Making Kombucha With a Side of History

Lauren Nakamura walks us through the steps of making Pineapple Mint Kombucha, while sharing a story about her grandfather, who grew up on a pineapple plantation in Hawaii in the 1920s.

Ingredients

• Unfluoridated, Unchlorinated Water
• ½ sugar White Sugar
• Tea Bags or Loose Tea
• Active Kombucha SCOBY
• Coffee filter or cheese cloth
• 2 cups pf Fresh Pineapple
• ¾ cup Fresh Mint
• gallon container
• glass bottles

Step 1: Bring 6-7 cups of water to boil.

Step 2: Fill tea bag with 1 tablespoon of loose tea or 4 tea bags add to boiling water.

Step 3: Add ½ cup of sugar (stir until fully dissolved) and pour into jar.

Step 4: Cool the mixture to 68-85ºF. Add SCOBY.

Step 5: Allow the mixture to sit at 68-85°F, out of direct sunlight, for 10-14 days. The longer the kombucha ferments, the less sweet and more acidic it will taste.

Step 6: When kombucha is fermented to desired taste, cut up 2 cups of fresh pineapple and 2/4 of a cup of mint.

Step 7: Remove SCOBY and put in flavoring (leave SCOBY in enough liquid so it wont dry out and another batch can be made).

Step 8: Refrigerate for 1-3 days.

Step 9: Strain out ingredients and bottle.

Step 10: Let bottle sit in refrigerator for one day to continue carbonation process before enjoying your kombucha!

This story is made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.