Lemon Ginger Kombucha
- Prep: Juice the lemons and finely chop or grate the ginger.
- Bottle: Add kombucha, lemon juice, ginger, and honey to fermentation bottles.
- Ferment: For 3 to 10 days, until it reaches the carbonation level you like.
- Enjoy: Chill in the fridge before serving.
Ways to Flavor Kombucha
Plain, unflavored kombucha is all well and good, but flavoring your kombucha can be a whole lot of fun! Here are some favorites:
- Fruit Juice: Add a small amount of juice to each bottle of kombucha. I usually add 1/4 cup or so to each bottle and then top with kombucha. Use more or less depending on the size of your bottle and how fruity you like your kombucha. Some favorite flavors are cherry, blueberry, grape, cranberry, pomegranate, and mango.
- Whole Fruit: You can also chop up some fruit to flavor your kombucha, which is nice if you want a flavor like strawberry or plum that you can’t easily find as fruit juice. You can either add chopped fruit directly to the bottles, or you can transfer the kombucha to a new 1-gallon jar with the chopped fruit, cover and steep for a few days, then strain and bottle. Note that a new scoby may form on the top of the liquid; this is fine and normal, and can be discarded before drinking.
- Ginger: Chopped fresh ginger or ginger juice make a spicy, tingly kombucha. Add it by itself, or along with your favorite juice. (Do not use powdered ginger since it doesn’t dissolve and makes the kombucha taste gritty.)
- Fresh Herbs or Whole Spices: Chopped fresh herbs (rosemary! thyme! basil!) or whole spices (cinnamon! cloves! cardamom!) add a subtle punch of flavor to plain kombucha. I also like combining these with fruit or fruit juice. (Strawberry basil is a favorite!)
Note that adding fruit juice or chopped fruit to your kombucha tends to make it carbonate much faster. The sugars in these ingredients are like a fresh meal to the yeast in the kombucha! Check your bottles a little more frequently than you would otherwise.
