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I love kombucha, that tasty, fizzy, probiotic filled traditional drink which originated in China and later in Russia. My husband and I have been drinking it for over 15 years, and I’ve had few breaks in the brewing cycle in all that time.
Going on vacation? No worries. Just set a fresh batch on just before you leave and even if you’re gone a month, the new batch will be perfect and ready for you when you return! If it’s a little strong, just dilute with a bit of plain seltzer. Or, you can use it to make kombucha salad dressing.
It’s amazing to me that I’m using today the great-great grandbaby culture of the original culture I purchased all those years ago! What a great health investment it was to purchase an excellent quality SCOBY!
I’ve tried making kombucha several different ways over the years including continuous brew and the batch kombucha methods. About 7 years ago, I settled on a routine that works well for me. I make huge batches of 7-8 gallons every 10 days or so split among four 2 1/2 gallon clear glass jars that I purchased at Target for $12.99 each.
Batch Kombucha Method
How I make my large kombucha batches is described in detail in the linked article which contains written recipe plus 2 video demonstrations:
If you are a beginner and wish to make a basic batch of kombucha to start, check out the link with written recipe and 2 detailed videos as well.
Continuous Brew Kombucha vs Batch Method
I’ve been asked several times recently about why I do not use the continuous brew method for kombucha. The process adds fresh sweet tea to the fermenting vessel periodically to mix with tea in various stages of fermentation. You essentially rarely wash the brewing vessel and simply keep topping it up with fresh sweet tea as it gets used up.
While this method is awesome for some folks, I’ve tried it myself and it just didn’t work for me.
My 4 reasons for my sticking with batch kombucha for so many years are outlined below.
Low Mold Risk with Batch Kombucha
Some folks say that the continuous brew method reduces the risk for mold.
Despite living in Florida where it is hot and humid much of the year, I’ve only had mold one time in over 15 years of making kombucha. The reason was simple. I foolishly put the fermenting vessel near the fruit bowl.
In my experience, the risk is very small indeed for getting mold in your brewing kombucha. If you wish to eliminate the risk to virtually nil, simply double the amount of starter you use for each batch.
It’s that simple. Increasing the starter at the beginning increases the acidity of the initial brew and mold just won’t go there.
As a bonus, increasing the amount of starter ensures a faster brewing batch!
Batch Kombucha a Healthier Brew
I am a bit sensitive to caffeine and have never had a problem with batch kombucha causing any stimulant issues for me. This is because caffeine is broken down during the fermentation cycle. The sugar is also fermented away during the brewing cycle.
With continuous brew kombucha, however, sweet unfermented tea is periodically poured into the fermenting vessel which ensures that at least some caffeine and sugar that has not been fermented might end up in your glass.
Since I don’t want to consume any caffeine or white sugar myself and I most certainly don’t want my children to have any on a regular basis, the batch method is the better choice for our family.
Continuous Brew Kombucha Containers of Concern
When I tried making continuous brew kombucha, I used 2 1/2 gallon clear glass jugs. This is because the continuous brew fermenting vessels I examined at that time all had plastic spigots at the bottom. What’s more, they clog up all the time from the bits of kombucha culture that come out when you fill a glass with your brew.
Another problem with the continuous brew kombucha fermentation vessels is that the kombucha really should not be in contact with plastic for any length of time as it will leech chemicals from the plastic into your drink!
The back of the spigot is inside the fermenting vessel and is exposed to brewing kombucha 24/7, so this didn’t make sense to me to choose this type of container given the possible health concerns. It does not matter if the spigots are BPA free or not. Plastic is a petroleum-based product and there are plenty of other chemicals that would be of concern coming in contact with kombucha.
With much of the convenience of continuous brew kombucha lost due to the impracticality and possible health danger of the plastic spigots, I chose to stick with large glass jugs that lend themselves best to the batch approach. Note that since this post was originally written, there are now safe continuous brewing vessels available from Kombucha Kamp. However, most on the market are still not safe enough, in my opinion.
Batch Kombucha More Budget Friendly than Continuous Brew
It’s significantly cheaper to get set up to brew batch kombucha versus continuous brew. Continuous brewing vessels are quite expensive, whereas a gallon Pyrex bowl costs just a few dollars. Hence, for newbies, batch kombucha is definitely the way to go at least until you see if you are going to make this beverage long term.
Even when you make large amounts like I do, it is still a lot cheaper to set up for batch kombucha. I make 7-8 gallons several times per month with little to no mess.
In the final analysis having tried both methods, I find batch kombucha to be an overall easier and healthier choice than continuous brew.
Does Kombucha Prevent Grey Hair?
On a side note, I’d like to take an informal poll of anyone who’s been drinking kombucha for a long time.
If you had no grey hair when you first started to drink it and have been drinking it consistently since, do you have much if any grey hair now?
Kombucha has anecdotally been linked to grey free hair. My husband and I are both 2 decades beyond the age most people see their first grey hairs. We both still have essentially none despite parents and siblings who went grey at much earlier ages. Has anyone else has experienced the same?
Where to Source Strong Kombucha Cultures
Please refer to my Healthy Shopping page for where to source excellent quality kombucha cultures and equipment for very reasonable cost.
More Information
Want to know more about kombucha? Â These articles provide more detail for your research.
Fluoride in Kombucha: Should You Be Concerned?
Can Candida Sufferers Drink Kombucha?
Does Kombucha Prevent Grey Hair?
Jun Tea: Â Kombucha Champagne
Have You Tried Kombucha?
Safe Traveling with Kombucha
Kombucha: Drink It and Wear It?
I’ve been batch brewing for three plus years. My intake slacks off a little in winter (maybe a gallon a month) and picks WAY up in summer (more than a gallon a week.) I couldn’t get the kids or hubby interested in it at ALL until my youngest tasted GT Dave’s Cherry Chia Kombucha. I now make a batch for her with chia seeds and a second ferment of cherry juice. It really helps her eczema.
I’m 53 and have a strand or two of gray that the kids call “sparklies.” When I was 40 and they started coming in, I’d pull each out and hand it to a child and say, “Remember the time you…” and relate some horror (but funny) story from their youth. We all had a good laugh about them. I have almost no sparklies left anymore in my red hair, which is fine, because I’m all out of funny stories!
I’ve been drinking kombucha for a few years, frequently in the past two (brew own). I just started getting a few gray hairs in the past month (I’m 43). My sister, non kombucha drinker, is quite gray (41). My son (only 9) has had a small gray patch on his head for a few years, the kombucha hasn’t changed it, but it hasn’t gotten worse.
Again, I wish you had this information in text form. I can’t always download videos. Yesterday I asked about the lime for the corn. I don’t know how much, what proportions. Do I drain and start again. And now I can’t follow directions for the kombucha. It is frustrating.
The recipes on the videos are on the written part of the post.
I am a holistic hairdresser who also believes in real food/FLCO and fermented foods. I have been working in this way for over 30 years and have seen many miraculous things. I am convinced that hair loss/gray hair are nutritional deficiencies. Hair loss and early gray hair is epidemic and especially apparent in vegans and vegetarians (unless they are eating lots of raw milk/pastured eggs/fermented dairy. Clearly it is a lack of Vitamin B12, fat soluble vitamins (A,D,E,K).. But also many people notice changes when they eat food that contain the enzyme catalase – which is found abundantly in liver, kefir and fermented foods. I have seen gray hair go away and/or diminish in my clientele many times over the years. I am 58 and have very little gray hair..Hair quality (as teeth) is a barometer of health. Everyone has beautiful lustrous hair if they are healthy no matter what the texture..
You are right about catalase. It protects against hydroxyl groups: hydrogen peroxide free radicals like peroxynitrite, a natural end product of nitric oxide. The peroxides deplete copper from the body and inhibit tyrosinase, which helps copper to pigment the hair and skin. Kombucha protects the liver so catalase can be made. The liver protective herb picrorrhiza (“picro reeza”) encourages the liver to make catalase. Vitamin E tocotrienols and gamma tocopherol also protect against peroxynitrite, the free radical that causes white and gray hair.
Fructose, mercury, iron, zinc, antioxidants, citric acid, sulfur (garlic/onions), cysteine and glycine are copper depleters. Fructose containing probiotics deplete copper too, as I experienced a bleaching effect to my hair when I took a bit of the powder. Fructose in kombucha does not mess with the hair colour, though. It is eaten by the culture.
There are now catalase supplements available under various private label names like No More Gray Hair, Go Away Gray, Catalase Hx. But they are very expensive and can take between 3 and 8 months to work. I saw them on Amazon and Invite Health websites. They know people will pay. The simpler way is unflavoured Kombucha (fruits or spices added will be tyrosinase inhibitors so will bleach hair further), as well as raw fermented sauerkraut–Bubbies brand has live cultures and is made with California well water. I use GT Dave’s Original kombucha and it helps my hair absorb my copper supplement, Water Oz 4x strength ionic copper. Kefir bleaches my hair due to its glutathione which contains sulfur. I take gamma vitamin E and an hour later the tocotrienols. They all work together well but my hair is not completely brown yet, still some golden and beige sections, but it is not grey or white anymore so I don’t need to colour. I only need to drink about 2 ounces of kombucha per day to help with the grays. Any more than that doesn’t colour the hair better and makes me lose weight which I do not want to do. My homemade kombucha did not work for my hair. I’ve been doing this routine for almost a year with good results.
What kind of copper supplement do you like to use? I have a lot of gray hairs post mercury detox and would love to get my color back!
My daughter got me started on “boocha” last summer. I love it. It is too sour/vinegar for my wife unless I add a fruit puree. I lost my first “mother” to mold last fall when the temps dropped below 6o and we were canning apples. Now I use a heat pad to keep the temp at 75*
As to the grey, I have a few and they keep coming.
Where did you get your heat pad and how does it work? I’m in New Zealand and winter is fast approaching. I have my underfloor heating set at 22 degree celcius but think this isn’t enough (any hotter though and I’ll overheat myself). Any help would be much appreciated as I’m on my first brew and it’s already been two weeks with only a tiny baby forming.
Cheers 🙂
I use rooibos in my kombucha, but I always add at least 1 tsp of green tea per quart of tea, because the scoby needs nutrients from the camelia sinenis (tea) plant… and green tea contains less coffeine than black tea and the amount will be reduced after the brew.
I give it to my toddler (at least the one that likes it… other prefer water kefir), the alcohol content is really low, not a problem to me.
Oh no, I love my gray hair. If it prevents it , I’m not drinking it !
I love my graying hair too and just started drinking kombucha a few weeks ago. I hope it doesn’t halt the graying – that would stink! (I’m 46, found my first grey hairs at 30)
We’ve been brewing and drinking Kombucha for 4 years and we (my wife and I) both had a little grey…. still do. Much less then our siblings at our age (46,47)
My baby sister who is 8 years younger than me has grey already and she teases me about not having any 🙂
Wow, I’ve been making and drinking it for about 10 years, and my hair is completely gray (pretty much WHITE)! I am 52 and I started going gray in my early 30’s. BTW, I do not color my hair and I get complemented on it quite often.
oh good, that picture looks like mine! always wonder if I’m doing it right!