It’s June and it’s hot so I’m in full-on kombucha brewing mode. I’ve been stepping outside my kombucha comfort zone lately, trying different combinations, some inspired by flavors and blends I’ve seen (and tasted) available commercially. And I’m taking full advantage of Kel’s green thumb – the guy is a maestro with herbs! – with this refreshing, summery blend of flavors. Brew Dr.’s “Clear Mind” was the inspiration for this recipe.
Way back in 2013 I wrote a lengthy post about the Dos and Don’ts of kombucha brewing. You can find that post here. For another yummy, bright kombucha, try my Citrus & Hops brew or check out my e-book, TEAse Me, to get my Passionfruit-Berry Kombucha recipe.
I use Tazo Zen and Tazo China Green Tips for this recipe. To purchase a starter kombucha kit or just a SCOBY, visit Brooklyn Kombucha.
Rosemary & Mint Kombucha
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
Taking full advantage of the bounty of summer herbs with this refreshing, cooling kombucha blend.
Ingredients
Tools
- 4-liter glass jar (for initial brew)
- Large/long metal spoon (do not use a wooden spoon)
- Clean cotton cloth
- Rubber band
- Funnel
- Glass (drinking) bottles or jars, with lids (for second brew, storage)
- Large/long metal straining spoon
Ingredients
- 1 cup organic pure cane sugar
- 5 Tazo Zen teabags, strings snipped off
- 2 green tea teabags, strings snipped off
- 2 7-inch sprigs of fresh rosemary
- ~1 cup fresh mint leaves (stems okay)
- 1 cup kombucha*
- Mother* (a.k.a. SCOBY)
Instructions
- Bring 7-8 cups of water to a boil. While waiting for the water to boil, rinse out the large jar with hot water and assemble everything else you’ll need for the initial brew. (You will not yet need the bottles/jars.)
- Add the sugar to the jar and pour in the boiling water. Using the metal spoon, stir until the sugar has dissolved. Now add the teabags, rosemary and mint leaves. Stir again. Add another 6-7 cups of room temperature water to the jar (you want the water to come to about 2-3 inches from the top of the jar). Let the jar sit, uncovered, until it has cooled to room temperature. Now stir in the 1 cup kombucha and with CLEAN HANDS gently transfer the SCOBY to the jar. It will likely fall to the bottom. Later it will come up to the top of the jar.
- Cover the jar with the cloth, secure with the rubber band, and place the jar in a warm spot. I place mine on top of my refrigerator. The amount of time the batch needs to brew depends on the season/temperature (and personal taste preferences). Summer batches can take as little as a week; winter batches may take twice as long. It’s important to occasionally taste your brew – using a METAL spoon – so that you can end the first ferment when it tastes good to you.
- Once the brew has reached that point, it’s time to bottle it for the second ferment. You’ll want to get everything you need assembled before you start, so have your CLEAN jars/drinking bottles ready, a funnel and some paper towels or clothes to wipe up any spills. You’ll also want a small, CLEAN mason jar or other glass container in which to store the resulting SCOBY + the old SCOBY + about 1 cup kombucha so you can make more batches of kombucha!
- With clean hands, remove the SCOBYs and place them in a glass mason jar. Add about 1 cup of your kombucha to the jar, cover and store until needed in the refrigerator. Now, as best you can, strain out the rosemary, mint and teabags from the jar using the large metal straining spoon. You won’t be able to get everything, but that’s okay. Compost or discard the solids.
- Place a funnel in one of the drinking bottles and slowly and carefully pour in some kombucha. It will probably bubble up so watch carefully. I leave about 1-inch at the top of each drinking bottle. Continue with the remaining bottles/kombucha. You may wish to use a metal strainer for the last few cups of kombucha.
- Close the bottles and leave them out at room temperature for a few days. I usually let them sit between 4-5 days. This increases the bubbly factor. Place them in the refrigerator and they are now ready to consume!
Notes
- *If you haven’t made kombucha before, you will need to get SCOBY and a little bit of kombucha to get started. Once you get into the process, believe me, you will have more SCOBY than you know what to do with! I purchased my first SCOBY and starting liquid from Brooklyn Kombucha, but there are many other vendors. Links in post.
- Be careful when opening the drinking bottles – kombucha can get very bubbly.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 12
- Calories: 71
- Sugar: 17
- Sodium: 3
- Fat: 0
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 17
- Protein: 0
- Cholesterol: 0
I’d love to come share a glass of this with you. So beautifully refreshing.
Next time we see each other let’s toast w/ kombucha instead of coffee 😉
Yum!
I’ve been going through at least 32 oz of kombucha daily since I got my brew rotation going and always looking for new flavors. Plus the fact that I have rosemary and peppermint thriving in a front porch pot….this is my recipe this week’s brew
Thanks as always for your inspiration
I got off of schedule because of the trip with my dad – – got to get back into the swing!
This is a great tasty recipe to use up extra rosemary & mint from the garden! Beautiful photos! x
This looks so good! I’m finally ready to start making my own! Are there any ingredients that you’ve found don’t work well in kombucha-making? One of my favorite store-bought flavors is cucumber-mint-lime. Do I just toss a few pieces of each into it and let it ferment? Or should I use the cucumber-lime Tazo tea and add some mint?
Hi Kelli – You’re going to love making your own! I would definitely use fresh lime, mint and cucumber in your brew PLUS the cucumber-lime Tazo. Hold off on putting in slices of cucumber in the initial brew (they’re so delicate, I’m worried they might go “bad”), but try putting a few small pieces in the second ferment. Let me know how it turns out!
Pls explain why u prefer using metal spoon vs wooden? Kombucha for dummies has it the reverse???
Hi Pia – the instructions that came with my very first brew kit explicitly said to use metal. My guess is that wood might harbor bacteria. But – maybe the book you are using believes that the metal could react adversely with the brew.
I’ve got to try this one it sounds delicious and I have lots of mint and rosemary.
On the metal spoon thing, it’s my understanding its scoby that do not like metal, but your brewed tea and finished kombucha are fine with metal. You just aren’t supposed to use metal tongs to handle scoby, or strain the kombucha allowing scoby to contact the metal strainer. Just what I learned from my original scoby donor and kombucha mentor.
Ah, interesting! Thanks for sharing that. I think I need a kombucha mentor!! 🙂
I thought you aren’t suppose to use herbal teas because their oils can damage the SCOBY. Is it okay to use the herbs themselves? Would it be safer to add them during the second ferment? This recipe sounds delicious!
My understanding is that using 100% herbal tea is not recommended when brewing kombucha. (You’ll note this recipe uses black and green teas + herbs.) As for incorporating fresh herbs, all I can tell you is that I did not experience any problems, either with the final product itself or with the SCOBY. However, in the interest of full disclosure, I now introduce any flavoring during the second ferment (as you mention in your comment). An excellent resource on all things kombucha is KombuchaKamp.com. Their method is the one I currently use and I’ve had great success. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!