At Cultures for Health, we have a continuous black tea kombucha brewing jar (pictured above) that continuously makes us delicious kombucha to flavor countless different ways. We love to make new recipes with ingredients we have around the kitchen. This week, we just so happened to have blueberries and basil and thought “Why not?” Little did we know we’d create one of our favorite black tea kombucha recipes to date! We have also loved blueberry kombucha in the past, but adding basil completely changed the game.
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INGREDIENTS AND EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE AT CULTURES FOR HEALTH
Kombucha Starter Kit
Kombucha Starter Kit
$25.19
New to brewing your own Kombucha? No problem! Our starter kit gets you going in the right direction of making delicious kombucha right at home.
Included in the kit is our dehydrated Kombucha Starter Culture and hand-picked ingredients and equipment to help you successfully start brewing.
Making Kombucha at home is not only a great way to save money, but it also allows you to control the ingredients and make a healthier, great-tasting tea.
Equipment in the kit may appear different than pictured.
Blueberry basil kombucha is the perfect combination of sweet and refreshing. The basil adds freshness, while the blueberries bring the kombucha to the perfect level of sweetness. If you are ready to make the perfect drink for summer, keep reading:
Here’s what you will need to start making this refreshing, floral blueberry kombucha recipe…
Equipment to Make Blueberry Basil Kombucha
- Bottles—we prefer the Grolsch-style flip-top bottles because they are airtight and just a little bit over 16 oz, the perfect capacity for all that fizzy deliciousness.
- Funnel to help bottle your blueberry kombucha.
- Scale—this is optional. If you like to weigh your ingredients, use a scale. If you like to just measure your ingredients with measuring cups, that is perfectly fine. We have the amounts listed for both options.
- Knife and cutting board. You will use this to cut up the blueberries and the basil.
Next, let’s talk about what ingredients you’ll need to make this delicious blueberry basil kombucha…
Blueberry Kombucha Ingredients
- 1.5 oz or ⅓ cup of fresh, frozen, or dried blueberries. There isn’t much of a difference in flavor between frozen and fresh blueberries; however, there is between those two and dried strawberries. Dried blueberries are processed with added sugar. This will make your blueberry kombucha much sweeter. It will also make your kombucha fizzier so it is advised that you burp it more often than you normally would.
- 2 - 3 large leaves (0.10-0.15 oz) of fresh basil
- 14 - 16 oz of fresh black tea kombucha
Now that you have all the proper equipment and ingredients, let's make the best blueberry basil kombucha this side of the equator (whichever side you’re on)!
Instructions for Blueberry Basil Kombucha
- Follow our instructions for brewing black tea kombucha. This is the primary step of making kombucha. It involves actually making the black tea, adding your SCOBY, and feeding it with sugar. The secondary step of kombucha making is when it is flavored, which is where we will start this recipe. If you have not completed the primary step, refer to the link above, and you can learn how. When your kombucha is to your liking, it is ready to flavor.
- Chiffonade (see tips & tricks below on how to chiffonade) the basil leaves. This helps the basil ferment and allows you to get the basil leaves in the bottler easier.
- Add your blueberries and basil leaves to the bottle and top off with kombucha, leaving about an inch of headspace (air) at the top of the bottle. It is extremely important to leave headspace in any of your kombucha recipes, because kombucha is known to explode! This is even truer if you are using more sugary fruits.
- Let ferment at room temperature for 2-5 days, burping the bottles every 12-24 hours. To burp your kombucha, slowly release air from the bottle until you are able to fully remove the top without an explosion.
- After your 2-5 days of fermenting and burping, your blueberry basil kombucha is ready to drink! If you don't want SCOBYs in your drink, you can strain the kombucha before drinking, but this is not necessary.
Tips & Tricks When making Blueberry Basil Kombucha
- We like to halve our blueberries because they fit in the bottles better, but this is not necessary. If you want your blueberry basil kombucha to be extra sweet, use dried blueberries; their added sugar makes the ferment sweeter.
- In order to chiffonade your basil, stack the leaves up and roll them up as tight as possible. Be sure to not add too many leaves to your stack, because it will be difficult to roll. Next, thinly slice the roll to create strips of basil leaves, which will fit better in your bottles.
Watch as the blueberry basil kombucha turns this beautiful magenta as it ferments for a few days. Once it has reached bubbly perfect, it is ready for you to enjoy! This blueberry basil kombucha is so refreshing and has an amazing floral aftertaste. The basil really brings out a hint of mintiness that mixes so well with the sweetness of the blueberries. Enjoy this drink next to the pool, on a picnic, at the beach, or anywhere else you love to spend beautiful summer days.
If you are looking to add even more freshness to your blueberry basil kombucha, squeeze lime or a lemon right into your kombucha after you pour! This enhances the basil flavor and makes this drink even more refreshing.
