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Making Kombucha With a Side of History

Lauren Nakamura walks us through the steps of making Pineapple Mint Kombucha, while sharing a story about her grandfather, who grew up on a pineapple plantation in Hawaii in the 1920s.

The DelMante pineapple plantation
The Del Monte pineapple plantation in the 1920's where Lauren’s grandfather worked.

Lauren Nakamura’s Pineapple Mint Kombucha Recipe  

Ingredients

  • Unfluoridated, Unchlorinated Water
  • ½ sugar White Sugar
  • Tea Bags or Loose Tea
  • Active Kombucha SCOBY
  • Coffee filter or cheese cloth
  • 2 cups pf Fresh Pineapple
  • ¾ cup Fresh Mint
  • gallon container
  • glass bottles

Step 1: Bring 6-7 cups of water to boil.

Step 2: Fill tea bag with 1 tablespoon of loose tea or 4 tea bags add to boiling water.

Step 3: Add ½ cup of sugar (stir until fully dissolved) and pour into jar.

Pineapple Kombucha

Step 4: Cool the mixture to 68-85ºF. Add SCOBY.

Scoby for Kombucha

Step 5: Allow the mixture to sit at 68-85°F, out of direct sunlight, for 10-14 days. The longer the kombucha ferments, the less sweet and more acidic it will taste.

Fermented Pineapple Kombucha

Step 6: When kombucha is fermented to desired taste, cut up 2 cups of fresh pineapple and 2/4 of a cup of mint.

Fresh Pineapple

Step 7: Remove SCOBY and put in flavoring (leave SCOBY in enough liquid so it wont dry out and another batch can be made).

Remove Scoby

Step 8: Refrigerate for 1-3 days.

Refrigerated Kombucha

Step 9: Strain out ingredients and bottle.

Bottling Kombucha

Step 10: Let bottle sit in refrigerator for one day to continue carbonation process before enjoying your kombucha!

Pineapple Kombucha

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This story is made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

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