Satisfy your craving for banana bread with this spiced banana kombucha. It’s bubbly, sweet, and slightly tangy. The only thing you'll be missing is the warm smell of freshly baked bread in your home.
As kombucha becomes more popular, brewers become more creative. This gluten-free recipe is an ideal after-dinner treat. Turn it into a kombucha cocktail by adding a shot of rum or whiskey upon serving.
Table of Contents
Spiced Banana Kombucha
Total Time: 4 days
Yield: 8 Servings 1x
Description
This is the recipe you want to try next time you are ready to brew kombucha. It has the sweetness of dessert but still carries some health benefits from the probiotic-rich kombucha.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1/2 gallon homemade kombucha, after the first fermentation
- 1–2 very ripe bananas
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Mash the banana in a small bowl with a fork or puree in a food processor. You should end up with about 1/2 cup of mashed banana.
- Add the brown sugar and cinnamon and stir well to combine.
- Divide the mixture evenly among your glass bottles.
- Pour the kombucha into each bottle, leaving 1-inch headspace. Seal the bottles.
- Let ferment at room temperature for 3-7 days. Taste one bottle after 3 days. If you enjoy the taste, refrigerate all the bottles to stop fermentation. If you want more carbonation or stronger flavors, let them ferment for a few more days before refrigerating.
Notes
For extra flavor: Mix a pinch of nutmeg and/or cloves with the cinnamon, or add a splash of vanilla with the banana.
Experiment with different fruits. Make a spiced apple or blueberry kombucha.
Instead of ground cinnamon, break 1-2 cinnamon sticks and add 1-2 small pieces to each bottle.
Strain the bottles before serving, if desired.
Homemade black tea kombucha pairs best with these flavors, but you can also use white or green tea kombucha. If necessary, you can use store-bought raw, unflavored kombucha.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Fermenting Time: 96 hours
What Does Spiced Banana Kombucha Taste Like?
Spiced banana kombucha tastes like banana bread. It’s spicy, sweet, and full of banana flavor. The natural sugars in the banana create carbonation, leading to kombucha with plenty of fizz. Experiment with the additions suggested above to find your favorite flavor.
What Are the Health Benefits of Spiced Banana Kombucha?
Kombucha contains a range of probiotics that help support healthy digestion. It also has live cultures that help increase your gut microbiome. A more diverse microbiome leads to better overall health. Kombucha contains vitamin C, which helps you absorb iron and supports a healthy immune system. Kombucha also contains B vitamins, essential for creating new blood cells.
Bananas are easy to find and often one of the cheapest fruits. Peel overripe bananas and freeze them whole or in slices.
Bananas are:
- A great source of potassium. Potassium helps manage blood pressure and supports muscle, heart, and nerve health.
- A good source of calcium. Calcium helps build strong bones.
- A good source of magnesium. Magnesium supports healthy blood pressure and muscle and nerve function.
- Full of vitamin A, which supports eye health
- Great for digestion. One banana contains about 10 % of the recommended daily value of fiber. Fiber helps digestion, lowers cholesterol, reduces your risk of heart disease, and helps maintain proper blood pressure.
Though there’s not much cinnamon in this recipe, cinnamon can help control blood sugar and reduce inflammation in the body.
How Much Caffeine Is In Spiced Banana Kombucha?
Spiced banana kombucha contains about 15 mg of caffeine per 8 oz serving if you make it with black tea kombucha. If you use green or white tea kombucha, your finished flavored kombucha will have about 5-10 mg of caffeine per serving.
How Many Calories Are In Spiced Banana Kombucha?
Spiced banana kombucha has about 52 kcal per 8 oz serving. The exact amount of calories depends on the amount of sugar in your kombucha, the fermentation time, and the temperature. There are about 10 grams of carbohydrates and 5 grams of sugar per serving.
Should You Make This Recipe with Young, Sweet Kombucha or Older, Sour Kombucha?
You can use sweet or sour kombucha with this recipe.
Stop the first fermentation around day seven or eight when your homemade kombucha has a balance of sweet and tangy flavors for a sweeter dessert-like drink.
If you want a more complex flavor, make it with older kombucha. Older booch has more acids and carbonation. If the taste is too sour after the second fermentation, add a half teaspoon of sweetener to each glass before serving.