Small-Batch Kombucha, Brewed the Adirondacks
A look at how Happy Hermit brews Lemon-Ginger kombucha from fresh-ground ginger to a living SCOBY culture to carbonation in the Brite tank.
From Tea to Bottle: How We Brew Lemon-Ginger
If it can be made from scratch, we'd rather make it. That's the short version of how we ended up here: brewing kombucha in the Adirondacks, one small batch at a time. Before it comes on tap, we wanted to pull back the curtain on what actually goes into a bottle of Lemon-Ginger before it ever reaches the glass.
It starts with Green and Black Tea, along with Sugar.
Every batch starts with fresh, dried green and black tea and sugar. It is fermented with SCOBY for up to three weeks before fresh ground ginger is added for flavor. Fresh ginger, ground by hand until it's ready to give up everything it's got. It's not the fastest way to do it. It's the only way we're interested in doing it.
Fresh Ground Ginger
Meet the Culture: Our SCOBY Hotel
SCOBY, a living colony of bacteria and yeast has been around for roughly 2,000 years.
We maintain our own house SCOBY that we feed, propagate, and pitch into every batch of kombucha.
To keep that culture healthy between batches, we maintain what's called a SCOBY hotel, a reserve of culture we can draw on any time we start something new. It's part backup plan, part living archive. Here's a quick look at ours.
A well-developed and healthy culture makes for a better brew. It's a small, unglamorous piece of the process and it's a big part of why the kombucha tastes the way it does.
A Few Days of Patience
Once the ginger and the culture are ready, the batch goes into the fermentor and stays there until ready; there is no rushing it. This is where the flavor actually builds, and where the culture gets to work turning sweet tea into something a bit tangier, sharper, and alive. Refreshing is the word that describes it.
In goes the ginger
Fermentor to Brite Tank
The batch then moves to the Brite tank where it picks up its natural carbonation and may get a little more CO2. The time gives living cultures a chance to finish what they've done for two millennia. This is the last stop before it's ready to drink.
A Few Days to out
Lemon-Ginger is the first flavor out the door, with Elderberry close behind it. Both are brewed the same way with real ingredients, a well-kept culture, and enough patience to let the process actually work.
We'll have glasses on hand too, so you've got somewhere proper to pour it. We anticipate being able to share this on Thursday — exact date, time, and location still being finalized. Keep an eye on our socials for the final word. We'd love to see you there.
More to come this week — including a look at the fun we have doing this.
