KOMBUCHA FLAVOR Time! | 2nd Fermentation

In this Kombucha KZbin Series I have completed a recovery of my long ignored kombucha, provided a one week update and now here we are today after a full 2 weeks of initial brew fermentation ready to start our second ferment. My favorite flavor of store bought kombucha is GT's Gingerberry. I used pure blueberry juice and unsweetened strawberry puree from my own pantry along with some dehydrated ginger hoping to come close to the flavor I am looking for. I also used some store bought apple juice and mint.
Let me know your favorite ways to flavor your kombucha below in the comments.
Not shown in the video: I added back my new scoby and starter tea and refilled brew vessel with 2 gallons of freshly brewed sweet tea to restart a new batch.
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[@alwaysandforever1878]

I remember my mother having this and growing it. When I was younger I thought it was a pet😂 my mother is really handling it delicately and said the scoby needs to be stress free...Gosh I think we even have a name for it....

[@1870s]

Lol. We're pretty rough with our sometimes. Seems just fine.

[@beccasbythebay]

ive been buying kombucha for years, I finally grew our own scoby & doing the 2nd ferment with blueberries & fresh ginger. I'm so excited. Thanks for sharing :)

[@donnajakubos4249]

We love blueberry and basil. Also a good grape plain, and lime and ginger. I bought a half gallon jug from a brewery that works great too!!

[@donnastormer9652]

I absolutely love making my kombucha with elderberry syrup. It doesn’t take much, but it’s one of my favorites!

[@thisoldgoat6396]

Thank for ideas on flavoring . Also thank you and your family for serving our country. I noticed the two blue stars !

[@maryjohnson1604]

Pretty scobe. Great job. I love GT ginger berry too.

[@KatMa664]

So if you just drain off 1/3 rd of your brew every three days and add more tea to it you will have a continuous brew. No need to remove the scoby or chance contamination of the tea. It will stay in a great slightly vinegar sweet state and brew on and on.

[@bassskirtgirl]

how much more tea?

[@sarahduncan1423]

Just started making my own kombucha. I love ginger with mine, but I also make a tea during cold/flu season (honey, cloves, lemon, ginger), so I tried it in my kombucha & it might be my favorite.

[@TheTinMan3D]

Excellent!!

[@sheliaheverin8822]

I just recently got on the Kombucha bandwagon. I much prefer my homemade to any of the store bought. My favorites are mango, mango/pineapple, black cherry and strawberry.

[@theheritagehousesc]

I flavor mine too. I love cherry and pomegranate. I have never thought about putting fresh herbs but that’s a great idea! Thanks for sharing! ❤️

[@1870s]

Oh yes, try any herb or flower

[@BeesBikinis]

Yummy!! I want to make some!!

[@snarkleparkle]

Can I ask where you got your bottle? I love it!

[@jenedge5579]

Oh, you really give them a good dose of juice. I make water kefir and do my second ferment with just a hand full of blueberries and the yellow part of half a lemon rind to almost half gallon. I might like a stronger flavor. I’ll check it out. And careful of the quality of flip top bottle, the thin ones blow up. 🤯. Love your content

[@pamkootenay700]

Beautiful! I was just as excited with you 😊 someday I’m going to try this. Love your T-shirt, where did you get it?

[@1870s]

T-shirt from rubysrubbish.com/

[@Cheriesgardenvegplot]

I made elderberry syrup this year so used some to flavour my kombucha. Oh my it was good.

[@1870s]

Interesting, need to restart my kombucha

[@carolynmoody9460]

Been waiting for this..I am new to making this.. Blessings

[@1870s]

I hope yours is going well

[@donnastormer9652]

It’s so much easier to test your brew by taking a sterilize straw and just squeezing it between the Scoby and the the jar and then putting your finger over the top and just pull up a little bit of the liquid and taste it that way you’re not disturbing anything

[@freedomhomesteadky]

All the kombucha! Gimme! 😂

[@timbrophy]

After many failures and successes, I have it down to a fairly easy 2nd fermentation process. I too do 2 gallons (16 pints) at a time. I boil & steep a few tablespoons of fresh grated ginger in a pint of water, then dissolve a half cup of honey in that water. After straining, I add a cup of fresh lemon juice. I mix that with my finished kombucha in two 1 gallon jugs, bottle it, and wait 4 to 5 days. Lots of carbonation, and not too tart. My first fermentation goes for 7-8 days at room temp. That makes my turn around time almost 2 weeks. Too long to go without kombucha! I plan to buy 6 more bottles (24 total) and switch to 12 bottles at a time plus a couple of mason jars. This will mean a father turn-around time to go fewer days without Booch.

[@joinmeinthedirt5186]

Your homemade juice sounds like it would made delicious Kombucha. Good luck with it

[@1870s]

Thank you should be able to taste test tomorrow!

[@InAweOfAnimals]

Recently tried hibiscus. Beautiful color & DELICOUS! Hibiscus also has tons of health benefits.

[@teekotrain6845]

Do you think hibiscus would go well with peach?

[@PopleBackyardFarm]

looks good

[@1870s]

Can't wait to try them out

[@mellywell]

Hilarious t-shirt. :)

[@TomCrosman]

Did my first brew a few weeks ago used peach puree. It was as good as store bought. My second batch is done tomorrow. Use pineapple puree with a touch of lime. My favorite store bought is pineapple with lemon. I didn’t have any lemon.

[@queentangy]

These are so beautiful! What is your initial brew that makes your kombucha such a light color?

[@1870s]

I use Earl grey tea

[@queentangy]

That 1870's Homestead aha! Thank you so much for responding! :)

[@Whitewavewoman]

I just did my 2nd fermentation today too! I did lemon ginger and strawberry. I also put local buckwheat honey in both. 😊

[@keuriseutopoe]

The bottle you're holding at 3:26, can I use that type of bottle for 2nd fermentation(with flavoring)? I only have that type of bottle, so I wonder if it will work just fine.

[@briankane6547]

My Brit lug-holes will NEVER get used to Baysil & Erbs. 😯

[@kbltexmex]

Looks soo good I’m going to have to try this one day! -Alyssa

[@1870s]

They were all amazing

[@kimberlyscrivner9373]

How long does it last in the fridge?

[@catherineshiddengarden2596]

Do you feed your chicken the scoby? Good for the garden too. Love my kombucha 💕 Haven’t tried herbs in my second ferment. But plan on it this year. Lavender mint, lavender, Basil & lemon thyme & beebalm. I also add 1 tsp of sugar to my second ferment. 1 day out & then refrigerate because I like mine at room temperature. So, I tend to get a bottle out & bring to room temperature & then enjoy. So fun to see others enjoying kombucha 😀

[@1870s]

Yes I did

[@Thewoodlandnest]

thanks :)

[@1870s]

Welcome!

[@LifeOnBeagleRoad]

You might have convinced me to try kombucha.... maybe.

[@1870s]

Even if you just maintain a small batch and take a shot a day, it's good for you

[@1979Smelly]

Thanks for this amazing information as I have my first kombucha fermenting. Please let me know where you bought your large glass container with a spigot 😊

[@1870s]

We got it from Amazon. Pretty sure the jar, and the spigot are both in our shop. The jar we bought came with a plastic spigot, so we bought a replacement metal one: www.amazon.com/shop/that1870shomestead?listId=MYSTJ24KIRIR

[@agnesfredericksen9892]

They also sell them at Walmart !

[@WillowCreekHomestead]

Love ginger berry! My favorite is passion berry bliss but it’s so hard to find! I have been doing kombucha forever and have never done flavored! I need to get on it!

[@1870s]

I prefer it unflavored, just for the simpleness of it, but gotta run some flavors for the kiddos

[@alinastobiecka9400]

Do you have to open them ton release the gas once they go into the fridge? or the cold temp stops carbonation?

[@stomorevs]

Don’t open them. If you open them, they’ll explode everywhere. Leave them on the counter for like 3-4 days (without opening them) then chill them in the fridge. The cold will make the CO2 more soluble in the liquid and you’ll have a nice fizzy drink. The carbonation won’t disappear by chilling it, it’ll just “push” the bubbles into the liquid. If you let the bottles do a second ferment for a few days and you try opening them without chilling them first, you’ll have a huge mess. The cold air in the fridge slows down the yeasts metabolism that’s why you want to let the bottles sit for a few days at room temperature.

[@michiganpines4064]

YES!!! We love making kombucha! Do you use green or black tea? Honey or sugar? I guess I should watch your previous kombucha videos to see but I wanted to know if you had any recommendations. ❤️

[@1870s]

I've used both black and green tea, only sugar. Raw honey will kill a kombucha

[@michiganpines4064]

That 1870's Homestead awesome thanks!

[@terrisutton5559]

In the Spring & Summer, Aldi sometimes has carbonated flavored lemonade or non-alcholic Sangria in fliptop bottles...could I use those for the second ferment?

[@1870s]

Absolutely, in fact one of mine was from one of those 😉

[@jenniferapiary]

Thanks I don't know if you have a Dollar Tree where you live but my Dollar Tree sells the flip-top bottles

[@1870s]

I'd be concerned whether the quality of the seal would be good enough, but couldn't hurt trying

[@Veemack21]

Really thanks

[@Cheriesgardenvegplot]

@@Veemack21 You can buy replacement seals on ebay and amazon

[@chicmommaplants9692]

With the swing caps, have you ever had a problem with too much gas and the bottle breaking?

[@1870s]

No

[@melindaneist9575]

Once you have left the second ferment for a couple of days on the bench, then put in the fridge, how long will the kombucha last befor it goes bad? How long can you keep it? Thanks 😍

[@teekotrain6845]

I would try to drink or at least burp 6 months or before. Orherwise it will still be good but maybe too tart. Still, "old" kombucha is great for vinegar....which is great for other stuff like shrubs, dressings, marinades, skin care, preservation of foods, natural medicines, as a brine for pickles etc etc

[@Dorrie519]

WOW!! I have never had kombucha...what brand, type would you recommend to buy and try to see if I like it?

[@1870s]

GTs hands down. You can find at most super markets

[@charlotteanderson7761]

Yeah I love GTs, you can also grow your own Scoby from a bottle!

[@1870s]

@@charlotteanderson7761 I did that with this brew

[@jrelevates1574]

? How long will they keep refrigerated? Is there a time that they go bad? How do you tell if it's gone bad? Thank you=)

[@SMNACTUALLY]

I heard that it tastes better as it ages, like a wine would. This one video I saw a while ago said they stored it in their fridge for like 8 months, but they had to burp it every month.

[@ema8909]

Is it ok to use tongs to handle the scoby?

[@1870s]

for short periods, yeah, just make sure you wash first.

[@ema8909]

@@1870s thank you!

[@SA-gf8uq]

Another video said to burp your bottles every 12 hrs or they can explode. Is this true?

[@1870s]

It could happen

[@mildredarnold4052]

You can get those flip top bottles at dollar tree.

[@1870s]

Just check that the seals are rubber and not plastic

[@whippoorwill53]

Be careful not all flip top bottles are equal. I bought some from target, they were not carbonation safe. The bottle exploded.

[@jackiee3449]

Why doesn’t your link work

[@1870s]

Which link?

[@rahrah8962]

Good vid , however the 2nd fermentation is the trickiest after bottling and burping the fliptops from time to time depending on many variables ( temperature , sugar content ect ) the biggest expense is adding the fruit juices so im thinking about using frozen blueberries , raspberries ...... ginger & lemon from the shelf and a little honey to help with the carbonation but im never sure how much to use so the flip top bottles don't over pressurize and leak ..............Thanks Kevin from Australia

[@semigloss]

One thought: try making simple syrups with your flavors instead of just using the fruit or juice straight. This provides flavor with additional sugar from the syrup, which supports the F2 without requiring as much fruit.

[@denisemora1454]

Is all kombucha fizzy .. I have a hard time drinking carbonated / fizzy drinks

[@1870s]

Generally it's more like a sparkling juice. It has an effervescent punchy flavor. But you can get a ton of carbonation for those that desire it. I like mine just a little on the sparkling side.

[@denisemora1454]

I tried one for the first time from the store and it left a really bad taste in my mouth.. so I'm really wanting to try homemade.. ty I really enjoy watching your channel

[@nicolettejenkins6784]

I know this is an old comment, but maybe this will still help. Carbonation is built up in the bottle during 2nd fermentation. If you don't like fizz, you can just drink it after first, unflavored, or you can add your flavoring and cover it back up with a cloth instead of closing a cap. It won't build carbonation that way.

[@AdrepKeith]

Can't you just use ball jars to save the finished product?

[@59kuphoff]

Canning jars don't seal well enough if you are wanting good carbonation in your drink.

[@normalizedaudio2481]

I just had a BIG explosion, all over my shirt! All over the floor. Too much added sugar with pineapple. Sweet fruit is enough. I am trying orange juice with ginger.

[@1870s]

Maybe just reduce the amount of pineapple next time, it's one of my favorite brews

[@shantimarie2754]

You can burp the bottles every few days to avoid excessive fermentation gas.