Black Tea Kombucha
Sweet black tea turned tart, earthy and lightly sparkling by a living culture in a jar.
Black tea kombucha is sweetened black tea that a SCOBY, a floating mat of bacteria and yeast, turns tart and lightly sparkling over one to two weeks in a glass jar.
Sensory profile
You should taste
How it unfolds
Where it sits
That is 20 mg in one serving (8 oz cup (240ml)), a concentration of 8.3 mg per 100 ml. The scale above ranks whole servings, and servings differ in size, so a larger drink can sit further right while being weaker cup for cup.
Editorial estimate, not a laboratory measurement
Related gear
| Brewing method | Glass jar with a SCOBY |
|---|---|
| Brew ratio | 1:10 |
| Starter & batch | 100g → 1000g |
| Grind size | Whole loose leaf or tea bags |
| Water temperature | 203°F / 95°C |
| Target brew time | 7-10 days in the jar, then 2-3 days in bottles |
| Serving | 8 oz cup (240ml) |
What you need
- 4 g loose-leaf black tea (about 2 tea bags)
- 50 g plain white sugar
- 850 g filtered water
- 100 g kombucha from a previous batch, as starter
- One SCOBY
Required gear
- Wide-mouth glass jar, 1.5 to 2 liters
- Clean cloth or coffee filter, and a rubber band
- Pot or kettle, for the tea
- Scale accurate to 1 g
- Thermometer
- pH strips (range 2.5 to 4.5) or a pH meter
- Pressure-rated glass bottles with tight caps, for the second stage
- Funnel and fine strainer
Step-by-step protocol
- 0:00Bring 250 g of the water to 95°C. Stir in the sugar until it dissolves, add the tea, and steep for about 7 minutes.
- +7 minStrain out the tea and add the remaining 600 g of cool water. Let the tea cool to room temperature, below 30°C, before anything else goes in: hot tea kills the culture.
- +1 hPour the cooled tea into a clean glass jar, add the starter, then slide the SCOBY in with clean hands. The starter acidifies the new batch from the first hour, which protects it while the culture gets going.
- +5 minCover the jar with a clean cloth or coffee filter held by a rubber band, so it can breathe but insects cannot get in, and leave it out of direct sun at 20 to 26°C.
- Day 5+Taste a spoonful every day with a clean spoon and, if you have strips, check the pH. It is ready when it is pleasantly tart with a little sweetness left and the pH reads between 2.5 and 4.2.
- Day 7+Lift out the SCOBY with clean hands and keep it with 100 g of kombucha as the starter for the next batch. Pour the rest into bottles, leaving 2 to 3 cm of headspace.
- +2-3 dFor more fizz, seal the bottles and keep them at room temperature for 2 to 3 days, then refrigerate. For a still drink, skip this stage and refrigerate straight away.
- ThenChill the bottles before opening, and open them slowly over a sink: a sealed, carbonated bottle can be under real pressure.
What it may be good for
How strong is it?
We list about 20 mg for an 8 oz glass, from a batch made with 4 g of black tea per liter. A typical 8 oz cup of black tea has about 47 mg, and bottled kombucha measured in a lab comparison of nine brands ran from about 4 to 27 mg per 8 oz, so the figure moves with how much tea goes into the jar.
Check the pH
Aim for a finished pH between about 2.5 and 4.2. Above 4.2 harmful microbes can get a foothold, and below 2.5 the drink is too acidic to be safe. Starter liquid from a previous batch acidifies the new one from the first hour, and cheap pH strips take the guesswork out.
What to watch out for
- Kombucha is a live, acidic drink that contains some caffeine and a little alcohol. If you are pregnant or nursing, have a weakened immune system or are prone to acidosis, check with your doctor first. Extension services advise small servings, around 4 oz a day.
- Brew in glass or another non-metal, food-safe container, since the acid can pull metals out of glazed ceramic and metal. Keep everything clean, and throw out a batch that grows dry, fuzzy mold.
Black tea kombucha is sweetened black tea that a SCOBY, a floating mat of bacteria and yeast, turns tart and lightly sparkling over one to two weeks in a glass jar. The tea supplies a firm, earthy backbone, and the culture adds a tang often compared to cider vinegar.
Origin & Story
A kombucha jar has a pale, rubbery disc floating in it, and most first-time brewers assume something has gone wrong. Nothing has. The disc is a SCOBY, short for symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. Its yeasts turn sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide, which gives the fizz, and its acetic acid bacteria turn that alcohol into the acids behind the tartness. The same bacteria spin the cellulose mat that holds the community together.
The legend on the label is older and neater. It says a Qin dynasty emperor drank this tea of immortality around 220 BC, and that a Korean physician named Kombu carried it to a Japanese emperor in 414. No evidence has turned up for either. The documented story is shorter: the drink may have begun around the Bohai Sea in northern China, where the culture was called haibao, sea treasure, and it reached Russia as the tea mushroom. The earliest research on record is Russian, from 1913.
Even the name is a muddle. In Japan, konbu-cha is a kelp tea. The fermented tea Japan went wild for in the 1970s was called kocha kinoko, black tea mushroom, and English speakers seem to have borrowed the wrong word. Bottled kombucha reached American shops in the 1990s, and in 2010 stores pulled it for a while after tests found more alcohol in many bottles than a non-alcoholic label allows.
In the glass, black tea tends to give kombucha its frame: a firmer, earthier body than the green tea or oolong versions, under a tang that many people compare to cider vinegar. Sweetness fades and vinegar rises as the days go by, so the best jar is the one you taste often and stop on time.
Steep 4 g of black tea with 50 g of sugar in 250 ml of water at 95°C for about 7 minutes, add 600 ml of cool water and let it reach room temperature, then add 100 ml of kombucha from a previous batch and the SCOBY, and ferment 7 to 10 days at 20 to 26°C, tasting from day 5.
Reading the Flavor Profile
| Axis | Score |
|---|---|
| Sweetness | 70/100 |
| Acidity | 64/100 |
| Bitterness | 24/100 |
| Body | 48/100 |
| Aroma | 88/100 |
These values are comparative editorial positions within our own catalog, calibrated so entries can be ranked against each other. They are not laboratory measurements.
How much caffeine is in Black Tea Kombucha?
One serving, 8 oz cup (240ml), contains approximately 20 mg of caffeine.
What temperature should I use for Black Tea Kombucha?
Steep the tea base at 95°C (203°F), then let it cool to room temperature before adding the culture, because heat kills it. Warmer rooms ferment faster and taste more sour; cooler rooms slow everything down.
How long does Black Tea Kombucha take to make?
Timing: 7-10 days in the jar, then 2-3 days in bottles. Method: Glass jar with a SCOBY. Ratio: 4 g black tea, 50 g sugar and 100 ml starter per liter. Grind or leaf format: Whole loose leaf or tea bags.
Why does my Black Tea Kombucha taste bitter?
A bitter or harsh ferment usually traces back to the base, such as tea steeped too long or too hot, or to fermenting past its peak. Steep the base more briefly, let it cool before adding the culture, and taste early. Sharp, vinegary sourness is a different problem: it means the ferment ran too long or too warm.
Does kombucha contain alcohol?
Yes, a little. The yeast in the culture turns some of the sugar into alcohol, and bottled kombucha usually stays under 0.5 percent, the line between a soft drink and an alcoholic one in the United States. Tests have found everything from none to a few percent, and a home batch left long or warm can pass it, so think of it as a lightly alcoholic drink.
What are the brown strings and the rubbery disc in my jar?
The disc is the SCOBY, a mat of cellulose made by the bacteria. Brown strands hanging beneath it are yeast, and a SCOBY that floats, sinks or sits sideways is normal. What is not normal is dry, fuzzy patches in white, green or black on the surface: discard the batch, the SCOBY included, and scrub the jar.
How do I know when kombucha is ready?
Taste a spoonful with a clean spoon from day 5. It is ready when it is pleasantly tart with a little sweetness left, and a pH strip reads between about 2.5 and 4.2. Warmer rooms ferment faster and end up sharper, and a jar left for weeks turns to vinegar.
Who should avoid Black Tea Kombucha?
Kombucha is a live, acidic drink that contains some caffeine and a little alcohol. If you are pregnant or nursing, have a weakened immune system or are prone to acidosis, check with your doctor first. Extension services advise small servings, around 4 oz a day. Brew in glass or another non-metal, food-safe container, since the acid can pull metals out of glazed ceramic and metal. Keep everything clean, and throw out a batch that grows dry, fuzzy mold. This information is educational and is not medical advice. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, managing a cardiac or gastrointestinal condition, or taking prescription medication, discuss caffeine and botanical intake with a qualified healthcare professional before making changes.
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