Here is my ever-growing list of flavor combinations and I’m continually updating it. I honestly have yet to be disappointed in a batch. This year I hope to experiment more with spice and heat…so far I’ve mainly used fruit in combination with herbs.
Hope the list helps you – but let me first give you some ideas of where to find flavors:
- fresh fruit
- bottled juices & concentrates
- frozen fruit & frozen juice concentrate
- dehydrated fruits
- steeped tea bag flavorings
- herbs, spices, and edible flowers
- chiles and peppers
Giving exact recipes is pretty much impossible, as each batch of your first ferment will taste a bit different from the last, more or less sweet, more or less tart, so balancing that with a certain quantity of flavoring will be an individual thing and how large your bottles are. You just have to taste your F1, add your flavoring, taste it and go from there. It’s pretty easy to get the hang of it once you have a few batches under your belt.
In general, I use is 2-3 ounces of fruit flavoring – either pureed, chopped, or juiced per 32 ounce bottle. If the flavoring is purchased, and ‘unsweetened’ then I’ll taste the kombucha/flavoring combination and possibly add more fruit, and/or a teaspoon of granulated sugar, or simple syrup (a liquid mix of sugar & water, heated until dissolved in a 1:1 ratio, then stored in the refrigerator to keep fresh).
A thought about anticipating how flavors will marry: If the first ferment is more tart, then adding another tart flavor profile will be – more tart. You might want to use something more naturally sweet to create a nice balance.
I’ll keep adding on to this list but here’s some of what we’ve tried so far.
Happy Brewing!
- Strawberry + Basil
- Cranberry + Apple
- Mojito
- Mixed Berries + Fresh Ginger
- Pineapple + Peach
- Orange + Elderflower
- Grapefruit + Mint
- Black Cherry + Berry
- Canteloupe or Honeydew + Lavendar
- Passionfruit + Mango
- Strawberry Mojito
- Asian Pear + Ginger
- Watermelon + Mint
- Apple + Lingonberry
- Aronia Berry + Basil
