This easy Blood Orange Kombucha is sweet and tart. It's a great alternative to soda to quench your thirst.

Blood Orange Kombucha in a glass and a bottle with blood oranges.

💌 SAVE THIS

I'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!

Sweet and tangy, this Blood Orange Kombucha is a thirst-quenching drink.

It's sweet on its own, but you could always add in a little maple syrup, agave syrup, or sugar if you like your kombucha extra sweet.

Other refreshing citrus kombucha recipes are my Grapefruit Kombucha, Citrus Kombucha, Lime Kombucha, and Orange Creamsicle Kombucha.

Did you know that you can eat the kombucha scoby? Yup, it's true.

I've used the scoby in a Vegan Ceviche, Strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups, and Ginger Scoby Candy. It also blends up nicely in a smoothie.

Jump to:

❤️ Why You'll Love It
Two Types of Fermentation
What Makes Kombucha Fizzy?
🧾 Ingredients
🥣 Supplies
🔪 Instructions
Should I Burp My Second Ferment Kombucha?
How Long Does It Take To Get Fizzy Kombucha?
💭 Tips
🥃 Other Kombucha Recipes
📋 Recipe
💬 Comments

❤️ Why You'll Love It

It's perfectly sweet and tart.
It's cheaper than store-bought kombucha and you get to control the ingredients.
It's a nice alternative to fruit juice and soda.

Two Types of Fermentation

The first fermentation of kombucha is when you combine sweetened tea, a kombucha scoby, and some starter tea. You let it ferment for 7-21 days and the result is uncarbonated unflavored kombucha.

For the second fermentation, you remove the scoby and take that kombucha you made in the first fermentation and add flavor. You let it ferment for another 3-5 days in sealed bottles. The result is a fizzy-flavored drink.

You can ferment the flavored kombucha for up to 14 days. It all depends on the amount of sugar content in the flavor you're adding, and the temperature of the room.

Warmer temperatures will cause faster fermentation, and higher sugar content will also speed up fermentation.

What Makes Kombucha Fizzy?

The second fermentation is when kombucha gets fizzy. By putting it into a sealed container at room temperature and adding a sugar source (fruit and/or sweetener), carbon dioxide builds.

🧾 Ingredients

Homemade kombucha: You'll need freshly made kombucha that has not been refrigerated yet.
Blood oranges: I used freshly squeezed blood oranges. You could use any variety of oranges. I've also used Cara Cara oranges in my Cara Cara Kombucha recipe. You could also use store-bought orange juice.

To see the full list of ingredients with measurements and instructions, see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

🥣 Supplies

Funnel
4 (25 ounce) bottles with flip top lids
Measuring cup

🔪 Instructions

Blood orange juice being poured into a funnel into a bottle.

Step 1: Juice blood oranges and strain the pulp if desired. Pour ½ cup blood orange juice into each bottle.

Kombucha being poured into a funnel over a bottle.

Step 2: Pour your freshly fermented homemade kombucha into the bottles, leaving 1-2" head space. Let sit 3-5 days.

Step 3: Pop open the lids at least once a day. Pressure builds, and this allows it to escape.

Should I Burp My Second Ferment Kombucha?

Yes! If you don't you could have a mess. By adding sugar to the homemade kombucha and fermenting it a second time in bottles with swing-top lids, you're creating an environment for carbonation. If you don't allow it to escape, you'll have kombucha all over your kitchen.

How Long Does It Take To Get Fizzy Kombucha?

It can take anywhere from 1-14 days. It depends on a few things.

It depends on how much sugar you have in the kombucha. (Sugar in the form of fruit and/or sweetener.) The more sugar, the faster you'll get carbonation.
It also depends on the weather. Warmer temperature = faster carbonation. I've had bubbly kombucha after a day in summer months and bubbly kombucha after a week in colder months.

💭 Tips

Shake the bottle before pouring a glassful.
I used blood oranges because they are sweet. If using a different variety I suggest getting something sweet.
You can add maple syrup, agave syrup, brown sugar, white sugar, or another sweetener.
Refrigerate after the kombucha is done fermenting.