Blueberry Kombucha
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If you’re looking for a delicious and easy way to flavor your kombucha, blueberry kombucha is the perfect recipe for you! This homebrewed kombucha is flavorful and refreshing.
Ok, so you’ve mastered making your own SCOBY and brewing your first batch of kombucha, now it’s time to get fruity!
This blueberry kombucha recipe just kind of happened serendipitously, as I was standing in front of my freezer with the door wide open, looking for inspiration.
Inspiration came in the form of vacuum-sealed and frozen blueberries. If you’re around these parts much, you know I love to harvest, forage, and stock up on fresh produce when it’s in season, vibrant, and delicious. Then I preserve, can, or freeze it and use it throughout the year.
And last summer, while we didn’t get a good wild blueberry forage crop, we did find the mother of all deals on fresh BC blueberries.
Bet-cho-behind I bought a BUNCH, developed an easy way to freeze fresh blueberries, and stashed them away to combat the winter blues.
This blueberry kombucha recipe is dedicated to beating the winter blues.
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Tips + Tricks
No. 1 –> Need a SCOBY? I have a super-easy guide to making a SCOBY. New to booch? I’ve got a great guide for beginners on how to make kombucha!
No. 2 –> Adding blueberries to your second fermentation is a great way to give your kombucha an extra boost of flavor and nutrition. Not only does blueberry kombucha taste great, but it’s also high in antioxidants and vitamin C.
No. 3 –> Keep everything clean! This is key when fermenting. We only want the yeast and bacteria in our SCOBY and not outside bacteria and yeast.
No. 4 –> Don’t forget to save 1 cup of your starter liquid after the first fermentation for future batches, because like a sourdough starter, your kombucha needs that little kick start with the good yeast and bacteria!
Key Ingredients
Blueberries: Use fresh or frozen blueberries for this recipe, both will work! If you’re using fresh blueberries, pick through them to remove any shriveled, dried-out ones. We only want super flavorful berries in our booch!
First Fermentation Kombucha: This is the tea that is produced after the first fermentation of your kombucha, it should be a nice mix of sweet and tart. I have step-by-step directions for the first fermentation if you need them!
How To Make Blueberry Kombucha
Prepare:
- Thoroughly wash everything! This is a fermentation so it’s important to make sure everything, including your hands, is clean and free of any contaminants. The best way to do this is to wash with hot, soapy water, then rinse. I like to give my bottles and utensils and extra rinse in vinegar, too.
Make The Blueberry Syrup:
- In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, 1/2 cups of water, 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar, and 1 cinnamon stick.
- Bring the blueberry mixture to a low boil. Mash the blueberries with a spoon to ensure all have burst. Simmer the syrup until it thickens enough to leave a thin layer on the back of your spoon.
- Remove the blueberry syrup from the heat and pass through a fine mesh sieve. Use a spoon or spatula to press the pulp into the sieve to extract as much syrup as possible.
- Allow the syrup to cool to room temperature.
Make Blueberry Kombucha
- Combine 2-4 tablespoons of blueberry syrup per 2 cups of first fermentation kombucha and transfer to a bottle. More puree = more sugar = more flavor = more carbonation, but it can also ferment more quickly, so ensure that you’re supervising the second ferment.
- Label your bottle with the contents and the date then set aside in a warm place, away from direct sunlight, to continue with the second ferment for 3-5 days.
- Check on your blueberry kombucha starting on day 3 to see if it’s carbonated enough for your liking by turning the bottle upside down and swirling and watching for signs of carbonation, or by slightly cracking the cap to allow some carbonation out.
- Once the kombucha has reached your desired carbonation, place it in the fridge to slow the fermenation.
Batch + Storage
Batch:
This recipe makes enough for 1-liter of blueberry flavored kombucha – it can easily be scaled up or down depending on available fermentation bottles!
Storage:
Once your kombucha has finished the second fermentation it’s important to transfer the bottles to the fridge. This massively slows fermentation and keeps the flavor of your booch just how it was when you put it in the fridge!
I would recommend drinking your homemade kombucha within 2-3 weeks for the best results. It can last much longer than that, but the flavor may continue to develop more sour notes and inch towards tasting like vinegar.
Variations + Substitutions
This recipe is just a guide! Feel free to tweak it to suit your tastebuds! Here are some ideas I had to change it up – add the ingredients listed below to the saucepan with the blueberries to infuse their flavor into the flavoring syrup!
- Blueberry basil kombucha: add 3-4 fresh basil leaves
- Blueberry lavender kombucha: Uses 1/2 teaspoon of culinary lavender
- Blueberry lemon kombucha: Add 1 -2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
- Blueberry mango kombucha: Add 1/4 cup of diced mango
- Blueberry mint kombucha: Add 2 – 4 mint leaves
- Blueberry vanilla kombucha: add 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Helpful Tools + Equipment
There are a couple of things that can help make your booch brew process go more smoothly, and easily.
- A DEDICATED BREW VESSEL WITH A SPIGOT! Pick one that has a stainless steel spout and a large enough volume for your kombucha consuption!
- Fluid measuring cups. I love my PYREX GLASS MEASURING CUPS for this recipe.
- A tightly woven cloth, I actually use CHEMEX COFFEE FILTERS. They are a nice, thick, unbleached square filter that I’m able to reuse a few times before replacing!
- Second fermentation vessels! Many, many people recommend using FLIP-TOP BOTTLES, but I’ve always had luck re-using bottles from store bought bottles, like GTs!
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๐ Printable Recipe
Homemade Blueberry Kombucha!
Ingredients
- 4 cups first ferment kombucha
- 1/2 cup blueberries fresh or frozen
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
Instructions
prepare:
- Thoroughly wash everything! This is a fermentation so it's important to make sure everything, including your hands, is clean and free of any contaminants. The best way to do this is to wash with hot, soapy water, then rinse. I like to give my bottles and utensils and extra rinse in vinegar, too.
make the blueberry syrup:
- In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, 1/2 cups of water, 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar, and one cinnamon stick.
- Bring the blueberry mixture to a low boil. Mash the blueberries with a spoon to ensure all have burst. Simmer the syrup until it thickens enough to leave a thin layer on the back of your spoon.
- Remove the blueberry syrup from the heat and pass through a fine-mesh sieve. Use a spoon or spatula to press the pulp into the sieve to extract as much syrup as possible.
- Allow the syrup to cool to room temperature.
- make blueberry kombucha
- Combine 2-4 tablespoons of blueberry syrup per 2 cups of first fermentation kombucha and transfer to a bottle. More puree = more sugar = more flavor = more carbonation, but it can also ferment more quickly, so ensure that you're supervising the second ferment.
- Label your bottle with the contents and the date then set aside in a warm place, away from direct sunlight, to continue with the second ferment for 3-5 days.
- Check on your blueberry kombucha starting on day 3 to see if it's carbonated enough for your liking by turning the bottle upside down and swirling and watching for signs of carbonation, or by slightly cracking the cap to allow some carbonation out.
- Once the kombucha has reached your desired carbonation, place it in the fridge to slow the fermenation.
Notes
variations + substitutions
This recipe is just a guide! Feel free to tweak it to suit your tastebuds! Here are some ideas I had to change it up – add the ingredients listed below to the saucepan with the blueberries to infuse their flavor into the flavoring syrup!- Blueberry basil kombucha:ย add 3-4 fresh basil leaves
- Blueberry lavender kombucha:ย Uses 1/2 teaspoon of culinary lavender
- Blueberry lemon kombucha:ย Add 1 -2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
- Blueberry mango kombucha:ย Add 1/4 cup of diced mango
- Blueberry mint kombucha:ย Add 2 – 4 mint leaves
- Blueberry vanilla kombucha:ย add 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon ofย VANILLA EXTRACT
So good- I was nervous to try this but the flavor was unreal. Thanks for such a thorough tutorial for this newb.