Fresh fruit is an easily available and delicious ingredient for kombucha during summer months. The aronia berries are at peak ripeness right now, and tonight I made 2 gallons of kombucha and added 1 gallon of fresh berries.
Aronia berries are uncommon in the PNW. The berries are not too sweet when ripe, are astringent, and are reported to be one of the most powerful antioxidant berries in the world. (They are rather similar to salal berries.)
My usual recipe for kombucha is 4 bags of green or white tea, and 1 cup of sugar for a gallon size vessel.
For this kombucha I use a 5-gallon glass jar, and, as you can see, the mother is bright red (and weighs about 10 lbs.).
Here is the batch ready to start fermenting. I put the berries in first, and sweet tea and place the mother over top, but these berries are floaters. After a few days they’ll begin to sink, and I’ll scoot them under the mother.
Using fresh fruit in kombucha speeds up the ferment, reducing the time by as much as one-third. (And it colors the mother depending on which fruit you use.)
Other fresh fruits that make tasty kombucha include raspberries, tamarind, blueberries, blackberries, rhubarb.
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live in green bay wis where are you getting berries already? have a place in antigo area. I have never picked them before. I know what they look like. but I was told that they wouldn’t be ripe till the first frost? aug. 20 thru sept 10th? I take aronia berry concentrate every day . has lowered my blood sugar 15 pts. also lowered my blood pressure . have a great day very day
I ordered and planted 1 aronia bush in our neighborhood community orchard in SE Seattle. It yields about 5 gallons of berries per season. I purchased the plant from Raintree Nursery in Morton, WA.
Thanks for the resource for Aronia, Favero. We are in Philomath, OR and have a large garden there. We get pretty chilly night winds off the coast, so I’m wondering whether we’d be a good microclimate for Aronia. Don’t know where you are in WA, but thought I’d ask. Generally, it doesn’t get below 10F in winter here, and that’s a really harsh winter, maybe once every 7 years. Anyway, if you have the time, I’d love any feedback.
Aronia is cold hardy to about –20°F. It will do very well in Philomath, OR.
Yea! Thanks, Favero. 🙂
Turtle Creek Gardens sell them from Delevan, WI, selling on Farmmatch.com
I found a great source for affordable Kombucha Cultures great customer service and an informative site http://www.royalkombucha.com
I just made their lavender kombucha from their recipe page … Awesome !!!
Happy Brewing