Coffee kombucha is fantastic when made in the second ferment only. Brew your regular tea kombucha, then bottle with about 1/4 cup of cooled coffee (or about one espresso shot) and a tsp or two of brown sugar (for a 1L bottle). Adjust the sugar amount to suit your brew/preferred sweetness. You can also add a tsp of vanilla or cocoa powder (or both). Honestly, try it, it's really great - one of my favourite flavours and not an acquired taste at all!
Let me see if I understand; are you saying you are using tea kombucha and then mixing it with the cold brew for the second ferment, rather than fermenting the coffee with the scoby the first go-round?
@@abitcrazy22 Yep, you got it. I use regular tea kombucha that has finished its first ferment, then second ferment in the bottle with sweetened and cooled espresso coffee or cold brew. I have used both cold brew and espresso and not found a lot of difference. (I have even used instant coffee dissolved with sugar and boiling water, then cooled - tastes fine too.) I use about a 1/4 cup of sweetened coffee per 1L bottle. Sugar and coffee amounts are totally up to you. Using less coffee will obviously make it less coffee tasting (although it doesn't actually taste like fizzy coffee per se...maybe more like a blond cola, with a hint of coffee). Add extra flavours: vanilla, cocoa, cinnamon etc. I have never tried brewing kombucha in the first ferment with with coffee instead of tea (like in the video). But I have heard of other people who have and it tastes roundly terrible. Like like a cross between beef jerky and sweet stewed coffee. Maybe some people have succeeded at it. I have heard of people using Red Bull in place of tea with a scoby and it coming out alright...not sure I'm in a rush to try that though...
Yes, a BIG thank you! Because brewing from coffee start just seems odd, but flavouring 2nd ferment with coffee is a totally different thing. So, yes, a BIG thank you!
I take a different approach to making coffee "flavored" kombucha. I make the first brew as normal with tea. Then on the second ferment I put two tablespoons of cracked coffee beans into a 750 ml bottle. Let it sit out for about 4 days, then refrigerate. The people who like it love it. Others not so much.
I’ve been making coffee kombucha for a few years now. Most like it better than tea kombucha. I use cold brew coffee for mine. My challenge is finding a good flavor to pair with it though, I typically use cinnamon, vanilla and cardamom to flavor it. I always get carbonation and acid from my ferments.
I been doing coffee kombucha, and have a coffee hotel, that’s been going for a few months now, for my stepdad. It seems to be continuing its cycle, pretty well.
I am trying to convert a black tea kombucha scoby and pellicle to a coffee scoby. I first brewed 75% black tea and 25% coffee.. I see what you mean because I did do a 2nd ferment with this batch and the flavors of coffee and kombucha are just kinda.. different and weird tasting. However, I am now on my 2nd batch with 50/50 tea and coffee.. a new pellicle is forming which gives me confidence as I "train" the bacteria to accept coffee/sugar over tea/sugar. Next I will try to go 25% tea to 75% coffee.. and eventually I'd like to see if I can get a fully converted scoby that is acclimatized to coffee.. how will that taste? *I figure that right now I'm actually making something my Chinese parents call "yin-yang." It's when they brew tea.. and then use that tea to brew coffee. So you're getting a mix of tea and coffee. It will take another month or two or three even.. but I'm interested to see what a fully fermented coffee tastes.. without tea.
Update: fully converted koffucha scoby is very light pellicle, not sure how long it may go on for. It's a smoother taste than the initial koffucha brews but either way, I'm still not really liking the taste of fermented coffee. Kombucha is a taste I've come to enjoy. Koffucha not so much.
I think coldbrew coffee would do justice and also adding in some flavoured syrups (cane, honey, cinnamon, lavender, vanilla) into the second fermentation would aid in carbonation. FYI: a freshly medium-light roasted coffee would do better since freshly roasted coffee has lots of carbon dioxide and the coffee flavour profile tends to be pleasantly acidic yet fruity and floral! (Barista of 2 years & Aeropress competition expert)
I use Berry jam to flavor my coffee komboocha. It's one of three I make. My go to is a white tea komboocha. Also, coffee komboocha needs easy double the time of tea to ferment, and needs more sugar added for second ferment if u want it to carbinate. Also, instead of sugar in the first ferment, honey or other syrup forms of sugar work better including Cane syrup or agave. I don't add a scoby to it, in fact I found adding a scoby actually slows it down as opposed to helping ferment unlike other forms. If I do add the scoby, I don't add starter tea. My first batch took over a month to ferment. Adding coffee starter tea to subsequent bathches cut tge time dkwn by at least a week. And the culture adapt to eat the coffee.
Thank you for being so honest. I love coffee. I love kumbucha so I was very excited about your video. Based on your experience I will definitely not be trying this lol. Thank you for sharing. I enjoy all your videos and have learned much from you. 💖💜💖
It will react the same as long as the sugar content is there it doesn't make any difference if it's coffee or any other substance you're making it with please do your research.
Love your tutorials! Glad I saw this video before I tried a coffee batch in a 1st fermentation. I do think I'll try "Shannon Hart's" coffee in second ferment (perhaps a little caramel with vanilla for a "Macchiato Buch"??? I have made a Macchiato Mead (honey wine) before and it was a wonderful after dinner dessert wine (mead) lol. Ginger "Buch" is my favorite and I was hoping to incorporate some of the health benefits of lemongrass so I just ordered some Lemongrass tea and will be trying it with ginger in the 2nd ferment. Has anyone done a lemongrass 2nd?
I have attempted coffee bucha also. I used 3/4 tea bucha with live culture and used cold pressed espresso. I managed to get it to ferment. You did not use enough bucha in your recipe… starter liquid is not necessary. You need 1 full tablespoon of raw organic cane sugar in your 500ml bottle. You should not mix the sugar at all either. Let the culture fight to feed itself versus mixing it well like you said. The bucha should be ready to drink (already past the first stage of fermentation) and instead of adding fruits you need to treat the coffee like fruit and add sugar. You are trying to ferment coffee with tea. It wont work. The only thing you can do is flavor the kombucha.
after the preparation of your coffee add your sugar mix it well it dissolves then add a quarter cup of raw sugar cane it will ferment it perfectly without any scoby after the fermentation process is completed you can use part of the liquid to start new brew ... thanks for your consistent upload
Why didn't you add sugar to the 2F to encourage more carbonation? Also I feel like adding some more freshly brewed coffee in the 2F could of helped with the taste as well
Haha! I say "WE brew kombucha!" Similarly, when I tell my oldest son "have a great day," or "be safe driving home," he cheekily says... "Don't tell me what to do." 😂
What an interesting concept. I have never heard of coffee kombucha before. However I was always told that the scoby needed sugar & caffeine so I would think the coffee would provide the food it needed.
Not sure if this has been mentioned, but I was wondering if you made regular kombucha tea and then added some liquid coffee (tbsp) to the tea when you bottled it if that would make a difference...
I agree with the other comment, cold brew is definitely the way to go. Treat the coffee as you do any other flavors you might be adding to your bottles during the second fermentation process, don’t treat it as a substitute for the black tea. That obviously doesn’t work. I think that’s the way GT brews their Koffee too because on the label it has all the normal ingredients listed along with cold brew coffee. Happy brewing!
I love my coffee and this video just answered my question if I actually even WANT to bother making it. I'll stick to my cold brew coffee which is DELICIOUS!
I think the coffee kombucha doesn't produce enough frizz well due to the oil content in coffee. I've heard not to use earl grey tea for black tea kombucha because of the oil infusion added to the tea. May be the oil is the KJ (kill joy) in making kombucha.
Question:: I have tried the bubbly drinks and got lose bowel. I am wondering if doing a second ferment on kombucha will do the same. What is your thought?
could you not use a home beer brewing keg to carbonate a large batch or use Carbonation Drops that drop direct into the bottle like i use when bottling homebrewed beer???
Totally! I own a small kombucha business and our piña colada flavor is really good!!! Just keep in mind you need just a little bit other wise it will get kinda oily
just to avoid the contaminants that might be in your measuring cup or whatever, just to not dirty another thing... i use a food scale. like no measuring cups at all. 50g sugar. easy. want 100g of juice in my bottles for the 2f, super easy. put 4 small bottles on the scale and pour 100g in, then 100g, then 100g rinse repeat. just my 2c.
Sorry off topic, I've brewed tea for a few years with no problem. The last two brews have been syrupy in consistency, tried using new scoby,from hotel so same starter liquid same result. Tried adding homemade Apple cider vinegar , same result.(read it may be high in yeast so acv would reduce this) any ideas would be helpful, everything was cleaned thoroughly
You’re not supposed to brew kombucha with coffee, it stresses the yeast and creates off flavors. Instead brew kombucha separately from the coffee, and then combine them after they’re chilled to stop the fermentation.
@3:14 My understanding is that the scoby feeds on the caffeine and sugar so it shouldn't matter if the sugary caffeine water it eats comes from tea leaves or coffee beans
I cannot eat or drink sugar. What I would like to know, is there a rule of thumb or anything when all the sugar has been used up in the fermentation, and how do you tell that?
Is it just me, or did anyone else think she was going to put coffee in Kombucha? Not, kombucha in coffee, I thought it was going to be the same as she flavor the others. 🥰
How long do you leave it? My jun second ferments take 1-2 days but my kombucha 2f is real inconsistent/slow; I have some now that's been going for about 9 days and one bottle is just barely starting to develop some fizz. I've been having this problem with my kombucha 2f, and it's summer here (so warm). I'm starting to think it's my scoby, from something she said in this video (about how it should ferment quickly). 🤷♀️
COLD BREW IS A WHOLE NOTHER BALL GAME !!! I do love your site, I love to find new ideas. My favorite Bucha is on the second fermentation I put in “Black Fermented Garlic” & sometimes I add “Red Onion”, occasionally add some type of Mushroom like To-fi, Reishi, etc… MACA. Very Healthier than most ‘all Kombuchas. ♥️💗♥️ ♥️💗♥️
