This hibiscus kombucha is easy to make. The kombucha's vibrant red color and bracing acidity make it particularly delicious. It also has a delicate sweetness.
Jump to
Once you get tired of buying kombucha at the store, it's time to try your hand at making your own. Soon you'll be looking for new flavors, and this hibiscus kombucha is a great start.
Ginger kombucha is a perennial favorite, and elderberry kombucha is wonderful for immune support, too. But this version, which uses a sweetened hibiscus tea during the second stage of fermentation, is well-loved in our house.
Why You'll Love It
- Hibiscus kombucha tea is super good for you. It's loaded with plenty of gut-friendly probiotics.
- Hibiscus is a potent herb. Herbal teas made with this powerful flower are traditionally used to cool the body in hot climates.
- Among the flower's many health benefits is its ability to support immune system health and calm inflammation thanks to its plentiful vitamin C and antioxidants.
- You'll save a ton by making your own kombucha. Plus, you get to adjust the flavor to your own preferences.
- It tastes delicious. Kombucha offers a bracing acidity, while hibiscus lends an astringent note with a subtle fruity taste.
What's in it?
- A kombucha SCOBY is short for "symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast." It's sometimes called a kombucha mother or mushroom. It's the source of all the beneficial microorganisms. They turn sweet tea into kombucha.
- Starter tea is a little bit of raw, unpasteurized kombucha. It works with the SCOBY to acidify sweet tea. This populates it with beneficial yeast and bacteria. They turn the tea into kombucha. When you buy a kombucha SCOBY, it should come with starter liquid. You can also use a bottle of kombucha from the store. If you do, make sure it's raw and unflavored.
- Black tea is traditionally used in kombucha. Look for a high-quality loose-leaf black tea with a flavor and aroma you enjoy. Avoid flavored teas, as they may contain essential oils that can harm the SCOBY over time.
- Sugar feeds the microorganisms in the SCOBY. It is an essential ingredient and keeps the live cultures in kombucha healthy. White sugar is the traditional choice, but some brewers use less refined sweeteners.
- Hibiscus flowers (hibiscus sabdariffa) give the kombucha its gorgeous, deep red color. They're also loaded with vitamin C and bioflavonoids. They have a distinct tart flavor that's a natural match for kombucha.
Where to Get a SCOBY
If you're just getting started brewing kombucha, you'll need a SCOBY and some starter tea. If you're lucky, a kombucha-brewing friend might give you one.
If not, buy a fresh, live SCOBY from a reputable source such as Kombucha Kamp or Cultures for Health. Some sites sell kombucha-making kits. They contain the SCOBY, starter tea, and loose-leaf black tea to get you started.
Brewing Tips
- Mind your temperature. Kombucha ferments best in a warm kitchen. Aim for a temperature of about 75 to 85 F. If your kitchen's cold, wrap the dough in a towel to keep it warm or use a heating wrap. Kombucha and other fermented drinks will ferment more quickly at warm temperatures. They will ferment more slowly at cool temperatures.
- Glass bottles with a swing-top closure are helpful for bottling your kombucha. However, they can break with neglect. So, always burp your kombucha once a day before transferring it to the fridge. Carbon dioxide builds up during the fermentation process. This technique allows some of it to escape, helping you to avoid exploding bottles.
- You can also use hibiscus syrup to flavor your kombucha rather than making sweetened hibiscus tea.
- Stir your kombucha very well before you pour it into bottles. Stirring distributes the yeast and bacteria evenly. This makes your bottles uniformly fizzy.
- Refrigerate your hibiscus kombucha for a few days before drinking it. This technique helps the bubbles to set, resulting in consistently bubbly kombucha.
- Open your kombucha over the sink. Thanks to the activity of all those live cultures, kombucha can be super fizzy. Be careful when you open it, or you might have a mess to clean up. And with hibiscus's vibrant color, it could stain.
Love this recipe? There's more.
Join Nourished Kitchen+ for ad-free browsing, nourishing monthly meal plans, live workshops, and access to all our premium downloads.
Variations + Substitutions
Add fruit to the secondary ferment. Mash a handful of organic strawberries or raspberries into the steeping hibiscus tea. This technique will add a berry-like sweetness to your kombucha.
If you don't want to add whole fruit, you can always mix in a little berry syrup and skip the additional sugar.
Many other herbs partner well with hibiscus. These include rose (both rose hips and rose petals), hawthorn, and ginger.
Try a different sweetener. For the health of your SCOBY, you need to stick to sugar during the first fermentation of kombucha. However, you can use just about any sweetener you like during the second fermentation stage. Honey and maple syrup make good choices, and fruit juices also work - especially apple juice.
Make it with Jun. To make jun kombucha, you use green tea and honey instead of black tea and sugar. As a result, jun tastes lighter with a pleasant honey-like sweetness similar to mead.
Love hibiscus kombucha? You'll like these, too.
Recipe Questions
No, but keep in mind a few considerations. The SCOBY, also called a kombucha mother, benefits from the tannins and caffeine in black tea. You can brew with different teas, as long as they're real tea (from the camelia sinensis plant). However, it may take time for the cultures in your SCOBY to adjust.
White tea, oolong tea, and even green tea work. You may need to make several consecutive batches before the live cultures adapt to the new tea.
Yes. Sugar is the primary fuel for the bacteria and yeast in kombucha. They will die without a source of sugar (or other caloric sweetener), and you will not be able to make kombucha.
Yes, but you'll need to increase the amount you use to ¾ cup. Remember that the variety used in tea (and in hibiscus kombucha) is hibiscus sabdariffa. The common variety that you find in gardens is hibiscus rosa-sinensis. Both are edible.
As long as your kombucha smells good and tastes good (pleasantly sour), it should be safe. But, it's a smart idea to test your kombucha with a PH meter after the primary fermentation stage. Homemade kombucha should have a PH level of roughly 2.5 to 3.5.
Carola says
I have been brewing fizzy kombucha and water kefir for years! My best idea for preventing explosions is the following:
Take a cotton thread (for crocheting etc.), about 10 cm or 3 inches or even less. Hang this in the neck of your bottle and close.
When the fizz gets too much, it will escape slowly. No exploding bottles anymore!
Cassandra Brecht says
This is absolutely brilliant! I've always been afraid to try kombucha because of the risks of exploding bottles, but with this trick, I feel a bit more confident!