How to Brew Kombucha from a Can of Nania’s Wildbrew
by James, Founder & Head Brewer at Nania’s
What is a S.C.O.B.Y?
A SCOBY is a Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast—a living microbial community that transforms sweet tea into kombucha. It floats in your brewing vessel and looks like a rubbery disc. This culture carries out the fermentation process, producing acids, carbonation, and all those good-for-you microbes.
What matters is that it’s alive, and it’s your new brew buddy.
Properly fermented and unpasteurised foods and drinks like kombucha have been shown to support gut health and microbiome diversity. Here’s one study from Stanford: https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2021/07/fermented-food-diet-increases-microbiome-diversity-lowers-inflammation
Getting Started
Making kombucha is surprisingly simple.
At its heart, it’s just sweet tea, fermented. You’ll need:
- 5% sugar in your tea
- 10% starter kombucha (the stuff in your can)
- A bit of patience—and a clean jar
Because Nania’s Wildbrew is raw, live, and can-conditioned™, each can contains an active culture. You can use it to grow your very own SCOBY.
If you get stuck, try asking ChatGPT (https://chat.openai.com) or browsing the excellent Reddit Kombucha Forum (https://www.reddit.com/r/Kombucha/). There’s a wealth of inspiration for flavourings, brewing setups, and troubleshooting there.
And if you’re still stuck, message me on Instagram: @nanias.wildbrew (please, no emails).
A Word of Warning on Bottling
I’m not going to go deep into bottling or canning here—except to say: BE CAREFUL. Glass bottles (and, to a lesser extent, cans) can explode if mishandled. Do your own research. Experiment in small batches. And always err on the side of caution.
If you’re really keen, invest in:
- Proper champagne bottles from a reputable supplier
- A crown capper
And even then, yes, they can still explode if you over-sugar. It’s all at your own risk.
Step-by-Step: Brewing Your First Batch
To begin, I recommend brewing just over 1L. This gives you a manageable, experimental batch—and a litre to drink while you wait.
Ingredients:
- 1L filtered water
- 50g sugar (5%)
- A good loose-leaf tea (see below)
- 200ml Nania’s Wildbrew kombucha (20%)
Tea tip: The world of tea is like the world of wine—complex, diverse, and worth exploring. We use the Rare Tea Company for their flavour, sustainability, and ethics.
Instructions:
- Brew your tea (about 1–2 teaspoons loose-leaf per litre).
- Add 50g sugar and let the tea cool to room temp (around 24°C).
- Pour the cooled sweet tea into a large glass jar.
- Add 200ml of Nania’s kombucha.
- Cover the jar with a clean tea towel or cloth and secure with a rubber band.
- Leave somewhere warm-ish and out of direct sunlight for about a week.
After 5–10 days, you should see a jelly-like disc forming: your very own SCOBY. Taste as you go—when it tastes good to you, it’s ready.
Batch Brew vs Continuous Brew
Once your SCOBY is thriving, you’ll need to decide how to brew going forward. Two main approaches:
Batch Brew
Make a batch, ferment it, bottle it, repeat.
Pros:
- Easier to experiment with flavours
- Greater control over strength and acidity
- Scalable up or down
Cons:
- More hands-on time
- Variations in flavour between batches
Continuous Brew
Keep a large jar or crock going; draw off what you need and top it up with fresh tea.
Pros:
- Less time-intensive
- More consistent flavour
- Fewer vessels needed
Cons:
- Harder to experiment with different flavours
- Higher contamination risk if things go wrong
Final Thoughts
Whether you go batch or continuous, kombucha brewing is part science, part art, part microbial magic. Have fun. Experiment. Taste as you go. And most importantly, share the love.
#microbesforthemasses @nanias.wildbrew
Good luck and all the best,
James
Founder and Head Brewer, Nania’s Kombucha