Attempted Flavors

I you chose the right tea base, you may find that the plain kombucha has enough flavor for you! Every time I test the main fermenter I want more, and more!  A second fermentation with sugar will help to add a little zip, but there is enough natural carbonation to make it pleasurable.  Most hobbiests that I find that use a continuous fermentation drink straight from the vessel with no second fermentation.  I may switch to this in the future, or I will test adding fruit juice to plain kombucha tea with no extra carbonation.

Generally any fruit or berry flavor is safe to try.  I have had success with most flavors I've tried, but I have to trust my other critics more than my own preferences.  Recipe and kombucha websites can be sort of helpful, but they mostly also recommend mixing your favorite fruits in whatever quantities you desire.  Most of the mixtures below were repeated several times in slightly varied ratios.

Plain Ginger

If you just want a little more bite than the plain kombucha, a few ginger coins or slices will liven it up.  Adding only one coin per pint doesn't make a noticeable difference, so feel free to go heavy on it!  You can always dilute your product with more straight from the main fermentation vessel.  I don't find that it is worth my time to cut any ginger if that is the only flavor, but maybe you will!  Remember to still add sugar for the second fermentation.

Ginger Blackberry (per pint)

An easy flavor that matches what people would expect.  The color is really strong and attractive, but normally looks like it will have more flavor than it does.

• 8 black berries, sliced into quarters (will give plenty of flavor, can go down to 5 or 6)
• 2 small coins of ginger, sliced into thin sticks or crushed with the side of a knife
• 1 tsp of sugar or honey

Start with one ginger coin and step up from there.  To crush the ginger coin, it must be close to 1/4" thick.  Put the flat side of a knife on the coin and start to put your weight on it until it 'pops'.

Can replace blackberries with any berry.  Two large strawberries will add a good amount of flavor.

Strawberry Mint (per pint)

After testing with blackberries and strawberries, I find the strawberry mint goes much better together.  You get more mint flavor that way since the strawberries don't overpower the herbs as much.

• 3 strawberries, sliced into quarters
• 2 sprigs of mint, bruised with the back of a knife, stems included
• One teaspoon honey (or sugar)

Two full sprigs was enough to add flavor, but I was happy with more.  Strawberry is a softer flavor no matter what you pair it with, but that fits with the mint.

 Can replace strawberries with blackberries, but if you go as heavy as the Ginger Berry, the mint will not be as clear.  The sourness of the blackberries is not as pleasant when paired with mint. 

Blackberry Thyme (per pint)

Thyme definitely adds more aroma to the brew than it adds flavor.  The scent is a little overwhelming at first, but it will die down.  Make sure to add less initially and test it first.  Two sprigs was plenty for me.

Blackberry flavor pairs better with thyme than it does with mint.  Whenever I use blackberries alone, I feel the flavor is drier.  This may just be a difference in sugar content, but it always has a little more bite to it.

• 6 blackberries, quartered
• 2 large sprigs of thyme, bruised, including stems
• 1-2 teaspoon sugar

Banana Cinnamon (per half-gallon)

This is a less common flavor, but I was excited when I thought of it with a few spotty bananas waiting to be used.  I figured bananas had a lot of sugar content but didn't look it up ahead of time.  They have WAY more than berries, possibly just because of weight and volume difference.  The fermentation was very active and the bottles were super foamy when filtering the solids out.  The resulting brew was not strong with banana flavor but was very sweet and had a great cinnamon flavor.  

• 2 full bananas (slightly brown/spotty), thinly sliced up or smushed if you have narrow bottle openings
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon sprinkled on bananas or directly into bottles
• 3 tsp brown sugar

 I mushed mine up the first time and found that it was hard to remove since the entire lump joined together at the surface.  Slicing several times may be easier for you.  2 tsp of cinnamon gave a good amount of flavor, but feel free to go stronger.  The cinnamon settles to the bottom of the bottle after a while, but if you turn the bottle a few times before drinking, it is noticeably different.