Koffucha: How to make Coffee Kombucha

What is KOFFUCHA? How to make Coffee Kombucha ☕️

Roasty and fuzzy. If you’re a lover of coffee like myself, then you got to try coffee kombucha. Packed with probiotics and loaded with caffeine, this just might be your new morning “wake me up.”

I’m Trent Musho and this is the Bru Sho. Let’s make coffee.

What is KOFFUCHA?

Koffucha = coffee + kombucha, whatever you want to call it. This is one version of kombucha that was always a little mystical to me. As a big fan of all things coffee, and someone who makes their own kombucha at home, I had to try this out for myself.

I had heard of Big Booch making a version, and I’ve even read about it in some books, but I can never get my hands on it. Finally, I decided to go ahead and make some for myself. And it’s certainly one of the more interesting drinks I’ve ever made.

If you’ve ever had Manhattan specialist espresso soda, then you might’ve had a similar experience. To me, it’s an odd combination of sweet coffee and a kiss a carbonation that on the first sip, brings you to a pause. But the more you drink it, it really starts to grow on you.

Koffucha is a lot like that with the added benefits of probiotics that are great for your gut biome and health. And while it brings two levels of acidity from the coffee and the kombucha, with the timing just right, you’ll we sipping on something really special.

Before we get started. Please take a moment to like this video and subscribe to my channel for more simple fermentation videos like this. Now let’s Booch!

I’m making a half gallon batch, but feel free to scale this up to any size you want. This is not something I drink every day. And if you’re looking to just experiment with trying this out, then start small. To begin, you’ll need a healthy kombucha SCOBY or symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. This is what gives life to the drink and creates fermentation that makes the probiotics.

If you don’t have a SCOBY, then check out my how to make kombucha video, where I go over growing SCOBY from a single bottle of kombucha. It’s seriously so easy. It’s something you can have going forever as a side fermentation.

Before peeling off some of that SCOBY to build up, we first need to make some cold brew coffee as our base. As I pointed out in the Jun video training a kombucha SCOBY to ferment other liquids can be difficult. However, in my experience making this Koffucha, the SCOBY had no ill effects when placed into coffee.

I’m not sure if it’s something in the coffee, the acidity, or if it’s because we’re not changing the sugar source, but in the few attempts of making this recipe, I’ve had good success with just tossing it in.

For the cold brew, you can use whatever brand or type you want. Either Starbucks, cold brew or nice hand-picked coffee that you grind yourself either way will taste great. I’m going to go with the pre-ground stuff, but this is definitely one area where you can get creative and try different styles of coffee to see what flavors you like.

I know coffee beans have a ton of varying flavors from fruity to chocolate, to vanilla and beyond. So have fun. As far as making the coffee, any method works. As long as it adds up to about a half gallon to fill out our fermenter jar.

I find the easiest ways to make cold brew in my fridge in one of these half gallon water pitchers. For every half gallon of water, I had 50 grams of coffee, then I just mix it well so it’s all incorporated. And stick it in the fridge overnight. This makes a strong cold brew. So if you want less intense coffee flavor, you can dial this back.

The next day you just need to strain it out. I use a French press or these coffee socks work well. They stick a little longer to filter out. The better you filter the better the final product will be.

Any leftover coffee grounds might reaction with the SCOBY, or he could accidentally get some coffee grounds in your final product, which can be upsetting for your stomach.

If you do make hot coffee, just make sure to cool it down before moving on to the next step.

Let’s talk about sugar, the main source for the SCOBY, just like what the regular kombucha, I’m going to use cane sugar. You can really go with any sugar source, as long as it’s not a sugar free alternative. The sugar is needed for the fermentation, so you really can’t skip out on this.

If you do change the sugar source from whatever you used in the regular kombucha, you might have to gradually transition the sugars like I did in the Jun video, swapping out the old sugar source for the new a little bit each week. You don’t want to shock the SCOBY and leave it wondering what is it supposed to eat?

So for the sugar, I use 50 grams of sugar for the whole batch. You can put it in a smaller container with a little bit of coffee and nuke it until it dissolves to make it easier to mix it.

Then just add it back into the big batch of coffee. Now, pour in your sweetened coffee. Have you ever tried Koffucha? What are some unique kombucha based drinks you’ve had?

Now it’s time to take your SCOBY peel off a good portion and put it in the fermenter. I think it’s probably a good idea to pour in a small bit of the starter liquid as well to get this baby going off faster. Give it a good stir to mix everything in and then place a napkin or cloth on top with a rubber band. Don’t seal it with a normal lid.

The SCOBY needs oxygen access in order to perform, the napkin gives a good amount of breathability without letting any nasty bacteria or bugs in. With all that put together, place it on the counter out of direct sunlight for three to five days, it could take longer or shorter depending on how warm your room is.

I check back in every day or so to make sure things are tasting good, taking a small sample with a straw and tasting it for the overall acidity. This is extremely important. If you let it go too long, you’ll have a super acidic coffee drink that is unbearable to get down.

If that happens, just dump the coffee, saving the SCOBY in a little bit of starter liquid to try again. There’s no coming back from Koffucha that’s too acidic. But when the taste is to your liking, it’s time to bottle it up. If you want a more flat kombucha, you don’t need to do anything special. Just fill up a bottle and toss it in the fridge.

But if you want a little fizz and some additional flavor, you can add some ingredients for flair to create a second fermentation or F2 in the bottle.

F2 is when you add more sugars will kick up fermentation again, creating CO2 and thus pressure in the bottle. This can be as easy as adding some more sugar, a half teaspoon or about two grams is a good starting point.

I recommend using a agave or maple as it dissolve a little easier. You can also add some vanilla extract or mint to give the coffee a little boost in the flavor department. Just add a little bit and experiment with the flavors until you get it the way you want.

As always, I recommend using kombucha bottles that will allow you to see the pressure buildup on the caps, letting you know they’re fizzy. Flipped up bottles also work great. Just please make sure you use fermentation grade bottles. So you don’t have any explosions on your hands.

Once the bottles are filled, sets them on the counter for another two to three days until you see pressure on the lids or you can’t wait any longer thaen pop them in the fridge to cool down. And remember to leave a little starter liquid and the SCOBY behind for future batches. And once the bottles are cooled down, this coffee kombucha is ready to drink.

Koffucha is like a jolt to the system. You get a punch of caffeine and the acidity from the kombucha will zap some energy into you for sure. I get dark roasty flavors in the coffee and a slight fizzle carbonation that helps make this a little lighter.

On ice, this is a perfect morning sipper. If you’re not a fan of black coffee, you can totally add some milk to this, to knock down the harshness or bitterness from the coffee. It will also dial back the acidity a little bit too, but just know that you’re probably lose most of the carbonation if you add milk.

The first go around might not be peak koffucha. You may have to let it go a few cycles to get the flavors just right, but when you’re done filling up your bottles from the previous batch, just whip up some more swing coffee and pour on top of your SCOBY to start a new round.

If you don’t want to make some for awhile, you can keep your SCOBY alive by leaving in the fermentor jar with a good amount of sweetened coffee. I’ve kept mine in there for weeks if not months before making another batch with no problems.

If you’re a fan of coffee, kombucha, or a fan of both, it’s definitely worth trying out. Hopefully this video gives you some inspiration to try something new. You can use this video as a jumping off point and tweak the recipe to your liking or make something completely new.

This was fun to make, and it definitely gets me excited to experiment more with kombucha. There seems to be endless ideas of what you can make with a SCOBY. And if you have any great ideas, I’d love to hear from you in the comments. And maybe I’ll try experimenting with them in future videos. Thanks for watching and happy brewing. And while you’re here, why not check out one of my other videos?