the refrigerator to slow their fermentation. The morning after we got home I opened the fridge to find one of the bottles had failed at the bottom of the neck, propelling the top of the bottle up into the ceiling of my refrigerator and coating everything in the fridge in a mist of cranberry-ginger soda.

[@TheJelleyMan637]

I've been making kombucha in South Africa for about 3 years now! I do local trade and make some really well received products. I will make strawberry Cheong and use the cheong as the base of my kombucha. It allows me to buy a ton a strawberries and use them as needed.

[@brigidlaffey7343]

Will have to look up exactly what strawberry Cheong is 😊

[@TheJelleyMan637]

@@brigidlaffey7343 maserated strawberries! I do 50/50 sugar and strawberries and vaccume seal them for 2 weeks. Makes an organic strawberry fruit syrup.

[@bouchonaise124135]

Brilliant video very well explained. I'm about 6 days into my first batch, so this video came out at the perfect time.

[@josephgitter]

Thank you - Hope it works out really well for you - it's so satisfying when it does. I do find that once I've drilled down the exact timing for my environment (and it does change over the course of the year even with a fermentatation chamber), it gets better and better each time.

[@bouchonaise124135]

@@josephgitter awesome looking to start my second ferment tomorrow. Keep up the awesome work, again extremely well delivered information. This quality is why I subscribe.

[@WastrelWay]

I've seen kombucha at the store and, I think, on a restaurant menu somewhere, but I didn't know what it was. Now, after watching this and reading the wikipedia article, I have a good idea. It's too difficult for me to make, I think 🙂

[@highwind1369]

It's really not too hard. And it's super forgiving. There's tons of step by step DYI videos here on KZbin, along with this one.

[@Joyful-Heart777]

Thank you so much for this very informative and interesting and entertaining video

[@HandcraftedHound]

Excellent video! I was so excited to see ATK tackle kombucha, and this video was excellent! Now it's time for me to clean my dormant continuous brew and try a new batch with your recipe...thanks, Joe!

[@MY-xk2df]

What a fantastic episode!!

[@bop5277]

I'd like the links for the items you used to make the fermenting chamber with. thanks

[@DavidFobare]

This.

[@theKettleXBlack]

Water kefir recipes next please!

[@Sbannmarie]

Me too!

[@lindachandler2293]

I'm always looking for newer videos on making kombucha. Most of the ones that are on KZbin are 5, 7, 10 years old and was just curious to see if anything had changed. I've been making mine for about 3 years now and I'll be honest; I'm sure you want me to be honest; if I had seen your video first, there is no way in the world I would've made the first batch. I couldn't afford real kombucha bottles, so I used recycled 12 oz soda pop bottles, which handle pressure very well and I highly recommend to starting kombucha makers. Then I got some real bottles, which are a little scary, pour up one plastic soda pop bottle of the batch and let it ferment right next to the others. Give it a gentle squeeze every day. If it feels as tight as a soda pop, all of your bottles are done! Eventually you will get the hang of it. You'll know what your batch does, how many days it's gonna have to sit and probably won't have to mess with the test bottle for long. I love America's test kitchen by the way and your video was very informative and entertaining.

[@billbucktube]

Good info

[@2lorimc]

Great video. I have been making it for years. I add 1oz(2 tablespoons) of grape juice to each bottle. I will try adding some pineapple juice and heat.

[@josephgitter]

Do you use bottled grape juice or fresh? You've just made me think about adding sweet wine to kombucha, that could be awesome!

[@2lorimc]

@@josephgitter Store brand unsweetened grape juice. I’m going to be trying the bottled pineapple juice next. I had a little bit of fresh pineapple juice left over from a fresh pineapple that I added to a couple bottles. I really liked it but bottled juice is so much easier. Bottled juice also makes the kombucha bottles easier to keep clean. What a great idea to add wine. I’ve never thought of that before.

[@DerfJagged]

@josephgitter One thing that should be mentioned is that after 5 days of the ferment in the bottle, they should be put in a refrigerator to chill before opening (or for storage for a few days) to slow the fermentation. Chilling will also prevent the high pressure kombucha geysers shown in this video, but I still open them under a mixing bowl to catch any that is spit out from the hard pop and any that bubbles out. Found that out after I painted my ceiling with kombucha and figured there had to be a way to prevent it haha. Also, a little kombucha after the first batch + the pellicle can be saved in a mason jar in the fridge for the next batch if you feed it some tea and sugar every few days to keep it alive or keep it frozen for up to about 1.5 months (after that, they seem to die off completely in my experience).

[@josephgitter]

Absolutely right! I try to max out everything to create those geysers (we put plastic wrap all across the ceiling to prevent your 'painting'). Definitely good advice to store the scoby in the fridge if you want a break between batches. I find it normally takes a few extra days to get the next F1 going. Is that your experience too?

[@nancywilliams5597]

I’d like to know how much water he heated to start the tea. Great tip about simple syrup! Mine hasn’t been very fizzy in the past.

[@brigidlaffey7343]

I’ve found that a few slices of Feijoa or Kiwifruit work wonders added to the decanted into bottles. Natural yeasts…. Albeit thankfully my Kombucha’s first ferment usually has a lovely fizz. 🙏

[@josephgitter]

That's super interesting, I've noticed that GT's always has some kiwi juice concentrate in their bottles and they're the main people that only naturally carbonate (as far as I can tell).

[@brendanlopes7354]

I've used Feijoa pulp to make kombucha and it has been amazing!! Great balance of flavours. That and passionfruit!

[@pambaker1982]

Do you have a list of the items you use to create your “fermentation chamber”?

[@josephgitter]

Yes! Insulated container (the regular flip top ones are fine, I ve also used a broken wine fridge) Wire cooling rack Seedling mat with thermostat (they cost about 30 bucks on amazon - I’ve used the vivosun ones)

[@pambaker1982]

@@josephgitter Thank you.

[@dennisbishop3842]

WOW, JUST WOW!! This is hands down the best and most complete ATK instructional video you have ever put out. Excellent.

[@DavidFobare]

I would definitely buy a kombucha book from ATK. Please tell me that "drink book" is gonna have lots more kombucha content. I didn't plan it, but starting a kombucha habit resulted in a pretty cool health turnaround for me in 2023.

[@hilaryroper2801]

Helpful hints...Scoby doesn't really like metal, so it's best to use a wooden or plastic utensil to transfer it out of the jar. Also, I like to add fruit juice for a second ferment. Pineapple juice makes it ferment like crazy! But I do "burp" the bottle to expel built up air every few days even in the fridge.

[@shui577]

Are your bottles fizzy when you open them to drink them?

[@hilaryroper2801]

They are very fizzy if I add fruit juice, pineapple and cherry have been great.

[@user-ge9uz9nn6j]

Can you use the pellicule from home made vinegar?

[@josephgitter]

No, unfortunately not - it's the same acetic acid bacteria that produces the pellicle in both cases, but a vinegar mother ONLY has acetic acid bacteria while a kombucha scoby has a whole variety of different bacteria plus yeasts. The kombucha process is basically the vinegar process PLUS a wine process.

[@brigidlaffey7343]

A fun video. It’s actually preferable to use ‘Loose Leaf’ tea as opposed to the tea bags - which generally are lower grade and are known to have ‘quick release’ additives. So if using tea bags be very selective of quality - also ideally organic teas - for obvious reasons 😊.

[@josephgitter]

Totally agree!

[@user-os8cp8cr6v]

Just curious, are there health benefits to drinking Kombucha?

[@josephgitter]

There's lots of evidence that eating fermented foods provides benefits for your gut. There are a load of different microbes in kombucha so it's good for promoting gut biodiversity. There is still some residual sugar left and the drink is acidic so I wouldn't be drinking this all day everyday.

[@rocketman3474]

There is nothing better than fresh homemade kombucha. I can’t imagine how many gallons I’ve made over the years or the countless SCOBYs I’ve created. I used to flavor with various fruit juices but now I just prefer it straight. In my house it takes 10 days on the counter. 8 or 9 is sweeter, 11 or 12 more tart. Anything longer and you can use it for a starter (acidifier) for the next batch or an ingredient in a salad dressing. I love your videos. Keep up the great work.

[@erikfreitas7045]

Woah! Kombucha explosion! Great video, Joe!

[@SchwarbageTruck]

Oh no, Joe's getting liquids splattered on him again! We all thought he was safe - what fools we were!

[@YiorgosT]

I love kombucha and I love Joe!!

[@samuelstephens9452]

Do you endorse any particular scoby?

[@josephgitter]

We don't. I've personally had success with scobys from Poseymom, Yemoos and Revival Homestead.

[@samuelstephens9452]

Thanks!

[@rhythmrecall]

Off topic but I am really enjoying Joe’s facial expressions and mannerisms 😂

[@SomeDudeQC]

I got to the point where I was producing more kombucha than I could drink. My scoby hotel was much too full.

[@josephgitter]

It's hard! I never want to throw any of it away because we made them!

[@jillbeans1573]

Oh wow! Thanks for this. Next please, do both dairy and water kefir. Please Pretty please

[@pembertonbray4603]

His accent just makes it sound like he knows what he is talking about 😂😂😂. I've been thinking about making it myself. Very informational. Easy to understanding.

[@brigidlaffey7343]

6 cups of water but how much water made up your concentrated tea?

[@josephgitter]

I start off with 2 cups of water for the tea. So overall it's 8 cups water, to 4 teabags (or 2T of looseleaf tea), to half a cup of sugar (3.5oz) and 3/4 cup of mature booch. If my mature booch gets too acidic, I'll reduce to 1/2 cup.

[@sallytrier8400]

I do make kombucha but you have given me new info so I can up my game. Thx, Joe!

[@sophiebarowsky8359]

Wow this is such a great video! Awesome job, Joe! Might have to start making kombucha now too...

[@sepioify]

'Four tea bags of black tea', i thought you said FORTY😂

[@MMuraseofSandvich]

Wait, so Joe's the Teller to Dan's Penn act? Cool! (I'm bad at names and faces) If you're shopping for kombucha, be very careful in a Japanese market because the Japanese have a product called "kombucha" (昆布茶) which is kelp extract. Think of this as like an instant vegan soup base. It's delicious and savory, it can be a great umami kick to many recipes, but it's not the kombucha discussed here. One alternative to bottling is kegging, and because kombucha will naturally resist spoilage, a small soda keg and a carbonation rig can get you "draft kombucha". It's more of an investment compared to bottles, but you don't have to wait 2 weeks per batch, and you don't have to deal with cleaning and possibly exploding bottles. You can also use cleaned and sanitized beer bottles, _as long as the caps aren't twist-off_ (you want to see an unthreaded bottle mouth); you'll need new caps and a capping tool.

[@josephgitter]

Yes! that's me. Good info about the kelp kombucha - i'll stay away. I think most of the commercial bottlers use forced carbonation - it's much more consistent. Thanks for watching!

[@kabel9357]

Can you use Caffeine free tea? or might the brewing process lessen the caffeine levels? (I cant have caffeine)

[@hosseinsadoddin3484]

Das heißt, alles wie gehabt😅

[@Arikayx13]

Was not expecting DnB in my Kombucha video!

[@rebeccatelgenhoff3540]

I would like to make this! Where did you purchase the Scoby from?

[@tomelko]

If you can't find one just buy a bottle of GTs original or other unflavored kombucha and pour it in. A scoby will form in a few days.

[@rebeccatelgenhoff3540]

Thanks for helping me😀

[@josephgitter]

I had good success with poseymom, yemoos from mail order and revival homestead from my local health food store.

[@DavidFobare]

@@josephgitter Health food store a good place to get unflavored kombucha to use as starter? Cannot find it from the big name stores.

[@josephgitter]

I’ve found plain GT’s kombucha at Whole Foods before.

[@DoughboyGod]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@peggyadams8710]

Can I use sugarcane juice or panela sugar instead of white sugar🤷🏾‍♂️

[@josephgitter]

I haven't tested it I'm afraid. If you try it out, please report back and let me know how it goes. Good luck!

[@carolinebarry7999]

Those explosions!! Woah!!!!

[@CarolinaJoubert]

Can't wait for the drinks book

[@sandrah7512]

You don't have to - it was published over two years ago!

[@josephgitter]

Thank you! It's called The Complete Guide to Healthy Drinks. We published at the end of 2022.

[@cucinainfamiglia2018]

❤❤ottima idea complimenti ❤saluti a tutti voi dall italia 🇮🇹 ❤❤

[@aloras405]

I am going to be making kombucha. I love the taste and want to customize the flavors.

[@Yuusou.]

I have never tried Kombucha, only worked on water kefir. The mold problem is also happening for water kefir. However, I use citric acid to avoid the mold instead of vinegar. It also adds a nice fruity taste to it.

[@baizhanghuaihai2298]

Do kefir and water kefir next!

[@ddrhero]

Miss ya Crafton.

[@L.Spencer]

I would love to save money, but it looks pretty complicated. I guess I won't feel so bad paying for it though.

[@DerfJagged]

It's not as complicated as it sounds! Make tea, put in SCOBY and sugar, let it sit for 1-2 weeks until the desired sweetness, pour into bottle and add a fun flavor, and 5 days later you have homebrewed drinks. Maybe about 15 minutes of actual work for 7 drinks (if you make a whole gallon), the rest is just waiting.

[@highwind1369]

Check out some of the other videos here on KZbin. I love his explanation, but you don't have to go this deep into it to get good kombucha.

[@Trialmt]

I would love to see a F2 follow up! Exploring all the other ways you like to flavor kombucha via fruit, juice, simple syrups, cheong, herb infusions,etc.

[@maryschiff9580]

Okay, this is such a coincidence. A friend of mine told me that she makes her own kombucha just a few days ago. I had never heard of it so I went to the market and bought two bottles, one lemon/ginger and the other pomegranate. Both smelled like vinegar and I ended up tossing the ginger flavor. Nasty. Making my own seems like a lot of work but at least now, after your timely video, I understand the process. Thanks!

[@josephgitter]

I totally get that! When I first heard about kombucha, I really wanted to like it but just couldn't. Then I read a couple of books on fermentation - but the Noma book totally changed everything. The science was just so cool that I wanted to make it and then I really got a taste for it. It was the same with green beans - I wouldn't eat one until I had to make a salade niçoise at culinary school - liked 'em ever since!

[@markhurst3180]

When I think of kombucha I think of the stuff prisoners make in prison😂😂

[@asimplefarmer]

In my experience making kvass and tepache, used 1L plastic bottles that held soda or carbonated water works as a cheap alternative to the heavy duty flip top bottles, or if you dont have any used kombucha bottles. I love the idea of pureed fruit which im going to try next!

[@brianklaus2468]

ZOINKS!

[@Am56]

👍👍👍

[@MMuraseofSandvich]

Well that's a fountain I haven't seen since MythBusters did the Diet Coke and Mentos fad.

[@josephgitter]

I know - it was so much doing it!

[@lupinewoof]

How much do you care about air circulation when you put it in such a small fermentation chamber?

[@josephgitter]

My containers were big enough not to worry about it too much. I'd leave them cracked open just a touch to make sure it wasn't totally sealed so the air wasn't totally stagnant. At home, I've used a broken wine fridge with a seedling mat and that works really well. I'd hang the seedling mat's temperature sensor so that it's relatively close to the center of the chamber. When I took temperature readings at the top middle and bottom of the chamber they were relatively consistent . I"d get itto within 2 degrees which is absolutely fine as kombucha is a very resilient ferment.

[@johnlord8337]

I bouight a cooled Kombucha at the local Bend, Oregon spa ... it literally blew its own cap, spewed up a 4+ foot spew at my table, and shot the bottle cap over 40+ feet back toward the retail counter !!! Beware of Kombucha bottles, and don't shake them up in any way, let alone safely removing their caps, and exhaust of carbonation !!!!

[@josephgitter]

eeek! they probably sat out of the fridge for while. Thanks for sharing that cautionary tale!

[@Ko1234567890S]

I feel like I'm going to end up with a chemistry set if I start making kombucha - I love the commercial stuff but I want to make sure I'm not drinking excess alcohol or sugar. Also, the sugar in fruit is a mix of different sugars including fructose and sucrose. Sucrose is a disaccharide consisting of fructose and glucose. So I'm not sure that your explanation of why jams or syrups produce explosions is accurate

[@josephgitter]

It really gets that way. you start just wanting to control and understanding as much of this opaque process as possible. When the yeasts are presented with sucrose they have to first break it down into glucose and fructose before they can metabolize it. So when presented with fructose it's more quickly metabolized into CO2 and alcohol. It was faster carbonating with jams and syrups than sucrose but as soon as I used fresh fruit juices or pulps, it went into overdrive. (all the explosions happened with the fruit juices).

[@marksieber4626]

Krausening in Brewing

[@SteveMillerhuntingforfood]

For the carbonation part, why not! Do we really care about the bubble size?

[@RIPMrAlwaysFirst]

First

[@victorfeagins3787]

Now do kefir

[@Scoopra]

fraction of the cost if you don't count the bottles, equipment, and your own time

[@highwind1369]

The glass and bottles are a one time cost. Over time, you really do save money. And once you've done a couple cycles it doesn't take much time. Most of the time it's just doing it's own thing and you don't have to touch it. If you're regularly buying kombucha, making your own is cheaper. Especially if you save the bottles you buy store bought kombucha in. But the best reason to do it is to enjoy the process and customization. Saving money is just a perk.

[@mastersplinter5966]

Joe has a cool accent.

[@Kenjiro5775]

Kombu is a type of sea weed. Cha is tea. This swamp water is not kombucha.

[@faithfuljourneyeater]

no recipe? instructions?😮

[@bw2082]

I wish you would put Joe on Tv instead of a couple of the stiffs you have on every now and then.

[@thaisstone5192]

No, thanks. Kombucha is too much of a "fad".

[@FierceMice]

Lol Kombucha has only been around 2300 years. No need to be an early adopter!

[@WinstonSmithGPT]

@@FierceMice😂😂lol you’re so funny lol no 🤡

[@i000110001100]

​@@FierceMice 2300 years ago is still within 3000 years of Justin Bieber's hit song "Baby". Way too trendy for us. I prefer all my food and drink come from the Paleozoic era.

[@thaisstone5192]

@@FierceMiceLOL. They can keep it. Everything old is new again.

[@jase_allen]

@@FierceMice Don't mind the trolls. They're just here to get a rise out of people.

[@gibberishname]

when did this become England's Test Kitchen?

[@dfitzger]

Surprising amount of bad information in this video from ATK. No mention of using a hydrometer once, which will help on many different parts, specifically knowing how much sugar was in the start and end of fermentation. Then using measuring volumes, not weight, to try and prime bottles is such a terrible idea. Use a priming calculator to make sure you don't create bottle bombs, following the advice in this video is legitimately dangerous. Also no mention of using a no-rinse sanitizer like Star San.

[@josephgitter]

I started off trying to use a hydrometer but it doesn't help with kombucha. In beer, you only need to worry about water, sugar, and alcohol. With kombucha some of the alcohol is converted to various different acids (gluconic, glucuronic, acetic, lactic are the main ones). They all have different specific gravities and as we have no way of knowing what the makeup of the finished brew is, you can't calculate alcohol production or sugar consumption. Gluconic acid has a specific gravity of 1.24, while acetic acid has an SG of 1.05 and alcohol has an SG of 0.8. My brews used 8 cups of water and 1/2 cup of sugar which gives a starting brix of 5.0 and they'd finish off around 4.0 to 4.2 but they'd be pretty dry. Also it's the presence of these acids that inhibits mold creation which is why you need starsan for beer and it's not necessary for kombucha. I was concerned about safety too but found in making a huge number of batches that as long as my starting pH was less than 4.0, I'd never have to worry about it. (pH normally finishes around 2.9-3.1).

[@dfitzger]

@@josephgitter A hydrometer will tell you the specific gravity before fermentation starts, hence why it helps to suggest a starting gravity, OG. Then once fermentation starts you can recommend getting to a certain final gravity before bottling if you would want. The amounts of acid in these is minuscule, a little goes a long way, just like with beer brewing when using lactic acid to adjust the pH of your mash, it isn't nearly enough to have a huge impact on your gravity readings, e.g. I commonly use 1mL of lactic acid to adjust a mash pH aiming for 5.2 in 5 gallons of wort. YMMV when not using a sanitizing solution, but as a home brewer that runs a home brewing shop, I've seen far too many cases of mold growing, even from more acidic drinks, especially when using fruit puree or pulp or whole fruits, especially if you aren't recommending to punch the cap down. And again, please use a priming calculator when adding sugar to a bottle to bottle condition. You need to know your peak fermentation temperature and then carefully measure out by weight, not volume, for your priming sugars. Recommending people use volumes and fruit purees, which have their own different gravities, has a huge potential to create bottle bombs (which you even showed in your video). Exploding foam from a bottle is great on camera, but it is extremely dangerous and can cause real injury.

[@aiercooledengine]

I'm sure his accent is very appealing to some women and perhaps others 🤔 however I find it distracting and difficult to follow the instructions being given...