Spiced Kombucha

With warming spices, this Spiced Kombucha is perfect for the holidays. It works great in a cocktail.

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This homemade Spiced Kombucha has warming spices of ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla, and allspice. It is sweetened with maple syrup.

Serve this in place of or alongside spiced apple cider. Add it to a cocktail or drink by itself.

Other spiced drinks to try are my Spiced Hot Cocoa recipe and my Spiced Almond Milk recipe.

Another kombucha recipe to try is my Dragon Fruit Kombucha recipe.

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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
👩🏻‍🍳 Recipe FAQs
Other Kombucha Recipes
📋 Recipe
💬 Comments

❤️ Why You'll Love It

It has warming spices.
It's sweet and refreshing.
It is cheaper than store-bought kombucha and you get to control how sweet it is.

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 the 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.
Spices: I used ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. They add a warm spice flavor.
Maple syrup: Adds sweetness. You could also use agave syrup or simple syrup.
Vanilla extract: Enhances flavors.

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

Vanilla extract being poured into a funnel into a bottle.

Step 1: Pour vanilla extract into each bottle.

Spices being poured into a funnel into a bottle.

Step 2: Pour spices into each bottle.

Maple syrup being poured into a funnel over a bottle.

Step 3: Pour maple syrup into each bottle.

Kombucha being poured into a funnel over a bottle.

Step 4: Pour your freshly fermented homemade kombucha into the bottles, leaving 1-2" head space. Let sit 3-5 days.

Step 5: Pop open the lids at least once a day. Pressure builds, and this allows it to escape so that you don't have a mess.

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 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.
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.

💭 Tips

Refrigerate after the kombucha is done fermenting.
You can substitute the maple syrup with agave syrup, brown sugar, white sugar, or another sweetener, but if you leave the sweetener out altogether you won't get carbonation.