Today I will be sharing with you a kombucha kit gift to give to a foodie. Many of you have now seen on my SnapChat my newest obsession: Kombucha! Well today, I will not only show you my perfected recipe of making it, but also how you can package up a cute gift for gift giving.
I have a friend who was very curious to hear about how I make Kombucha and wanting to start it as a gift. She just got into med school and I thought it would be a good present to get her to congratulate her, but also to keep her hands busy over the summer before the crazy studying sets in!
To begin, I will share with you the supplies you will need for the gift kit:
| Item | Price (approx.) |
| 1. Clip Top Glass Preserve Bottle (preferably 1L, or two 500 mL) | $11.00 |
| 2. Mason Jar
Either a 1L or 2L jar – your kombucha SCOBY will expand over time so a large jar is probably best |
$3.00 |
| 3. Green or Black Tea | $3.00 |
| 4. Cheese cloth | $5.00 |
| 5. Kombucha Mother or SCOBY (from scratch) | Varies: $5 – $25 |
| 6. Raisins | $3.00 |
| 7. Raw Sugar | $2.00 |
| 8. Soda Water (optional) | $2.00 |
| 9. Directions & Flavor combination ideas | download |
| 10. Labels – fermentation #1 and #2 | |
| TOTAL COST | $34.00 |
Once you have the supplies, you can arrange them in a basket or box of choice. I used a small Tupperware container but you could also use an old box and glue paper to it to decorate.
There are two ways you can present the kombucha kit to the recipient. You can either purchase them a SCOBY or Mother that has been dehydrated and is ready to go with directions, however you will be spending $25.00 alone on the SCOBY. As an alternative, you can try either growing one from scratch or you can get one off of another friend. If you are in the Victoria area, I would be happy to share some of mine with you! The thing about SCOBY is that it grows with each batch of tea you make, so soon enough people will be begging to get it off their hands. So ask around, I’m sure you can find some from someone else making kombucha.
If you are giving your gift recipient a homemade Kombucha, make sure to give them directions. I also like to have labels to distinguish when I’ve made the batch of kombucha, and if it’s flavoured with anything. Based on how you want the kombucha to taste, you may also want to brew it twice.
For very thorough directions, there are lots on the web. I read a lot on
the Yum Universe page – she seems to know here stuff really well! She also teaches you how to candy out of the leftover SCOBY. Waste one waste not!
If had some fun and made some directions and labels below, based on the articles I read online these were the steps that worked the best for me. I think the location is key. Find a dark cool place to store your Kombucha as it is brewing otherwise it can start to ferment way faster or produce some spunky moldy bits, which no one wants.
One thing to definitely tell your gift recipient, mother SCOBY’s are so kooky looking! So keep that in mind when making your Kombucha. You can strain all the little floaty bits out though, and once diffused with flavours and soda water, it is so excellent.
Here are some great websites to follow if you are stuck:
Yum Universe: How to Make Kombucha & How to Flavour Kombucha
Kombucha Kamp: The heftiest Kombucha FAQs
First Comes Health: Choosing the right sugar
Holistic Squid: Has my SCOBY gone bad
I hope you have fun giving your Kombucha kit gift to your friend/family member. It’s always best if you can experiment with it first, before gifting it to someone. But don’t be scared, I thought it was a project I would quickly abandon as I thought it was too difficult. It turns out, it is not bad at all and I am so addicted to my homemade brew now I don’t ever buy it in the store!
I have also thought up some fun flavour pairings. For citrus fruits, you can put in the juice and the rind, and for the herbs and spices, try to leave whole as much as possible. Here are some examples of pairings I have come up with that have tried and love. Again, this is a great list to include in your gift kit.
Are you interested in downloading some print-off how-to’s and labels?
[contact-form-7 id=”2761″ title=”Kombucha Gift Download”]
[download id=”2754″]
Let me know how it goes and how your Kombucha kit looks in the end! I would love to see the various creations.
