Copycat GT’s Gingerberry Kombucha. Make your homemade kombucha taste just like your store-bought favorites! Probiotic-rich and great for your gut!
You will never spend $5 on store-bought kombucha again!
When I first started writing about kombucha on my blog, I was fairly certain my words were falling on glazed-over eyes. It seemed as though no one had heard of the stuff.
For this reason, I was concerned while writing my cookbook, Delicious Probiotic Drinks, that the book was ill-timed.
The probiotic trend hadn’t really made widespread shockwaves, and it seemed as though much of the attention given to kombucha was concentrated in the Western states.
Was the public ready for a cookbook based entirely on fermented probiotic beverages? Who knew?
But slowly, I started seeing the signs that the trend was taking. While kombucha is a centuries-old elixir, known for its detoxification and probiotic qualities, it has only recently become a mainstream trend in the U.S..
About 8 months ago, I went for a road bike ride near the Sierra Buttes (middle of nowhere California), stopped in a tiny general store in a sparsely populated town, and noticed a huge variety of kombucha flavors in the drink refrigerator.
Of course, I bought one to feed my gut bugs.
Since then, micro ‘bucheries have been popping up in my neck of the woods, and two of my favorite coffee shops serve kombucha on tap.
Wildly awesome flavors like Espresso, Cherry Almond, and Lavender Lemon, no less.
Kombucha was featured in an Huffington Post article as one of those things we resistfully love, and in a Portlandia episode or twelve.
For those of you who live in the Western part of the U.S., none of this comes as a shock; but the prospect of the trend filtering through every crevice of the U.S. is exhilarating for a girl who wrote a book on it.
So if in the event you’ve taken to kombucha and are interested in turning your expensive habit into a cheap hobby, you can learn How to Make Homemade Kombucha by following my tutorial.
There are endless ways you can flavor kombucha to suit your palate, which brings me to my next point: Gingerberry.
Whenever I’m between batches of kombucha and choose to buy it from the store, I always gravitate towards GT’s Gingerberry.
I had a feeling you might be a Gingerberry junkie too, so for my most recent batch of home brew, I copy catted GT’s.
I simply added pure blueberry juice (you can also do pomegranate or a blueberry-pomegranate hybrid!), frozen blueberries, and fresh grated ginger to my homemade kombucha prior to bottling it for secondary fermentation.
Depending on the temperature of your home, let the bottles sit for 2 to 4 days at room temperature for secondary fermentation.
If your house is consistently below 70 degrees, I would recommend wrapping the bottles with an electric blanket or giving them some sort of insulation in order to ensure the kombucha gets fizzy.
The fizz is half the fun!
Do note: kombucha is not for everyone. Some people have mild allergic reactions to it, and there are still mixed reports on it in the science community. As always, I encourage you to use caution when brewing kombucha at home.
Copycat Gingerberry Kombucha
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups pure blueberry juice*
- ¼ cup fresh ginger peeled and grated
- 1 cup frozen blueberries
- 1 gallon scant homemade kombucha
Instructions
- Combine the juice, grated ginger, and kombucha in a large glass pitcher (this may need to be done in batches depending on the size of your pitcher). Stir well and pour into sanitized flip-cap bottles, filling the bottles 3/4 of the way up.
- Add several frozen blueberries to each bottle and before sealing them. Place bottles in a dark, warm place for 2 to 4 days to allow for secondary fermentation.
- Move bottles to your refrigerator and chill before opening. Note that the kombucha will continue to ferment while in the refrigerator, although the process will slow down.
- When ready to drink, carefully open a bottle (DO NOT SHAKE!), pointing the opening away from your face. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the ginger and blueberry pulp prior to drinking.
- Store kombucha in your refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Is it not necessary to add any additional sugar when doing a 2nd ferment? Or is the fruit giving it all the sugar it needs? I’m asking because a lot of other recipes I’ve seen say to add more sugar at this step. Thanks!
Hi Jory! I always add more sugar to a secondary fermentation, even if fruit is involved. If you’re letting it go another 2-4 days, I’d do 1/4 cup of sugar. Hope you enjoy!
So glad I found you’re blog. I wanna get into kombucha brewing. I love GTs ginger berry and trinity. I have pop top bottles from beer brewing yrs ago, can I use them? With kombucha is there risk of blowing up bottles? Thanks.
Hi Andrew! Flip cap bottles work great for brewing kombucha! I’d say you should be fine using them. I’ve never had a bottle of kombucha explode (save for the occasional fizz upon opening), but that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. Nevertheless, I’m confident in recommending flip cap bottles because it’s what I’ve used in all my years of kombucha brewing 🙂 Happy brewing!
Hi. I know this blog is for the brands who makes the best Kombucha beverages. I am introducing you our very own Qumba Kombucha that offers you the best Kombucha with it’s 2 flavors such as Hibiscus Blood Orange and Gingerberry. You must check our website so you can get and tase the best Kombucha we offer for you so you can maintain your good gut health as we powderized just like juice. Also, we make sure that we didn’t loses it’s healthiness and nutrients so you don’t have to worry.
https://qumbakombucha.com/
That’s great that you rode your bike to a tiny general store in California 8 months, but I don’t care. I shouldn’t have to scroll this much to get the recipe, this exact article is what people are talking about when they’re making fun of recipe pages.
I don’t think I should have to read comments like this, but we can’t always get our way, now can we, Joe?
Well, here it is 2019 and your words are prophetic. You can now buy kombucha everywhere. A recent trip to both Australia and New Zealand proves that it is booming even on the other side of the planet. But of course, making your own is the way to go, both because it is easy and delicious and because buying it in the grocery store gets very expensive, especially if you drink it every day. This recipe does a great job of duplicating one of GTs best flavors, so thanks for figuring it out! We love the fruity flavors spiced with the snap of ginger. So good! Keep on brewing!
Thanks so much for the sweet note, Neil! Happy brewing to you, too!
This kombucha flavor sounds so delicious! I’ve been looking around for some of the best sounding flavors so I can make a few batches soon! Thank you so much for sharing.
Hi! I’m so glad you wrote this post! Ecstatic actually. I’ve been brewing kombucha for about 5 months after my husbands cousins wife gave me a starter from her batch. GT’s Gingerberry has been my jam for awhile now and I’ve been playing around with fresh berries, ginger etc then I used straight Naked Blueberry juice, neither worked out flavor wise. I’m about to harvest my latest batch and I need to ask you a few questions…
When you say Blueberry juice do you mean to juice fresh blueberries or buy the all natural organic 100% Blueberry juice in the glass jars in the organic section of the supermarket? I just want to clarify. On the Gingerberry bottles it says there is kiwi juice in the batch…do you think that was used in lieu of sugar? Curious? Also how much of the fresh ginger do you put in each bottle? 1/4 cup for a gallon of kombucha…is that just a 1/2 tsp per bottle? I reuse my gingerberry bottles so that’s what I use.
Thanks so much for your advice and clarification!!
Does it matter what kind of juice you use? Does it have to be organic or does it need to be frozen or can it come from concentrate?
Also, Thanks for the recipes, I’m excited to try them out!
Hi there! The type of juice you use matters in the sense that the quality of the result will vary based on the juice. You don’t have to use organic, but I do recommend using a 100% juice that doesn’t have added sugar. I wouldn’t recommend using juice from concentrate 😉 Hope this helps! Enjoy!
Love and share the mother fungus!
I’m so happy to have found your blog and this recipe! I am just about to venture into the world of brewing kombucha myself but was trying to figure out how to flavor it so this helps tremendously! 🙂 Thank you for sharing!!
YES! Fermented foods are going to be all the rage of 2015, therefore everyone needs to go get a copy of your book, PRONTO.
I also need to stop being a lazy asshole and finally start brewing my own. I’ve been buying it every week for the past several months so I’d say it’s about time I turned to the buch bible that you were so kind to gift me with.
You have so many flavors I want to try and this one is definitely going to the top of the list!
I need to stop being a lazy asshole and drive a SCOBY down to you so that we can brew kombucha sisters! Yes to all the fermented foods in 2015 and beyond! P.S. I knew you’d love this post 😉
Julia, just made my first batch of kombucha and confused about how you mix with flavoring. For instance the grapefruit recipe… I already have my kombucha fermenting, can I add the grapefruit and rosemary to the second fermentation?
Thank you
Denise
Hi Denise, You got it! You mix any flavoring with the kombucha for secondary fermentation, leaving the scoby with some of the original kombucha in the jar. In this sense, you want to be sure the scoby doesn’t come into contact with the flavoring ingredients, it simply sits in the jar/jug with some unflavored kombucha. Simply pour the brewed kombucha (leaving some behind to keep the scoby moist) from the first fermentation into a pitcher with the flavor ingredients you’re adding. Stir everything together, pour it in bottles, seal, and leave at room temperature for the secondary fermentation for 2 to 3 days. After secondary fermentation is complete, place the bottles in your refrigerator and enjoy 🙂 Let me know if you have any other questions!
This looks too good! I’ve never had GT’s Kombucha but I brew my own and am always looking for recipes. Thanks!
You’re very welcome, Chelsea! Let me know if you ever have any questions.
I’m obsessed with kombucha and have been for years!! One of my first posts on my blog was about me opening kombucha in the middle of my cadaver course and it sprayed scoby everywhere! At work or school I was always given weird looks for drinking kombucha and a lot of, “what smells like vinegar in here?” haha.
Cheers to the scent of vinegar following us around 😉 Let’s start a micro ‘buchery!
This is such a pretty color! I really appreciate you putting the disclaimer in there, I think that’s really wise. I was shocked to read that kombucha is not recommended for breastfeeding mothers. I would never have thought it was a problem, but Dr. Hale lists it as an L5 in is book, Medications and Mother’s Milk. Anyway, good for you for putting the cautionary note there at the end.
I’m pretty good about keeping my fridge stocked with home-brewed kombucha, and pretty much the only time I ever go with store bought is when I’ve got a hankering for some gingerberry. I’m definitely going to try this out next time instead. Thank you!
You got it, sister! You’ll love it! xo