How to Sweeten Your Kombucha? Pros and Cons (2024)
Sugar is essential to brewing your own kombucha. The sugar is what the SCOBY eats to grow. Without this fundamental ingredient, bacteria and yeast in the kombucha will not be able to ferment the drink. Concerned about consuming sugar? No worries! The SCOBY feeds off of most of the sugar so by the time you drink your kombucha not much of the sugar remains. Here is a breakdown of the best and worst types of sugar to use:
Organic Cane Sugar:This is an excellent choice to use for kombucha and is commonly used by many brewers. We highly recommend cane sugar as it has worked the best and will give you consistent results.
Raw sugar such as turbinado and demerara, are less refined and typically have molasses. These sugars can be beneficial to use because they have less pesticides and go through less processing. However, brewing with raw sugars will create longer fermentation periods due to the SCOBY working extra hard to break down the sugar.
Honey:
Honey is highly beneficial when used due to its countless vitamins and antioxidants. It is a central component in Jun Kombucha. However, with a traditional SCOBY, using honey isn’t recommended because the organisms in the honey may affect the brew.
Agave, Coconut, Maple Sugar:
We do not suggest these types of sugars. The reason is that it will alter the brewing process because it can potentially interfere with the bacteria and yeast. We highly recommend using cane sugar to keep a healthy and balanced brew.
Stevia, Xylitol, Artificial Sweeteners:
Avoid as much as possible. These processed sweeteners do not contain the proper nutrients for the SCOBY to grow.
Store your SCOBY at room temp. The longer it ferments the stronger the starter liquid will be for your next batch.
JTK
Your instructions indicate: Step 1. Remove and store your scoby Remove the scoby from the 1 gallon jar and place in a clean container. Pour 1 to 1.5 cups of kombucha into the container with the scoby and cover with fermenting cloth. This will serve as your starter tea and culture for your next batch. If I don’t intend on brewing the next batch for one or two weeks how should I store the SCOBY and liquid? Refrigerator or room temp?
Cane sugar is the most common type of sugar that is used for brewing Kombucha. Most people use “plain white sugar” – you want to make sure the package says “cane sugar” on it or you are most likely using GMO Beet Sugar.
The yeast and bacteria in your kombucha depend on cane sugar to survive and thrive. It's their food source. So using alternate sugars or not using enough sugar basically deprives your culture of its food source. In other words, you're starving your SCOBY.
The standard Kombucha recipe is 1 cup of sugar per gallon.
Too much and the yeasts will either a) “flush” and overrun the bacteria, or b) fall completely asleep and do nothing. It may be possible to use as little as ¾ cup or as much as 1.5 cups per gallon and have successful brews.
You can mix the kombucha with fruit juice, honey/sugar, or pureed fruit (and drink straight from the first fermentation or move to a second fermentation). Sweetness acts as a counterbalance to sourness.
Any honey can be used in the preparation of jun. Unpasteurized honey is ideal, as it naturally contains microorganisms that complete the fermentation process.
There is no way to produce kombucha without using sugar. It's quite simple: without sugar, there is no food for the yeast, so no kombucha! Indeed, to grow, yeast needs to eat sugar. The preparation will automatically go mouldy if you replace the sugar with a sweetener.
Cane sugar or more commonly known as white sugar is the best and most common type of sugar used for kombucha brewing. It is the most easily available source of sucrose for the yeast to convert to ethanol. If you want to try some different options, we have given you some info below.
Stevia or Non Caloric Sweeteners: Non-caloric sweeteners will not work for kombucha. Since there is no sugar in stevia the microbes will not have anything to make probiotics with. You need sugar in the brew to feed the microbes and without it they will starve and die.
Kombucha contains alcohol. The body breaks down alcohol to get rid of it. Disulfiram decreases the break-down of alcohol. Taking kombucha along with disulfiram can cause a pounding headache, vomiting, flushing, and other unpleasant reactions.
If you see any discoloration or spores, or notice an odd smell (not normal kombucha vinegar-like smell), these are all signs that your kombucha has gone bad and is no longer safe to drink.
The Centers for Disease Control recommends that four ounces of kombucha can be safely consumed one to three times a day. Overconsumption can lead to headache, nausea, gastrointestinal distress, or ketoacidosis.
The taste should be similar to apple cider vinegar – a little bit sweet with a tart, vinegary flavour. You can leave your kombucha to brew longer, but it will get a stronger vinegar taste. The pH should be in the range of 2.5 – 3.5.
Although rare, there have been reported cases of severe allergic reactions, acidosis and liver complications due to potentially contaminated kombucha consumption ( 21 ). Since kombucha is unpasteurized and contains small amounts of caffeine and alcohol, pregnant and breastfeeding women should avoid it as well ( 22 ).
Think basil, sage, rosemary, mint, lavender, lemongrass, turmeric & more! Dried herbs are much more potent than fresh herbs. Use dried herbs sparingly, as they can overpower the other flavors in your bottles.
You can use fruit in any form: whole, cut, pureed, fresh, frozen, etc. Our favourite fruit to flavour a bottle (750ml) of kombucha are: 60ml (¼ cup) pineapple chunks. 60ml (¼ cup) crushed berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries)
Introduction: My name is Horacio Brakus JD, I am a lively, splendid, jolly, vivacious, vast, cheerful, agreeable person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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Sugar is essential to brewing your own kombucha. The sugar is what the SCOBY eats to grow. Without this fundamental ingredient, bacteria and yeast in the kombucha will not be able to ferment the drink. Concerned about consuming sugar? No worries! The SCOBY feeds off of most of the sugar so by the time you drink your kombucha not much of the sugar remains. Here is a breakdown of the best and worst types of sugar to use: 