Kombucha is great anytime of year but as the leaves turn and the temperatures drop we find ourselves craving the flavors of the season. We hope you love the warming flavors of our Cranberry Spice Kombucha as much as we do!
It’s that time of year. The leaves are changing, the temps are dropping and I can’t believe we are less than a month away from Thanksgiving! Did you know Wisconsin is the leading producer of cranberries and produces over 50% of the nation’s total crop?! Well, now you do!
We’re lucky to call this great state home and have been seeing tons of cranberries popping up at the farmer’s market this month. Ready for a confession? We’re in our 30s and neither of us can ever remember eating an actual cranberry. Sure, we’ve had cranberry sauce and cranberry juice but the actual fruit? Nope!
That all changed last weekend when we brought a bag home from the market. While cranberries are just fine on their own, I knew they’d be perfect for flavoring kombucha. So to celebrate the season, we have come up with a cranberry spice kombucha recipe for you! This one will take you from now to Thanksgiving and all the way through Christmas. It just tastes like the holidays! Be sure to bring a bottle or two to share around the table!
For this recipe, we put the infusion method of flavoring kombucha to work. In our house, the infusion method means adding flavoring after you finish the first fermentation (1F) but before you bottle for second fermentation (2F). Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links.
To make our cranberry spice kombucha, you’ll need
- 64oz finished unflavored kombucha
- 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
- 6 whole cloves
- 2 cinnamon sticks, cracked
- 1″ fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
- glass jar big enough to hold everything
- cloth or coffee filter to cover jar
- rubber band
This recipe is easy to follow. Put the cranberries, cloves, cinnamon sticks and ginger in the jar. Pour in the kombucha and stir it up really good. Cover with a tight weave cloth (a piece of an old t-shirt works great) and secure with a rubber band. Let sit at room temperature for 72 hours.
After 72 hours, stir up the mixture really good again and then strain and enjoy!
If you’re like us and prefer your kombucha on the fizzy side, you’ll need to do a second fermentation (2F). You’ll need four 16oz bottles for this recipe. We use these flip top bottles and they work great. We generally 2F this recipe for 5-7 days* and then move to the refrigerator before drinking.
*We ALWAYS recommend putting glass containers in a box or plastic bin in case of explosion (during the 2F). Not only will an explosion make a huge mess, but could seriously injure someone if they are nearby. Please heed this warning.
Cranberry Spice Kombucha
Ingredients
- 64 ounces finished kombucha
- 1 1/2 cups cranberries halved
- 6 whole cloves
- 2 cinnamon sticks cracked
- 1 inch ginger peeled and roughly chopped
Instructions
-
Add cranberries, cloves, cinnamon sticks and ginger to a glass jar
-
Add the kombucha to the jar
-
Stir it up really good
-
Let sit for 72 hours
-
Strain and enjoy
-
For a fizzy kombucha, bottle after straining and let stand for an additional 5-7 days before transferring to the refrigerator
>PIN FOR LATER!<
Happy fall and happy kombucha making!
Great pictures! How long does the kombucha last in the refrigerator before it goes bad? Or because its fermented can it last a while? Thanks for sharing!
Kombucha lasts a pretty long time in the fridge. We’ve left some sit for several months without any problem.
Do you remove the scoby when you put the flavoring in?
Yes, remove the SCOBY before moving on to flavoring.
This is so good. After straining out the cranberries, can I eat them in oatmeal or salad?
Yes, absolutely! Lots of goodness on those cranberries! Glad you enjoyed it, we do too!
How bitter is this? I see that you aren’t adding any sweetener? Do the cranberries sweeten through the fermentation process (sitting 72 hours), or is this a drink that will only be palatable to those who can handle natural cranberry bitterness?
Likewise, how sweet vs. vinegary/acidic is the “finished kombucha” you added to this? (Like is the kombucha something which finished over a 7 or 10 day ferment, or did you cut it shorter to have a sweeter brew to balance out the cranberries. Does this recipe work better with a sweeter kombucha brew, or a more vinegary/acidic one?
Finally, any reasoning behind doing the cranberry fermentation time aerobically (covered with a cloth), as opposed to anaerobically (like with the jar topped with a airlock)?
Thanks for the recipe and any other thoughts!
We did not add any sweetener and our finished kombucha is pretty balanced..if anything errors slightly on the vinegary side. Our kombucha generally ferments for 12-14 days because we live in a cooler climate. I would recommend brewing as your normally would.
I wouldn’t say this kombucha is bitter at all but it does have sourness from the cranberries. The spice portion of it is what balances everything out and gives it that true cranberry spice holiday taste. You could do the 2F anaerobically if you’d like – let us know what you think!
Nice , I might have to try that on my next batch! I’ve been adding juice but it didn’t occur to me to add the berries or other fruit for infusion between the two stages. I love making my own kombucha because it’s frugal – I can make a gallon for what it would cost to buy one bottle in the store, and I like my own better!
Also, the grolsch bottles should eliminate the risk of explosion, since they let air escape before they would explode the bottle. Handy little bottles!
Great recipe!
Making your own kombucha is definitely frugal and like you said, it tastes better because we cater the fermentation to our taste preferences. Hope you like this recipe, happy holidays! We love your website!
I recently blended the largest bag of cranberries I could find, and added kombucha and a small amount of water to make two 32 oz bottles of the mash. I also added 2 T of sugar to each bottle as food for the buch, and have stored them in the fridge until my kombucha is ready. (I made the tea yesterday and will start tasting after 7 days.) I shake the bottles of cranberry mash every day. I generally do the 2F in a gallon jar for 2-3 days before bottling. The bottles are also kept in a box for 2-3 days longer and then refrigerated. Yes, I have had a few explosions, one with an apple mash and another with guava. I will definitely add the ginger, cinnamon and cloves to the cranberry in the gallon jars for the 2F. Thank you for the recipe.