Making your own Kombucha at home is cheap, quick and easy. The hardest part is coming across a Kombucha “mother” or live yeast culture. Ask around and see if your friends have one to share, or buy online at sites like GetKombucha.com.

Timeframe: About 7 days

2 quarts filtered water

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons loose black tea or 4 teabags

1 cup mature acidic Kombucha

Kombucha mother

1. Mix water and sugar and bring to a boil in a small pot.

2. Turn off the heat; add tea, cover and steep about 15 minutes.

3. Strain tea into a glass container. Allow tea to cool to body temperature.

4. Add mature acidic Kombucha. When you obtain a culture, it will be stored in this liquid. Place the Kombucha mother in the pot. It is fine if floats or if it sinks.

5. Cover with a clean cloth and store in a warm spot, ideally 70 to 85 degrees, undisturbed.

6. After a few days to one week, depending on temperature, you will notice a skin forming on the surface of the Kombucha. Taste the liquid. It will probably still be sweet. The longer it sits, the more acidic it becomes.

7. Once it reaches the level of acidity you like, start a new batch and store your mature Kombucha in the fridge. You now have two mothers, the original one you started with, and a new one, the skin that formed on your first batch. Use either the new or the old mother for your new batch, and pass the other one on to a friend. Each generation will give birth to a new mother and the old mother will thicken.