This Yerba Mate Kombucha combines two great drinks into one. It's sweet and tart with a milder taste than kombucha made with black tea.

Yerba Mate Kombucha in a glass with straw.

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This Yerba Mate Kombucha is a first-fermentation kombucha recipe. It's a good recipe to try out after you have made a few batches of homemade kombucha with black tea and you want to try other flavors of tea.

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.

The second fermentation involves taking that kombucha you made in the first fermentation and adding flavor. I have a bunch of kombucha recipes for you to try out.

Just like black tea has a stronger flavor than yerba mate tea, Yerba Mate Kombucha isn't as strong as black tea kombucha. It is sweet and tart.

Another sweet and tart recipe is my Acai Kombucha recipe.

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❤️ Why You'll Love It
🧾 Ingredients
🥣 Supplies
🔪 Instructions
Second Fermentation
💭 Tips
Kombucha Recipes
📋 Recipe
💬 Comments

❤️ Why You'll Love It

It is not as strong as kombucha made with black tea, so it's a good alternative.
It's light and refreshing.
It's cheaper than store-bought kombucha.

🧾 Ingredients

A kombucha starter pack: which includes a kombucha scoby (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) in some kombucha starter liquid or 1-2 cups of freshly made kombucha and a scoby.
Filtered water
Sugar
Yerba mate tea: I have used both yerba mate tea bags and loose yerba mate tea. If you use loose yerba mate you'll need to strain it out. I also have tutorials for first-fermentation green tea kombucha and first-fermentation hibiscus tea kombucha

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

🥣 Supplies

A gallon-sized jar
Tea towel or coffee filter
Thick rubber band
A kitchen thermometer

🔪 Instructions

Yerba mate tea in a pan with hot water. Then sugar being added.

Step 1: Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a pot. Remove from the heat.

Add yerba mate tea. Let it steep for 5 - 10 minutes. Remove tea bags.

Step 2: Add 1 cup of sugar, and stir until dissolved.

Saucepan with Yerba mate tea and dissolved sugar.

Step 3: Reheat the tea to get the sugar to dissolve faster if needed.

Sweetened tea being poured into a gallon sized jar with a kombucha scoby and kombucha in it.

Step 4: Add the sweet tea mixture to a gallon-sized jar, along with the kombucha scoby, and the fermented tea that it came in or homemade kombucha.

Water being poured into a gallon sized jar.

Step 5: Pour room-temperature filtered water into the jar. Check to make sure the mixture is between 75°-85°. It will most likely be on the hotter side, but it will cool down as long as the room is between 75°-85°.

Yerba Mate Kombucha in a gallon mason jar.

Step 6: Secure the jar with a tea towel or coffee filter and a rubber band. Place the jar in a warm location - between 75°- 85°. Colder temperatures = mold, so make sure the room is between those temperatures!

Let it sit between 7-21 days out of direct sunlight in a ventilated area. Begin tasting the kombucha on day 7. If it tastes too sweet, let it ferment longer. I like to brew mine for 14-21 days, depending on the season.

After it's done, store it in the fridge.

Below is a video for making homemade kombucha with black tea. Even though it's with a different tea, the process is the same.

Second Fermentation

To make this first batch of kombucha sweeter, you can add maple syrup, dates, agave syrup, brown sugar, or your favorite sweetener.

You will need some bottles with flip top lids, and a funnel. I like 2 tablespoons of maple syrup per 25 oz. bottle of kombucha, or ½ cup per gallon.

Pour maple syrup, then the finished homemade kombucha into each bottle, leaving 1-2" head space. Let sit 3-5 days, popping the bottles each day to let out carbon dioxide. Taste each day to test its flavor and fizziness.

You can also add flavors to make a grape kombucha recipe, homemade banana kombucha, blueberry ginger kombucha, and homemade lemon kombucha. Below are some more popular flavored kombucha recipes.

💭 Tips

Avoid using cheesecloth to secure the lid. Small insects can get into the holes.
Only use glass containers.
The warmer the temperature, the faster the kombucha will need to brew. I brew mine 14 days in hotter months and 21 days in colder months. It all depends on the climate you live in.
Make sure to thoroughly clean your tools and gallon jar.
If you see any mold at all, throw out the kombucha. I have only had mold once in the many years I've been brewing. When done right, you will not have mold.
Check photos online to see if it is mold. You want to make sure before throwing out something you took the time to make. It will most likely be white, green, or black. Mine was white and fuzzy.
Since kombucha is usually made with black tea, you will want to have an extra scoby when trying recipes like this one. Once you have made a batch or two of homemade kombucha, your scoby will produce a baby scoby. That's a good time to experiment with other teas.
Yerba mate tea may change the flavor of your scoby, which is a good reason to use an extra scoby.
Note: I have not brewed with yerba mate over several batches, but I did some research and read that in order to maintain the kombucha strain you'll want to use 25-50% yerba mate to black tea.
You could also make just one batch and then make scoby candy, vegan scoby ceviche, or scoby fruit leather.