This delightfully floral Lavender Kombucha recipe, made with a green tea starter and a second fermentation process, is a fantastic way to savor the sweet bliss of summer. It has a perfect light fizz, combined with the benefits of lavender and loads of probiotics, making it a refreshing drink you’ll enjoy all season! Best of all, this flavored kombucha recipe only requires a few ingredients and is quick to put together.

If you want the perfect fermented drink recipe for your health, happiness and serenity, then lavender kombucha is your man! Or woman… Or both, thinking about it, because it combines probiotics and vitamins, essential oils and folic acid… Well, it’s many things, but they are all good for you. And the taste is like the nectar of the Gods, but with an extra, delicate, floral and soothing flavor.

Kombucha apparently comes from China, and it spread to Western countries through Russia first and Germany next, and it’s a fresh, fermented drink with amazing health and healing properties, great for summer parties. Lavender, of course, has the most heavenly and fresh fragrance ever, and a list of medicinal properties to fill a book.

Lavender kombucha takes a few steps to make, and some time. But once you learn how to make it, and you acquire the skills (and a “scoby”), you’ll never stop making it. The recipe is coming straight after a look at its properties.

Lavender Kombucha’s Properties – Why It’s So Good for You!

Lavender kombucha mixes the healing, soothing and refreshing properties of a traditional twice fermented drink, and of lavender, with its essential oils.

Fermentation gives you lots of health benefits, with probiotics, and you will add the healing properties of the essential oils of lavender (and green tea). Put shortly, lavender kombucha is good for:

1. Your digestive health

Probiotics: these come from the fermentation of kombucha, and they are beneficial bacteria that support gut health, aid digestion, giving you a balanced microbiome.

Acids: it contains acetic, gluconic, and glucuronic acids, great to detoxify the liver and improve digestion.

2. Antioxidant properties

Polyphenols: kombucha made from tea contains antioxidants that protect your cells and DNA from free radicals.

Lavender: it has additional antioxidants, making kombucha even stronger.

3. Your mental well-being

Lavender: it reduces stress and it promotes relaxation.

Kombucha: scientific studies show that kombucha has mood-enhancing properties, probably thanks to the B-vitamin and probiotics it contains.

4. Anti-inflammatory effects

Both kombucha and lavender have anti-inflammatory properties, and their combination is a match made in heaven.

5. Your immune system

Probiotics: having a healthy gut microbiome is crucial for a strong immune system.

Vitamins: kombucha contains vitamins, especially B group vitamins and vitamin C, which support immune function.

6. Detoxification

Glucuronic acid: kombucha contains glucuronic acid, which helps your liver remove toxins.

Lavender: this plant also has detoxifying properties, so, put 2 and 2 together…

7. Your skin health

Antioxidants and anti-inflammatories: they improve skin health by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation.

Probiotics and yeast: a healthy gut can contribute to clearer skin and reduce conditions like acne.

8. Its floral and refreshing flavor

Adding lavender to kombucha gives you an exquisite floral flavor, excellent for a fresh drink.

9. It may have antimicrobial properties

Scientific studies suggest that kombucha may have antimicrobial properties, to fend off harmful bacteria and pathogens.

And now you know why lavender kombucha is your health’s best friend, let’s meet another special “friend” you may not know yet – the “scoby”.

SCOBY – a Friend for Life!

To make kombucha, with lavender or without, you will need a scoby, which is the acronym for symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. It is actually a living thing, like the cultures you use to make yogurt, and once you use it, you can store it away and use it again, and again, and again…

It looks like a gelatinous, or even slimy pancake, or a floppy and squishy disk, and it has a pale brownish color. It is very soft to the touch and quite wettish, but it doesn’t break easily, the colony of yeast and bacteria (probiotics) keeps tightly together.

You can make one, but it’s quite a long process, so your best choice is to buy a scoby, which will cost you about $10. But it’s a good investment, because it will last forever if you treat it well.

When you buy one, it will come with what’s known as a “scoby hotel”, a jar with an airtight lid and a liquid (scoby tea). Just seal it back into it when you have finished using it, and keep it in the refrigerator, where it will sleep till you need this little friend next!

And now, on to the recipe of lavender kombucha!

What You Need

You will need quite a few instruments to prepare your lavender kombucha at home, so, make sure you have all these!

• A scoby (which is also an ingredient)
• A big 1 gallon (3.8 liter) glass jar
• A wooden spoon
• A saucepan
• A funnel
• 6 750ml glass bottles with seal (better if dark)
• A thin nylon strainer
• A thin stainless steel strainer
• A cotton cheesecloth
• A rubber band

List of Ingredients

Of course, you will also need these ingredients…

• A scoby
• Natural mineral water (5 liters to be safe)
• 6 tablespoons of dried lavender buds
• 2 tablespoons of green tea (or black tea is fine, but less healthy)
• 250 grams (1 cup) of golden cane sugar

And now, we can start with the first phase of our recipe. I have broken it up in stages, so it becomes simpler and clearer to you.

Stage 1 – Prepare Green Tea Brew

The very first step is to prepare the lavender brew you will need for the fermentation, before you add the scoby. And here is how to do it.

• Put 500 ml (2 cups) of water in a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
• Then, switch it off, and add 2 tablespoons of green tea.
• Let it brew for 10 minutes.
• In a gallon jar (4.0 liters ca.), add 250 grams (1 cup) of cane sugar.
• Place a stainless steel strainer on top of the jar.
• …and pour half of the green tea brew, filtering it through the strainer.
• Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar has fully dissolved.
• Pour the other half of the brew, still using the strainer.
• Pour spring water (natural mineral water, if you wish) into the jar reaching 3/4^th of it (3 liters in total). The brew is lukewarm at this stage.

It is now time to add the scoby…

Stage 2 – The First Fermentation

It is now time to start the first fermentation process of your lavender kombucha.

If you already have some kombucha made and set aside, you can pour it in to fill the gallon jar – it will accelerate the process. Otherwise, fill it with more spring water. Don’t reach the very top, leave a few inches (for the scoby).

Place the scoby in the jar; make sure your hands are clean any time you handle it.

Always keep the scoby on the same side! Never flip it upside down when you move it from one brew to another and back into its “hotel”.

Cover the jar with a cotton cheesecloth, and fasten it with a rubber band.

Keep it at room temperature and never in direct sunlight, for 5 to 15 days.

Taste the kombucha after the fifth day, and when it gets the balance of sweet and sour that you like, it is time to move on to the second fermentation phase!

Stage 3 – The Lavender Flavoring

Once you have decided that your kombucha has the right flavor for you, it is time to add the lavender. You need to do this as you start the second fermentation.

You will need about 100 ml of lavender syrup for each 750 ml bottle of kombucha you intend to make, so, with 4 gallons, you will need 6.

Pour 600 ml of water in a saucepan.

Bring it to the boil.

Turn off the fire.

Add 6 tablespoons of dried lavender flowers.

Wait for 10 minutes.

Filter the lavender flowers with a thin strainer.

Allow the brew to cool.

Now we can move on to the final stage.

Stage 4 – Second fermentation – Here`s where the magic begins

It is in the second fermentation phase that you add the lavender flavoring, and it is also the last stage of this kombucha recipe.

• Prepare 6 750 ml bottles, better if in dark glass.
• Pour 100 ml of the cooled lavender brew in each bottle.
• Now, remove the scoby from the jar. Place it back in its “hotel” and its original kombucha, and seal well.
• Place it back in the refrigerator.
• Strain all the kombucha from the jar using a very thin nylon strainer.
• Pour the kombucha in each bottle, with a funnel, to the beginning of the neck. It still needs some air for the second fermentation.
• Seal the bottles.
• Place them in a place away from direct light and at room temperature.
• Wait for 2 to 4 days.
• Then place the bottles in the refrigerator.

When it’s cool and fresh, you can finally drink your homemade lavender kombucha!

Make and Drink Lavender Kombucha and You’ll Feel in Heaven!

Making lavender kombucha at home is a longish process, but it is worthwhile and that’s also why I gave you a recipe for 6 bottles, so you can prepare it once, and enjoy it for months! And all that time, it will work miracles for your health, and every sip will be a step in heaven!