The Best Kombucha Brew Kit: Build Your Own!

Why not a pre-made kit?

Most starter kits only come with one glass jar, a SCOBY, and enough tea and sugar to make a single batch of kombucha. Those are such affordable ingredients that you're really just paying for someone to package them in a cool box with instructions — and you still have to buy a bunch of other materials (not included) to really get brewing.

If you're new to brewing, your instructions are free right here at YouBrewKombucha.com. Buying your own materials is the cheapest and best way to do it if you're serious about brewing kombucha. Most of these are readily available at grocery stores, but since people always ask what Ange's favorite materials are, here are links to buy them online — helpful whether you're brand new or upgrading your setup.

Basic materials

• 1-gallon glass jar — save even more by buying a 4-pack. Not sure what makes a good vessel? Read the brewing-vessel guide →
• French press — on the pricier side, but Ange uses hers for coffee too and it's great. You could also save money by using any pot to boil water and steep your tea, then use a strainer to get the leaves out.
• Fine-weave, unbleached cotton cloth — but if you have a spare clean old t-shirt, save your money and cut it up to make your covers! Bandanas or coffee filters work well too.
• Rubber bands — the thick ones that come "free" on bunches of asparagus at the grocery store are the perfect size for brew vessels. No one should have to pay for rubber bands, but the link's here in case you need it.
• Stick-on temperature strips — not required if you already have a kitchen thermometer, but great for tracking average room temperature as your brew ferments. Temperature control 101 →
• Flip-top bottles — a perfect place to start. Read the in-depth guide to choosing great bottles →
• Funnel — this pack comes with a little strainer you can use if you want to strain fruit pulp after second fermentation.
• English Breakfast loose-leaf black tea — organic pick: Positively Tea · non-organic pick: Stash. These are great deals for a pound of quality tea — no kit will give you this much. More on the best teas for kombucha →
• Organic cane sugar — Ange prefers Kirkland brand (cheaper with a Costco membership); C&H cane sugar works well too. More on the best sugars for kombucha →
• A SCOBY — Ange likes this one. Read more about how to acquire a quality SCOBY, or grow your own from a store-bought bottle of unflavored kombucha.

Advanced materials / accessories

None of these are required for brewing kombucha — they're the items Ange uses to take her brewing to the next level.

• The Kombucha Crafter's Logbook — Ange created this custom tracker for your home-brewed kombucha adventures, so you can make each batch your best yet. Space for every detail from ingredients to tasting notes, through first and second fermentation to the delicious final result. She modeled it on her own journals from years of building kombucha knowledge. Want to try batch-tracking before you buy? There's also a free printable brew worksheet — a simple two-sheet tracker, separate from the book.
• Electric hot water kettle — or just use any pot you already own! Ange used this one for almost 2 years; very reliable and affordable.
• Loose-leaf tea steeping pitcher — here's another good option and a smaller one for smaller volumes. Ange reaches for a 100-oz pitcher over the French press when steeping enough tea for 3 gallons at once. She upgraded from a plastic pitcher to these glass ones — glass takes boiling water without the fill-halfway workaround (you can even boil water in them on the stove, lid off). Really want the OG plastic pitcher from the high-volume video? It's here — great for cold-brew steeping, but the glass ones do both.
• Probe kitchen thermometer — not necessary if you have the stick-on strips, but they serve different jobs: the probe checks your liquid's temperature before the SCOBY and starter go in; the stickers monitor room temperature during the ferment. Precise, durable, and doubles as a meat thermometer — not a unitasker.
• Small strainer — good for straining yeasty bits before bottling, or pulp and baby SCOBYs out of bottles before drinking.
• Rubber grippers — ensure a super-tight seal on bottles with screw-on lids (like reused store-bought kombucha bottles).
• pH test strips — not necessary, and pH can't tell you when your brew is done (more on that misconception) — but if you're curious about pH, these are the strips Ange bought.
• pH meter — same note as the strips, plus buffer solution to calibrate it. How to use it →
• A blender — Ange prefers to puree fresh fruit for flavoring and uses a Nutri Ninja: pricey, but it purees perfectly, has small vessels for small batches, and makes fabulous nut butters besides. Ninja has other affordable options — any blender you like will work just fine.
• Filtered water, your way — any filtered water of your choice works beautifully for kombucha. No special system needed. Water 101 →
• Electric citrus juicer — great for juicing big batches of citrus.
• Ol' fashioned citrus juicer — for when Ange isn't lazy enough to use the electric one.
• Juicer/extractor — totally not necessary, but if you like juicing anyhow, the Breville Juice Fountain is great for high-volume juicing and pulpier, fibrous fruit: greens, pineapple, ginger, beets, apples, carrots and more, freshly juiced instead of pureed.
• Ceramic-top flip-top bottles or 32-oz flip-tops — for when you want a bottle without a plastic lid (gifts, special occasions) or a bigger pour.
• Activated charcoal sachet — super helpful for neutralizing acidic, pungent odors from vessels and SCOBY hotels without releasing chemicals that hinder fermentation. Watch: tips for smelly brew vessels →
• Germ Guardian air purifier — works like the charcoal sachets, but uses UV light to neutralize odors instead.
• Small sticker labels — different colors help you remember different flavors. Fair warning: these are very small, sized to fit on kombucha caps (Ange has very small handwriting). Amazon has larger options if you prefer side-of-bottle labels.
• Brew heater — helpful during colder months: keeps the gallon jar warm (not hot) to encourage fermentation and avoid moldy brews. Seasonal brewing →
• Mini keg / pressurized growler — great for force-carbonating and keeping things fizzy. Ange uses the copper 64-oz one for brewery take-home beer (stays carbonated for weeks) and it carbonates kombucha in a couple of days — grab CO₂ cartridges, and strain your liquid first, since cleaning pulp out of it is a pain in the rear. More affordable option here.
• Bonus: interested in homemade CBD kombucha? The how-to guide + recommendations →

Full disclosure

Ange uses affiliate links, so she may get a small commission of Amazon/Hemplucid's profit if you decide to purchase her recommended products — it won't cost you any more than you'd normally pay. If you feel comfortable purchasing from these links, thank you! She's gone through a lot of trial and error (and quite a bit of $$) to find reliable products that save everyone money, and she'd never recommend anything she can't vouch for in her own home brewing. This list keeps getting updated as she discovers better, more affordable products. Otherwise, feel free to purchase from wherever you like. No hard feelings — you do what you've gotta do for your bucha. :)