Organic Kombucha Tea Blend

We are all looking for ways to live a healthier life and today we are going to touch on the many health benefits of making your batch of kombucha: Kombucha tea contains antioxidants that detoxify the body, offers protection against disease.

If you don't know, kombucha is a form healthy tea (tasting similar to a delicious tea to a rare wine) that's fermented via colonies of bacteria and yeast which results in the creation of various vitamins such as: Vitamin B1, B2, B6, B12, C, amino acids, and mild acids including Malic, Acetic, Gluconic and Butyric Acid and Probiotics, very good for a healthy digestion.

The focus of this article is to learn what is the best tea for kombucha or to find the best tea blend for brewing kombucha. These blends doesn't have to be only used for making kombucha, for example a black tea blend can be used also for jun, mead and fermentation of other beverages.

For that purpose we will start our article speaking of one of the most vital ingredients for your kombucha: Tea.

Tea is one the most popular beverages in the world and no wonder because its many attributed health benefits such as: provides immunity against intestinal disorders, improves beneficial intestinal microflora and could normalize blood pressure.

One of the chief ingredients of Kombucha is tea. Kombucha makes it easier for the body to absorb those benefits through fermentation and a little colony of special bacteria and yeast, which end up producing a bunch of vitamins and enzymes that weren’t there before as well.

Kombucha’s fermentation process helps to unlock the healing properties of tea, with Kombucha’s help, the polyphenols & antioxidants become more bio-available, which just means they are easier for your body to absorb.

Brewing kombucha requires real tea (camellia sinensis) for both minerals and nitrogen. Tea contains several nutrients and compounds. Those compounds are what the yeast and bacteria (Kombucha culture) eat to turn your sweet tea into kombucha. Along with the sugar, tea is the main fuel source for the SCOBY. A few paragraphs below we will take a closer look at the best types of tea for long term brewing of Kombucha.

Homemade kombucha is made with 3 simple ingredients: tea, sugar and water, plus the addition of kombucha culture (a SCOBY and starter tea). It’s really important to make sure you’re using good quality, proper ingredients when starting your fermentation.

But what is the best tea for Kombucha? And which teas should you avoid? Which teas should you use for making homemade kombucha?

While sugar provides energy for the yeast to eat, the tea provides minerals that the bacteria and yeast need. Ensuring you use the correct tea for your kombucha will create a healthy SCOBY that will continue churning out batches for years to come.

Kombucha cultures love black tea and green tea because they get nutrition for a healthier scoby, richer color, better flavor, and awesome aroma in the end product. Both black and green tea help SCOBY to grow thick and healthy for more kombucha goodness.

The best tea for Kombucha is usually a blend, and the most common recipe for brewing Kombucha includes a combination of green & black tea.

Traditionally, Kombucha has been brewed with black tea (known as “red tea” in China, named for the color of the resulting brewed liquid rather than the color of the leaves themselves). Research has shown that green tea produces the healthiest looking culture.

First let's talk about different types of tea:

The type of tea used to brew kombucha can affect the health of the SCOBY as well as the taste of your finished brew. Camellia sinensis provides nitrogen to the SCOBY We also recommend using organic tea whenever possible, to avoid chemical contaminants. The aim is to keep your SCOBY happy and healthy because obviously a healthy kombucha SCOBY is important to making a good batch of kombucha tea.

For the strongest, healthiest kombucha, just make sure to use only pure tea without any flavorings, essences or oils added to them. Even if they’re “natural” flavors, they could weaken your kombucha SCOBY over time.

Kombucha cultures take their nutrients (polyphenolic compounds, commonly and mistakenly referred to as “tannins”) from Camellia sinensis leaves (real tea comes from this single plant species).

Herbal “teas” like mint, chamomile, or rosehip “teas” are not really teas at all, they’re tisanes or herbal infusions. For the most part, these types of teas are not suitable for fermenting kombucha due to the lack of necessary nutrients that kombucha culture needs to brew successfully. Over time, the culture will usually atrophy and eventually die. Moreover, some plants may harm your culture and retard the formation of healthful elements in your homebrew.

Black Tea: Tea leaves that have been oxidized for a long time (longer than green or oolong teas), creating a strong flavor. Common types of black tea that work well in kombucha include Ceylon and English Breakfast.

Black teas, which have been oxidized more than other kinds of teas (green, white or oolong), contain the most polyphenolic compounds. That means more food for your kombucha culture to eat and more fuel for the SCOBY to grow more quickly and more robustly. Plain, black tea is best for your kombucha. It provides the best nutrients and poses the least amount of potential issues for kombucha brewers.

If you're just getting started, we find that plain black tea works best for making kombucha. It's best to wait until you have a healthy SCOBY and have made at least 4 batches of kombucha, or until you have enough large healthy cultures in your SCOBY Hotel, before using some other teas.

If caffeine is a concern, you can use decaffeinated tea for making kombucha.

Regarding sugar, some people feel tempted to find ways not to use sugar in recipes, sugar is required for the fermentation process and cannot be bypassed or substituted. Using less sugar than required may starve the SCOBY.

Keep in mind that the longer the kombucha is fermented, the less sugar remains. Brew from 7-30 days, and in order to find the best balance between sugar and flavor you need to constantly be tasting along the brewing process.

Kombucha cultures best when you use water that is as free from contaminants as possible. Water that claims to be "mineral water" or has a high mineral content should be avoided if possible, it may be harmful to the SCOBY.

When it comes to brewing kombucha at home, not all tea blends are created equal. With an organic kombucha tea blend you will take your kombucha to the next level, choose a black and green tea blend made with 100% certified organic green and black tea leaves, carefully blended to ensure a balanced yeast to bacteria ratio for kombucha brewing, offering the perfect environment for bacteria to grow.

Loose leaf Green and Black Tea provides a balanced diet for active yeast and bacteria, allowing them to ferment in peak condition. Look for suppliers that state each batch is hand blended using only the highest quality ingredients, this is key to find the best organic loose leaf teas for kombucha brewing. Many of them say things like carefully selected blend of Organic teas from Asia, Africa, & South America.

If the blend comes within a resealable sturdy zipper pouch for long term storage and freshness, is a plus.

Another added benefit of these mixed tea blends for Kombucha is that you don't have to use it only for brewing kombucha, you can also enjoy a tea blend on its own, iced or cold.

By making your own kombucha you are able to control conditions and quality of the ingredients for your kombucha. Since organic tea blends for kombucha almost always contain hand selected tea ingredients, they are one of the best allies for DIY kombucha brewers. If you get a selected organic blend your beverage not only will taste better but will give you more healthy nutrients.

With a homemade kombucha you also will save money because instead of constantly buying fancy packaging kombucha bottles in the store, you'll have a batch for months.

It's very important that your first kombucha brew be a success. The easiest way to jump into the fermentation world is by purchasing a kombucha starter kit which includes a starter culture (SCOBY), plus hand-picked ingredients & supplies to get you started with making your own kombucha. This is a very cool and simple way to make Kombucha.

A good starter kit includes everything you need to start brewing your own kombucha: Scoby, a kombucha tea blend, cane sugar, pH strips, cloth covers, rubber bands, reusable muslin bags. Instructions are put together by experienced and knowledgeable kombucha brewers, so you won't have any problem making your first batch.

Enjoy the probiotic and antioxidant benefits of kombucha tea without breaking the bank when you use a high-quality organic kombucha brewing kit at home.

The marketplace for fermentation offers a kombucha heater (or fermentation heat mat). This device allows safe and efficient heating for your kombucha brewing vessel. This kombucha brewing and fermentation heating mat will help you to keep your fermented products at the optimal temperature.

One common mistake that beginner kombucha brewers make is fermenting at too low of a temperature. While this works great for kombucha. Ideal temperature range for kombucha is between 75° and 85° F.

It also works for your other home fermentations that need a little temperature boost such as kefir, sourdough, sauerkraut, kimchi, tempeh, etc. Use this heat wrap year-round as the temperature fluctuates in your home. 

Kombucha is one of the best natural sources of vitamin C and also one of the cheapest. 1 8 oz glass of kombucha contains 120 mg of vitamin C. This vitamin has anti-oxidation qualities and prevents premature aging.

We are living in a day and age where we face ever increasing toxins in our foods, water and the very air we breathe it behooves us to give our liver a helping hand. The manner in which we clean up the blood in our daily lives is by consuming more antioxidants such as vitamin C contained in Kombucha.

Not only antioxidants are importants but also electron-rich foods. By giving your body the ability to replace those missing electrons, you give your body the tools it needs to begin repairing itself. Drinking alkaline antioxidant ionized water replenishes missing electrons in order to fight free radical damage.

Since this is an article about healthy choices, we cannot forget to mention the importance of following a regimen of diet and exercise. With the right kind of exercise you won't only get better sleep, less stress, avoid being overweight, you also will have other unsuspected benefits such as better posture when walking. Physical activities give you more energy. Exercising does not necessarily mean spending most of your time at the gym or doing intense workout a couple of hours a day, several days a week.

You can do leisurely walks in the park every morning. Playing with your children in the yard can also help you burn fat. Some activities also include dancing, swimming, bicycling, playing your favorite sports, like ping pong, basketball or volleyball. Once you include exercises in your daily routine, it will be easier to accomplish it.

Health is wealth. KombuchaI is a beverage you can drink every day as it is so tangy and refreshing! even more when you know all the amazing benefits of kombucha.