Best Teas to Use for Your Homemade Kombucha
Kombucha is a fizzy, fermented beverage made with tea which boasts many health benefits, such as boosting your immune system, aiding digestion, and an antioxidant booster.
A basic Kombucha uses only three very simple ingredients to brew – water, sugar, and tea! The mix is set aside for a week or more to ferment, much like how sauerkraut or kimchi works.
Especially when you are just starting out, it is super important that you use good quality ingredients to ensure your Kombucha will thrive.
Not just any tea.
Nutrients in tea leaves such as nitrogen and theanine are what make selecting the right tea an important step. To ensure your Kombucha grows healthily, it is best to use pure tea leaves from the Camellia Sinensis plant – black, green, oolong or white.
Your selection of tea leaves to brew the Kombucha also plays a huge role in determining the taste of the final product.
Here are the kinds of teas that your Kombucha (and you) will love.
BLACK TEA
It is always best to start off with black tea until you make at least 4-5 batches of Kombucha. This is because the tea leaves of black tea has been oxidised for a longer time than the other teas, providing higher concentration of purines that is essential to aid your Kombucha’s growth. Kombucha black tea is stronger in taste. Our top tea picks are:
From the Puli township in the mountainous heart of Taiwan, this single estate tea is smoked over pine wood fires for its distinctive aroma and bold flavour.
From India’s Assam region, elegant leaves with golden tips offer a bold, rich, full-bodied black tea. Typically enjoyed as a breakfast tea.
After you’ve made at least 4 batches, you can start introducing your Kombucha to green, white or oolong tea for variations in taste.
GREEN TEA
Green tea is basically mature leaves picked from the same Camellia Sinensis plant, except it is only minimally oxidised, producing milder grassy to floral taste. You could even mix in a little amount of black tea to ensure the Kombucha scoby gets the nutrients it needs. Our top tea pick is:
This organic second flush green tea is picked at the end of June on Korea’s Jeju Island. This Sencha equivalent offers a fresh and bright green brew.
OOLONG TEA
Oolong tea’s oxidisation level basically sits between black and green tea. It will create a lighter-flavoured Kombucha tea than when you use black tea, but it will be stronger than when you use green tea. You can choose to use Oolong tea alone or mix with others. Our top tea pick is:
This exquisite Taiwanese oolong tea yields a soothing amber infusion.
WHITE TEA
White tea is derived from young buds of the plant that creates a much milder Kombucha taste – even milder than green tea. Suitable for those who prefer a delicate-flavoured, light-coloured Kombucha tea. Combine with at least 25% more mature leaves like black, green, or oolong tea for best results.
Are there any teas to avoid when fermenting Kombucha? Sometimes less is definitely more!
Most herbal or tisane tea (from other sources than tea leaves) such as from spices, flowers, fruits do not have the right nutrients for your Kombucha scoby to thrive. Additionally, avoid tea with added flavour from spices or natural oils like Chai and Earl Grey Tea as those may cause reactions and interrupt the growth of your Kombucha. As much as possible try to stick to the teas types mentioned above.
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We offer various kinds of tea blends for different palates and occasions! Browse ttr.com.my for more!