Caffeine-free Kombucha: Herbal Moringa Tea

Julian Bahati Axmann, 27 October 2020

Kombucha is good for your gut. Typically Green Tea or Black Tea are fermented with a SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast) that feeds on sugar. Don’t like sugar? Check out Jun. (Jun is made with honey.)

Green Tea and Black Tea contain caffeine. Herbal Moringa Tea is the balanced caffeine-free alternative for kombucha lovers. Most brewers only use hibiscus as the secondary ferment with reports of the SCOBY getting rosy and then losing potency. We have been brewing kombucha with Herbal Moringa Tea for over a year and the SCOBY appear healthy.

We grow ourorganic lemongrass, hibiscus and moringa in tropical Tanzania on Mbuyuni Farm. Herbal Moringa Tea is our farm herbal tea blend.

Studies have found that the antioxidant content in hibiscus are a match for matcha. In other words, hibiscus has more antioxidants than green tea and even matcha. Lemongrass and moringa leaf add flavour and profile. All in all: A soothing blend that tastes like rosewater when cultured.

So here’s what you need:

Makes 16 cups (3.79 litres)

Ingredients:

• 14 cups of water
• 8 Tablespoons Herbal Honest Tea (one package 4oz loose leaf Herbal Honest Tea can make around 16 litres)
• 1 Scoby and 2 cups of scoby juice (if you don’t have this, learn how to make a scoby.)
• 1 Cup of Sugar
• 16 cup container
• Cloth to cover and rubber band
• Strainer
• Pot

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Directions:

1. Sterilize the container you will use.
2. Bring 14 cups of water to a boil. Add the Herbal Honest Tea.
3. Dissolve the sugar in a cup of water.
4. Let the Tea cool off for several hours. When Tea is at room temperature, strain and pour into the container.
5. Add scoby, sugar water and scoby juice.
6. Cover and label.

Let it ferment for 10 days. Then bottle in sterilized sealing bottles. Add fruit, berries, herbs or juice of your liking for a secondary ferment. We like mint, grapefruit, ginger and orange juice. Pop the lids to let out some carbonation (if you leave the bottles for too long they will burst) every day or two. Enjoy whenever you feel the carbonation is right. Refrigeration slows fermentation down (otherwise you will end up with hard kombucha if you know what I mean).

Cheers!

p.s. Our inspiration behind the recipe comes from Sarah at Live Eat Learn.