Last Summer, I got my first kombucha scoby. Ever since, I was mastering my kombucha brew.
When reading online forums about the secrets of delicious kombucha, I also saw dozens of pictures with kombucha explosions. I was well aware that the pressure of second fermentation can became too high and it can be higher than the bottle can handle.
Because of that, since my first batch, I was using special wine bottles. Same as kombucha, wine can have high pressure, and because of that wine bottles are a great option.
What I was also experimenting with was the taste. I have a lot of kombucha recipes saved and each time try a different flavour.
A lot of people write, that kombucha with ginger is delicious and very carbonated. So I decided to try that out.
The last time I prepared kombucha for the second fermentation, I had four different flavours.
The first one was with strawberries and mint. The second one was with ginger and quinces. Third one with green tea and caraways. And the fourth one with green tea, cloves and chamomile.
After a few days of the second fermentation, I tasted all flavours and they all were delicious. Strawberries with mint and ginger with quinces were my favourites.
The thing to keep in mind when doing the second fermentation, is to lower the pressure once in a day or two. And that’s what I was doing each day around the same time – opening the bottle for a moment and closing it right away.
During the fifth day of fermentation, we heard a terrible sound in the kitchen. My bf was confused and had no idea what just happened but I was sure – we have a kombucha explosion.
The ginger flavoured kombucha created too much pressure and the bottle couldn’t handle it. Broken glass and sticky kombucha was all over our kitchen. But at least it didn’t touch the ceiling.
Even though we lost a bottle with one of our favourite drinks, I was happy because I felt like now I’m a real kombucha maker.
If you haven’t had kombucha bottle explode, your’e still a beginner, as I say nowadays.
Well, and if you’re looking for tasty kombucha flavours, try making strawberries with mint and ginger with quinces. Just a little tip – open the ginger bottle a couple of times per day to keep it from exploding. And the other two flavours we tried this time weren’t our taste.