Green tea kombucha is light and floral. It fits beautifully with recipes that include citrus, tropical fruit, and berries. Green tea adds even more benefits to this already healthy kombucha tea.
Make this recipe with all green tea or half green and half black tea. If you find your SCOBY deteriorating after a few batches of green tea kombucha, make one batch with black tea to bring your SCOBY back to life.
Table of Contents
Green Tea Kombucha
Total Time: 1 week
Yield: 8 Servings 1x
Description
Green tea kombucha is an excellent base for many delicious second-fermentation recipes. You may want to try continuous brewing if you drink a lot of kombucha.
Instructions
- Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the sugar. Stir until dissolved.
- Add the tea bags and let steep until the mixture cools to room temperature.
- Transfer the mixture to a half-gallon fermentation jar. Fill the jar close to the top with cool water. Stir once or twice so the liquids combine.
- Add the kombucha starter tea and the SCOBY. Cover the jar with cheesecloth or a coffee filter and secure it with a rubber band.
- Let ferment for 7-10 days at room temperature (ideally 75-85°F). Make sure to keep it out of direct sunlight.
- After 7 days, spoon some of the mixture out and taste it. If it has the balance of sweetness and tang you prefer, transfer it to glass bottles. Reserve 1/2 cup of this kombucha as starter liquid the next time you make kombucha tea.
- You can either refrigerate it now or take it through a second fermentation.
Notes
Use 4 teaspoons of green tea leaves in place of tea bags.
If you prefer kombucha with little carbonation, stop the fermentation process as directed in step 7. Bottle your kombucha tea and refrigerate it.
Save at least a 1/2 cup of kombucha to use as starter tea for your next batch.
If you prefer kombucha with flavors or with more carbonation, take your green tea kombucha through a second fermentation. Add fruit or herbs and let ferment in glass bottles for 5-7 days at room temperature. Refrigerate to stop the fermentation when you enjoy the taste of your green tea kombucha.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Fermenting Time: 7-10 Days
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
What Does Green Tea Kombucha Taste Like?
Green tea kombucha tastes earthy and floral. It’s lighter in color than black tea kombucha and has a light, delicate taste. It’s not as strong as black tea kombucha and can make a good choice if you prefer kombucha that doesn’t overpower other flavors.
What Are the Health Benefits of Green Tea Kombucha?
Kombucha offers many health benefits. Kombucha is a great tool to help boost your overall health.
Kombucha:
- Contains antioxidants that help fight free radicals and protect your cells from damage.
- Contains vitamin C, which helps support your immune system and build red blood cells.
- Is full of probiotics. Probiotics help keep the correct balance of good and bad bacteria in your intestines.
- Is naturally gluten-free.
- May help increase the diversity of your gut microbiome. People with more diverse gut bacteria are healthier overall.
- Supplies B vitamins that help boost your mood.
Green tea also helps support whole-body wellness. Green tea:
- Can boost your metabolic rate and help you burn more fat.
- Can help increase insulin sensitivity, which may help protect against Type 2 diabetes.
- Contains polyphenols, which help reduce inflammation and fight cancer.
- Helps keep you focused. The caffeine and L-theanine in green tea help you stay alert and feel more awake.
- May help support your brain health. The catechin compounds in green tea may help protect your brain from dementia.
- Supplies antioxidants, namely epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). EGCG helps support heart health.
How Much Caffeine Is In Green Tea Kombucha?
Green tea kombucha has approximately 12 mg of caffeine per 8 oz serving.
Generally, finished kombucha contains about 1/3 of the amount of caffeine as the tea used to make it. Teas vary widely in caffeine content, so it’s difficult to calculate precisely how much caffeine is in kombucha. Factors such as brewing and fermenting time and brewing temperature affect how much caffeine is in your finished brew.
How Many Calories Are In Green Tea Kombucha?
Green tea kombucha has about 30 calories per 8 oz serving.
Kombucha begins the fermentation process as sweet tea. As it ferments, the SCOBY helps turn the sugars into alcohols and acids. When the kombucha tea is finished fermenting, most of the sugars have been consumed by the SCOBY. Properly fermented kombucha has few calories and is low in sugar.
Do You Need to Do a Second Fermentation For Green Tea Kombucha?
Doing a second fermentation with green tea kombucha is entirely optional. After fermenting and refrigerating the kombucha, it is ready to be drunk. However, if you want more flavor and carbonation, do a second fermentation.
Add fruit as you start the second fermentation, or stick with plain green tea kombucha. Second-fermentation flavoring ideas include blackberry, hibiscus, lemongrass, spearmint leaves, or sweeteners like maple syrup or brown sugar.
Try each way and discover which taste you like more!