How to make jun tea kombucha (with kombucha SCOBY)

You can use the same SCOBY to brew kombucha (black tea-based) and jun (green tea-based). Learn how to train a kombucha SCOBY to brew delicious, bubbly Jun tea, or green tea kombucha.

If you are wondering how to make green tea kombucha, you are at the right place. In this blog post, we’ll explain how to train your kombucha SCOBY to feed on honey and green tea instead of sugar and black tea.

Jun tea kombucha (Green tea and honey kombucha) is also called the champagne of fermented drinks, and for a good reason! Jun has a flavour profile that is distinct from traditional kombucha, with a refined and delicate taste that is less sour.

If you’re interested in learning more about the differences between Jun kombucha and its traditional counterpart, as well as the necessary equipment for brewing Jun, check out our blog post dedicated to brewing Jun kombucha. For a more general guide on brewing kombucha, see Kombucha Brewing Guide For beginners.

If you love brewing kombucha and jun, you’ll love this recipe for Blueberry jam and lavender jun, as well as Apple, Coffee, Ginger, Passion fruit, and Sage kombucha.

Pin

Can You Use the Same SCOBY for Jun and Kombucha?

The same SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) can be used for brewing jun and kombucha interchangeably. As fermentation is becoming more popular, shops selling fermentation equipment are being sneaky by selling the jun and kombucha SCOBIES two separate cultures. We’ve also seen a few blog posts claiming that you’ll need a specific jun SCOBY, but this could not be further from the truth.

During fermentation, SCOBY feeds on sugars naturally present in sugar and black tea. Black tea also contains tannins which help create a favourable environment for SCOBY to grow. Both sugars and tannins are also present in honey and green tea and the SCOBY can adjust to thriving on those sources of its nutrition.

Ingredients

• Sugar, can be raw, organic, or just regular white sugar.
• The best tea for kombucha is organic loose-leaf black tea. Avoid teas with added flavors, oils, or smoked teas. Popular choices are Ceylon Black Tea and English Breakfast Tea.
• The best tea for jun kombucha is organic loose-leaf green tea with a mild flavor. Avoid teas with added flavors, oils, or smoked teas. Some of our favorite green teas for brewing jun include Sencha and Dragonwell.
• Unpasteurised honey. While the type of honey does not matter, keep in mind that it will have an impact on the flavor of jun. For example, on the one hand, jun brewed with chestnut honey will have a bolder, richer flavor with caramel and woody notes. On the other hand, jun brewed with floral honey will have a more subtle, mild, yet fruity flavor. As always, we encourage you to experiment with different types of flavors to identify your preference.

Step by step to making green tea kombucha

If you’ve obtained a SCOBY and a cup of kombucha from a friend, and you want to brew jun with it, you can do so by following the steps below. If you’ve bought a SCOBY online, you should follow the instructions that came with it. Store-bought SCOBY could have gone without feeding for extended periods, so you should first revive it (following instructions in the package) and then follow our below-described procedure.

First brew

• Make the tea – Bring 1 liter (1 quart) of filtered water to 80°C (180°F). Add two teaspoons of green tea and two teaspoons of black tea. Steep for 15 minutes and then drain to remove the tea leaves. Leaving tea in for longer will let the tea develop a stronger flavor.
• Cool down – Add three liters (3 quarts) of water to the tea and a few ice cubes for it to reach 30°C (86°F).
• Sweeten with sugar and honey – Once the tea has cooled down, add in 40 grams (or a quarter cup) of honey, and 120 grams of sugar (or half a cup), and stir until the honey has dissolved.
• Add SCOBY and one cup of the liquid – (jun from the previous batch).
• Cover with a cloth – you can fold the cloth one time, but there should not be more than two layers, because the brew needs air to ferment. Tighten the cloth with an elastic band.
• Let brew – place in a space with a constant temperature and away from sunlight.
• In 6-9 days, when the jun has developed bubbles and a slightly sour flavor, its ready to drink and bottle.
• The result of 1F is a basic kombucha / jun tea. It will be slightly sweet and tart. However, it won’t be fizzy and may lack some flavor complexity. If you wish to add a fruity, floury, or herby flavor, you can ferment it for the second time with fruits and herbs.

Second brew

• Make the tea – Bring 1 liter (1 quart) of filtered water to 80°C (180°F).  Add three teaspoons of green tea and one teaspoons of black tea. for 15 minutes and then drain to remove the tea leaves. Leaving tea in for longer will let the tea develop a stronger flavor.
• Cool down – Add three liters (3 quarts) of water to the tea and a few ice cubes for it to reach 30°C (86°F).
• Sweeten with sugar and honey – Once the tea has cooled down, add in 120 grams (or half a cup) of honey, and 40 grams (a quarter of a cup) of sugar, and stir until the honey has dissolved.
• Add SCOBY and one cup of the liquid – This is jun from the previous batch.
• Cover with a cloth – You can fold the cloth one time, but there should not be more than two layers, because Jun needs air to ferment. Tighten the cloth with an elastic band.
• Let brew – Place in a space with a constant temperature and away from sunlight.
• In 6-9 days, when the jun has developed bubbles and a slightly sour flavor, its ready to drink and bottle.
• The result of 1F is a basic kombucha / jun tea. It will be slightly sweet and tart. However, it won’t be fizzy and may lack some flavor complexity. If you wish to add a fruity, floury, or herby flavor to your jun, you can ferment it for the second time with fruits and herbs.

Third brew: Jun tea kombucha

• Make the tea – Bring 1 liter (1 quart) of filtered water to 80°C (180°F). Add in four teaspoons of green tea. Steep for 15 minutes and then drain to remove the tea leaves. Leaving tea in for longer will let the tea develop a stronger flavor.
• Cool down – add three liters (3 quarts) of water to the tea and a few ice cubes for it to reach 30°C (86°F).
• Sweeten with sugar and honey – Once the tea has cooled down, add in 160 grams of honey (one cup and one quarter) and stir until the honey has dissolved.
• Add SCOBY and one cup of the liquid – This is jun from the previous batch.
• Cover with a cloth – You can fold the cloth one time, but there should not be more than two layers, because Jun needs air to ferment. Tighten the cloth with an elastic band.
• Let brew – Place in a space with a constant temperature and away from sunlight.
• In 6-9 days, when the jun has developed bubbles and a slightly sour flavor, its ready to drink and bottle.
• Congratulations – You just brewed your first Jun tea batch (or green tea kombucha)! The result of 1F is a basic jun tea. It will be slightly sweet and tart. However, it won’t be fizzy and may lack some flavor complexity. If you wish to add a fruity, floury, or herby flavor to your jun, you can ferment it for the second time with fruits and herbs.

Pin

SCOBY care green tea kombucha

Some SCOBIES might be more challenging to adjust to green tea and honey. If you notice that your SCOBY is disintegrating the bottom it is dying, do the following in your next brew:

• Wash your SCOBY under running water to remove dead pieces.
• Change the liquid in the brewing vessel to remove any foggy liquid with dead SCOBY particles. Only use clear jun / kombucha in your next brew.
• Use half black and half green tea and half sugar and half honey in your next two brews, to revive the SCOBY.

With each new batch of first fermentation brew, you should notice a new layer of SCOBY forming on the top. If that is not the case, your SCOBY is not functioning like it should, due to lack of nutrients. Follow the steps above and feed it some black tea and sugar to revive it.

Make a spare scoby

Rest assured, it is extremely challenging to kill a SCOBY. We have subjected ours to a three-week period in the initial fermentation, we experimented with mate tea and herbal teas, and even placed them in a SCOBY hotel with limited nourishment. Regardless of these mistreatments, we have consistently managed to revive our SCOBIES. Nevertheless, we prefer to have one primary mother SCOBY that receives exceptional care in case we mess up the others.

Extend the initial fermentation until a fresh SCOBY layer develops, with sufficient thickness to be handled without damage. Use this layer to make a separate batch of jun tea kombucha and leave it again in the second batch a little longer until it has thickened more. If you prefer to not handle two brewing vessels at the same time, you can refrigerate one with cca 240 ml (1 cup) of jun with a bit extra honey or sugar.

Similar recipes

PinPin

Flavored jun kombucha: Blueberry jam and lavender

10 days days

PinPin

Ginger kombucha

5 days days

PinPin

Passion Fruit Kombucha

3 days days

Pin

How to make jun tea kombucha (with kombucha SCOBY)

Author: Darja

You can use the same SCOBY to brew kombucha (black tea-based) and jun (green tea-based). Learn how to train a kombucha SCOBY to brew delicious, bubbly Jun tea, or green tea kombucha.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Total Time 14 days d

Course Drinks, Fermented food and drinks

Cuisine Asian, Fermented

Servings 4 Bottles

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Equipment

• 1 Brewing glass jar, preferably with a wide mouth. This is called a brewing vessel
• 1 Wooden or plastic ladle
• 1 FunnelThermometer
• 1 Glass bottle for brewing beer
• 1 Breathable cloth

Instructions

 

FIRST BREW: INTRODUCING HONEY AND GREEN TEA

• Bring 1 liter (1 quart) of filtered water to 80°C (180°F).
• Add in two teaspoons of green tea and two teaspoons of black tea.
• Steep for 15 minutes and then drain to remove the tea leaves.
• Add 3 liters of cold water to cool down the tea.
• Once the tea has cooled down to max 40°C (104°F), add in 40 grams (a quarter of a cup) of honey, and 120 grams (half a cup of sugar), and stir until the honey has dissolved.
• Add SCOBY and one cup of the kombucha liquid from the previous batch.
• Cover with a cloth, you can fold the cloth one time, but there should not be more than two layers, because kombucha and jun need air to ferment. Tighten the cloth with an elastic band.
• Let brew, place in a space with a constant temperature and away from sunlight.
• In 6-9 days, when the jun has developed bubbles and a slightly sour flavor, its ready to drink and bottle / or flavour and bottle.

SECOND BREW: INCREASING THE HONEY AND GREEN TEA AMOUNTS

• Bring 1 liter (1 quart) of filtered water to 80°C (180°F).  Add three teaspoons of green tea and one teaspoon of black tea. for 15 minutes and then drain to remove the tea leaves. Leaving tea in for longer will let the tea develop a stronger flavor.
• Add three liters (3 quarts) of water to the tea and a few ice cubes for it to reach 30°C (86°F).
• Once the tea has cooled down, add in 120 grams (or half a cup) of honey, and 40 grams (a quarter of a cup) of sugar, and stir until the honey has dissolved.
• Add SCOBY and one cup of the liquid – This is jun from the previous batch.
• Cover with breathable cloth. You can fold the cloth one time, but there should not be more than two layers, because Jun needs air to ferment. Tighten the cloth with an elastic band.
• Brew. Place in a space with a constant temperature and away from sunlight.
• In 6-9 days, when the jun has developed bubbles and a slightly sour flavor, its ready to drink and bottle.
• The result of 1F is a basic kombucha / jun tea. It will be slightly sweet and tart. However, it won’t be fizzy and may lack some flavor complexity. If you wish to add a fruity, floury, or herby flavor to your jun, you can ferment it for the second time with fruits and herbs.

THIRD BREW: JUN

• Bring 1 liter (1 quart) of filtered water to 80°C (180°F). Add in four teaspoons of green tea. Steep for 15 minutes and then drain to remove the tea leaves. Leaving tea in for longer will let the tea develop a stronger flavor.
• Add three liters (3 quarts) of water to the tea and a few ice cubes for it to reach 30°C (86°F).
• Once the tea has cooled down, add 160 grams of honey (one cup and one quarter) and stir until the honey has dissolved.
• Add SCOBY and one cup of the liquid. This is jun from the previous batch.
• Cover with a cloth. You can fold the cloth one time, but there should not be more than two layers, because Jun needs air to ferment. Tighten the cloth with an elastic band.
• Let brew. Place in a space with a constant temperature and away from sunlight.
• In 6-9 days, when the jun has developed bubbles and a slightly sour flavor, its ready to drink and bottle.
• Congratulations – You just brewed your first Jun tea batch (or green tea kombucha)! The result of 1F is a basic jun tea. It will be slightly sweet and tart. However, it won’t be fizzy and may lack some flavor complexity. If you wish to add a fruity, floury, or herby flavor to your jun, you can ferment it for the second time with fruits and herbs.

Keyword Brewing jun kombucha, Brewing jun tea, Fermented drink, How to make jun tea, jun kombucha, Jun tea