This sweet Chocolate Cherry Kombucha is a fun treat that you can feel good about! Made with dark cherries, cacao powder, and homemade kombucha.

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This Chocolate Cherry Kombucha is a dessert in drink form. It is healthy yet feels indulgent.

You can make this homemade kombucha any time of the year because you can use fresh or frozen cherries.

I always have frozen cherries in my freezer to add to smoothies, and now those cherries do double duty as one of my favorite kombucha flavors.

Other chocolate cherry recipes to try are my No-Churn Cherry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, Chocolate Cherry Overnight Oats, Cherry Filled Chocolates, or Chocolate Cherry Chia Pudding.

My Cherry Soda recipe and my Cherry Shrub are great alternatives to store-bought soda.

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❤️ 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
🥃 Kombucha Recipes
📋 Recipe
💬 Comments

❤️ Why You'll Love It

It tastes like a dessert in the form of kombucha.
You get to control the ingredients.
It's cheaper than store-bought kombucha.

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 (1-3 days for this recipe). 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.
Cacao powder: Adds the chocolaty flavor. I used raw cacao powder, but you could also use unsweetened cocoa powder.
Cherries: I used frozen cherries because that is what I always have on hand. You can use frozen or fresh cherries.
Maple syrup: Adds sweetness. You could also use agave syrup, simple syrup, or your favorite sweetener.
Almond extract: Adds more fruity flavor. You can leave it out.

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

Cherries being poured into a funnel into a bottle.

Step 1: Smush ½ cup fresh or frozen cherries into each bottle.

Cacao powder being poured into a funnel into a bottle.

Step 2: Pour ¼ cup cacao powder into each bottle.

Maple syrup being poured into a funnel over a bottle.

Step 3: Pour 2 tablespoons of maple syrup extract into each bottle.

Almond extract being poured into a funnel into a bottle.

Step 4: Pour ¼ teaspoon almond extract into each bottle.

Kombucha being poured into a funnel over a bottle.

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

Step 6: Pop open the lids at least once a day. For this kombucha recipe, I like to pop the bottles a few times a day.

Chocolate Cherry Kombucha in pop top bottle.

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.

This recipe in particular needs a good amount of burping! The carbonation builds quickly in this recipe and will be done within a couple of days depending upon weather and elevation.

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.

Chocolate Cherry Kombucha being poured into a mason jar.

💭 Tips

Refrigerate after the kombucha is done fermenting.
You can substitute the maple syrup with agave syrup, brown sugar, white sugar, or another sweetener. You could leave it out altogether, but I like it better with it.
If you use cocoa powder instead of raw cacao powder, make sure it doesn't have any other ingredients added in.
Shake the bottle before pouring a glassful. The cacao powder will settle to the bottom.

5 Secrets To Making Kombucha

Kombucha just got easier!

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*Note: Nutrition information should be considered an estimate only. Different nutrition calculators give you different results.

Chocolate Cherry Kombucha