Kombucha coffee makes for a healthy afternoon pick me up. Get your caffeine kick and probiotics in one go!
If you’ve been brewing your own kombucha for a while you’ll soon find that you have a lot of SCOBY. One way to use up some of the excess is to start experimenting with different kombucha starter liquids. I owe this delightful kombucha coffee to my dearest husband, who asked ‘If you can make kombucha from black tea, why can’t you make it from coffee?’
What is kombucha coffee?
Kombucha is traditionally usually made with brewed tea. Kombucha coffee is made with brewed coffee.
What does kombucha coffee taste like?
If you use a good quality dark roast coffee like I did then your kombucha coffee should have a deep aromatic coffee / chocolate flavor. The final taste heavily relies on the quality of the coffee you’ve used.
How can you make Kombucha with coffee?
With 3 simple ingredients it’s pretty easy actually.
You will need:
- 4 cups / 1 quart freshly brewed (really strong) plain coffee
- ½ cup sugar
- Kombucha scoby
See full instruction in the recipe card below!
What kind of coffee is best for making Kombucha Coffee?
4 cups plain coffee
OR
2 cups of plain coffee diluted with 2 cups hot water. If like myself you have a Nespresso machine ; 4 Nespresso Lungo capsules should make 2 cups of coffee.
I do not recommend using instant coffee.
Special considerations for the Kombucha Coffee SCOBY
- The SCOBY used for brewing kombucha coffee will take on the dark color and taste of the coffee.
- Kombucha coffee does not re produce baby SCOBY as with tea. Most SCOBYs won’t grow at all without the specific nutrients in tea leaves.
- Do not re-use the kombucha coffee SCOBY for making kombucha tea.
- When you’re finished brewing kombucha coffee place the SCOBY back into a container with starter liquid (strong kombucha tea) and sweet black tea. This gives the SCOBY a chance to refresh itself from the nutrients in the tea, and rebuild its energy using the sugar in the liquid.
How to serve Kombucha Coffee
Serve kombucha coffee at room temperature or cold. Do not heat the kombucha coffee, doing so will destroy most of the beneficial yeasts and bacteria.
Kombucha Coffee brewing tips
- You may find recipes on the internet calling for vinegar or starter kombucha. You do not need any of these! The coffee is acidic enough to create a habitable environment for a SCOBY to live and thrive.
- Taste test your kombucha coffee everyday from the 5th day. Some folks say that kombucha coffee ferments faster than kombucha tea. I did not find that to be true. Mine was ready at about day 9 of fermentation in the Autumn. When you have the desired flavor refrigerate it immediately. Coffee contains oils in it which can make it go rancid.
- To make another batch of kombucha coffee simply remove the SCOBY from kombucha tea and proceed according to the directions in the recipe card below.
Kombucha coffee makes for a great afternoon pick me up without the hassle of brewing a full pot of coffee or making a single espresso.
Will you give it a try?
Kombucha Coffee
Instructions
- In a glass or ceramic container, dissolve the sugar in the hot coffee.
- Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Make sure the coffee is free of any leftover coffee grounds.
- Add the kombucha scoby and cover the jar with a tight-weave cloth or coffee filter, secured with a tight rubber band.
- Ferment your kombucha coffee in a cool dark spot for at least 5 days.
- After 5 days, start tasting the kombucha daily using a straw.
- The kombucha coffee is ready when it tastes pleasant to you. Not too sweet and not too tart.
This looks delicious! I’ve never tried this flavor before, it seems like something that would definitely be super fun to make! Can’t wait to try this one at home. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!
Billy it was definitely a fun experiment that turned out great! Please come back and let me know how you liked it!
I’ve been making my own kombucha for 6 years now but never tried kombucha coffee. I’m going to try it this week. I was wondering how do you like to flavor it once done? And do you do a 2nd ferment? I saw some people will add stevia or extract to the 2nd ferment. Also, do you add any type of milk or drink black?
You’re instructions are really good and clear. Thank you. Why do people add ACV to their booch? That is a nasty little tip that needs to stop
Hi Liz, I never knew adding ACV to booch was a thing.. lol I’m curious as to why one would do that as well. With the Kombucha coffee I don’t do a second ferment and I don’t flavour it. We like it straight up on ice. Of course that’s all down to personal taste so if you do flavour it let me know what you chose and how you liked it.
Hi Krystal, I am trying the recipe at the moment but unsure of the final result. Do I need to use a new Scooby when making a new batch and wait for the one I just use to be detox? . I’ll bottle the kombucha today not sure about how the flavour has to be… I’ll let you know. Thanks for the recipe.
I’m not sure I understand the question completely. But you can re-use the same Scoby a few times before you need to toss it.
Sorry, little bit confusing. My question is if I can use the SCOBY straigh away for a new kombucha coffee or if better to put it on black tea and sugar to recover. The other question is: will the kombucha coffee be fizzy? Thanks Krystal
If you leave the kombucha coffee for a second ferment it should get fizzy. I usually don’t. I also tend to just use that kombucha coffee scoby once or twice before tossing. I came up with this recipe as a way to use up all the excess scoby I tend to grow so tossing and using a new one is no biggie. If you have a limited supply of Scoby then putting it back into black sugar tea can probably help ‘regenerate’ it but it won’t ever be like it was before. Hope that helps.
Hi Krystal, Since I have a couple of extra SCOBYs made from other batches I’m going to try Koffucha–I’m thrilled to find instructions with coffee capsules! I’m curious about your two cups of Nespresso-brewed Espresso–did you simply use 2 of the “long” espresso shots? I have a Dolce Gusto and typically brew a Lungo which is 120ml/.5 cups and am wondering if 2 of those would be enough? They seem comparable to me. Thx!
Hi Lulu – Koffucha – I just love that! I think it would be more like 4 Lungo capsules to make the 2 cups of coffee.
Thanks, Krystal. Good to know. It looks like I have to adjust down to a .5 liter jar to start with and will adjust accordingly.
I wish I was responsible for coming up with Koffucha but I’m not. 😉
Sounds great Lulu! Please let me know how your Koffucha turns out!
Hi Krystal, I’m starting my third .5 liter batch of Koffucha and have just tried a little of my completed Batch 1 on ice with milk (will try oat milk next time). Yum.
I hope you don’t mind my sharing some observations.
— Two Dolce Gusto Lungo capsules work perfectly for a .5 liter batch (along with extra filtered water). 120 ml was set aside from Batch 2 as starter for Batch 3. The cooling down part takes a long time, though.
— The 2F/second fermentation took longer than expected to build pressure and carbonation (I usually 2F in a plastic bottle and transfer to a glass flip-top bottle for 3F). Batch 2’s 2F went straight into a flip-top bottle and I plan to leave it for at least 5 days with burping in between
— The SCOBY developed an interesting layer of oil from the coffee and a baby SCOBY materialized with both batches.
— I use dates to help with the fizz factor. (Which may or may not be so great for the starter liquid)
— I was planning to start naming my SCOBYs after characters from the TV show Orphan Black and naturally had to name this SCOBY after the character Krystal 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences making Kombucha Coffee. I’m honoured to have a SCOBY named after me 🙂
Hi Krystal-
Thanks for the recipe! Trying it today. How long will this stay good once in the fridge?
Hi Leasa! Kombucha is supposed to last months in the fridge but I have found that any longer than a week and my homemade versions tend to start growing a new SCOBY.
I’m specifically asking about the coffee kombucha. Is that the one you are referring to for no longer than a week?
Yes.
Hi- I would like to try the coffee Kombucha- is there anything else I can use instead of sugar? Can I use honey? What would you recommend? (Would bacteria get the same nutrition needed from the honey?)
Hi the kombucha SCOBY needs to feed on sugar.