Kombucha Gets a New Life, with Strawberries!

by Jerri

I recently tried second fermenting my kombucha brew (no scoby involved, hit the road baby!). It did get more pop and fizz to it, but the flavor was pretty blah. Lucky for me, I have frozen strawberries on hand all year long for smoothies, so let’s put some pizazz in my booch!

It’s super easy! Because I can’t fathom the idea of getting strawberries in and out of a Grolsch-style bottle, I took a chance on a mason jar and a new seal/lid. If the seal is good, it should hold in any gasses that form so I can get carbonation and a good second ferment.

Assemble your goodies “ this a quart size jar. I prefer to strain first, so my non-metal strainer is ready to go. Remember, NO SCOBYS ALLOWED in this phase:

Pour in your kombucha. How pretty is that?

Then put the seal/lid and ring on fairly snug so that nothing will leak out. Find a warm spot, using a buffer if needed for cold countertops.

I have always recommended that fruit or fruit puree only be fermented in your kombucha or water kefir for 24 hours. This is because fruit naturally ferments fast, and going longer than 24 hours may produce an unwanted alcoholic content. It may be ever so slight to pretty potent depending on how long you have let it sit out and how warm the room temperature is.

I aimed for 36 since I have a cooler kitchen, but holy kombucha , at 24 hours I already had a bulging lid!

I let it go another 12 hours. With the jar in the sink, I carefully loosened the ring and promptly heard the œpfffft sound of the gasses escaping. I peeked inside and things looked fine to me. I sniffed. Smelled fruity. Took a sip. OH MY MY MY.

I hailed my teen boy from his gaming lair for the final test, and whaddya know.my reluctant kombucha boy poured himself a glass. I had to stop him from drinking the whole jar, or his dad would not get to try it later!

WIN. WIN. WIN.

Can’t wait for fresh Oregon strawberry season! Oh don’t forget to then refrigerate your kombucha goodness. If you keep it out at room temp, it will further ferment and the taste will change, including getting more alcohol-y or tart.

Get Fruity. Get Fermented . Get Fruity Fermented!