I have loved the taste and how I feel when I drink Kombucha for years.

I’ve gagged a little though at the price. Let’s be honest - it’s expensive. Last month a beautiful neighbour emailed me such wonderful feedback about my blog and then she offered up a piece of herself. She brews her own kombucha and she does it well. She so kindly offered me a scoby. Immediately, I thought what the hell is a scoby? I had no idea. I knew that Kombucha was live cultures and that it was gut healthy. What I learnt about if afterwards was revelations.

This recipe is not mine. It belongs to Michelle. She has taught me to make my first batch and it came out perfect.

Top tip: You can wash your jars and bottles with sunlight liquid, just make sure you rinse them thoroughly. There must be no soap left behind in the jar. Pour boiling water in the jar afterwards and it will be perfectly clean.

Ingredients

2 large jars

Oolong Tea (Michelle gave me a box that she purchased from Dischem)

1 cup of white sugar (don’t use brown sugar)

1 scoby

Boiling water

Method

1. Throw 8 tea bags into your sterilized jars. Add boiling water and fill 3/4 of it.

2. Stir in the sugar and let the jar and the water cooled down completely.

3. Squeeze the tea bags to get all the flavour out.

4. Add your scoby/scoby’s and starter tea to the jar and cover the jar with a muslin cloth/a cut up pillow case. Use a hair band to tie the cloth over the top of the jar to make sure nothing goes into the liquid.

5. Store the Kombucha in a dark place or cupboard for 7 days before looking at it. If there’s mold on the new scoby at the top of the jar, chuck it out. I made this mistake. If there isn’t, then you’re on the right track.

6. Cover and keep for another 7 days and then you’re ready to pour it into bottles. Make sure all your bottles are sterilized.

7. In a large jar, add 1/4 of the kombucha into another jar. You are creating a starter tea. Wash the scoby’s and put them in there. And then you use this for another batch. Two scoby’s in 1 jar.

8. Store fresh Kombucha in the fridge only if you’re going to drink it. Keep the rest out of the fridge so it keeps fermenting. It will stop being a live culture the minute you pop it into the fridge.

9. Strain the Kombucha first and then pour it into the bottles. You will notice a froth at the top and little bits floating in the liquid. This is all normal.