Cranberry Kombucha Recipe
Looking for a delicious and easy way to flavor your kombucha? Cranberry kombucha is the perfect recipe for you! This homebrewed kombucha is flavorful and refreshing.
Ingredients
- 4 cups first ferment kombucha
- 1 large navel orange optional
- ¾ cup cranberries fresh or frozen
- 2 tablespoon light brown sugar
Instructions
prepare:
- Thoroughly wash everything! Fermentation relies on the growth of yeast and bacteria, but only the bacteria we want, 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 cranberry syrup:
- Wash a navel orange in hot soapy water, scrubbing well.
- Juice the orange. Add enough water to the orange juice to equal 1/2 cup.
- In a small saucepan, combine 3/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, the 1/2 cup of fresh orange juice, and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar.
- Bring the cranberry mixture to a low boil. Mash the cranberries 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 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 cranberry kombucha
- Combine 2-4 tablespoons of 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 it aside in a warm place, away from direct sunlight, to continue with the second ferment for 3-5 days.
- Check on your cranberry 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. If you're using plastic caps, they will bow out slightly under pressure.
- Once the kombucha has reached your desired carbonation, place it in the fridge to slow the fermentation.
Notes
variations + substitutions
Add the ingredients listed below to the saucepan with the cranberries to infuse their flavor into the flavoring syrup!- Plain cranberry kombucha: substitute water for orange juice
- Cranberry apple kombucha: swap out orange juice for apple juice
- Cranberry ginger kombucha: add 1 tablespoon of grated ginger to the syrup
- Cranberry cinnamon kombucha: add a cinnamon stick to the syrup, omit or keep the orange
- Cranberry lime kombucha: use 1/2 cup of water plus 2 tablespoons lime juice instead of orange juice.
- Cranberry rosemary kombucha: add a sprig of fresh rosemary to the syrup
- Cranberry vanilla kombucha: add 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract, use water instead of orange juice.
Batch:
This recipe makes enough for 1-liter of cranberry orange 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.