DIY Kombucha with Essential Oils

This is it, you guys. The draw dropping moment. I found the greatest combination of all time.

Homemade kombucha and essential oils.

{psst...don't know what kombucha is? According to wikipedia: Kombucha is a fermented, slightly alcoholic, lightly effervescent, sweetened black or green tea drink commonly intended as a functional beverage for its supposed health benefits}

Let's go back to last week when I actually MADE the kombucha. A fellow homeschooling friend had far too many SCOBYs (that gorgeous thing floating on the top that reminds me of a placenta for some reason...I love it...stands for Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast) and gave me two. Bless her.

I made kombucha consistently about 5 years ago. Until I got mold on my MASSIVE, gorgeous, precious SCOBY. She was SO big. I had a funeral for her in my garden. I was heartbroken. So I stopped making it.

Then an instagram post made by a friend inspired me to start back up again.

Ready for the steps?

Directions

1. Heat 6 cups of filtered water (doesn't need to be boiling, but very hot!)

2. Add 1/2 cup sugar and stir until dissolved

3. Add 4 black tea bags and allow to steep until cool

4. Remove tea bags and add 1 cup of starter tea (the tea from another homemade batch, which a SCOBY would be sitting in....I've used store-bought kombucha before)

5. If using multiple jars, add sweetened tea to jars

6. Add SCOBY to jar(s)

7. Cover with a coffee filter and secure

8. Store in a warm, dark place for over one week

As the days go on, you'll see a beautiful white layer forming on the top of the tea. THAT is a new SCOBY! YES! A new one is created with every batch! So you can see how there are always SCOBYs to share once you start making your own.

Back to today.

It had been 9 days of fermenting and I could see the carbonation happening and, to be honest, I just wanted to drink the whole thing.

I decided to try adding essential oils, which I've never done before. {oh dōTERRA how I wish you were in my life back then!}

I picked Tangerine and Grapefruit and put one drop of each in an empty mason jar.

Then I poured my home brewed kombucha into my empty mason jar. Now, some would say to allow the mixture to sit for another two days, but one whiff and I couldn't help it. Between myself and my boys, we polished off the whole jar. {SO GOOD}

Time to make a new batch.