Go Nuts! Goji Berry & Peanut Kombucha Recipe

Name: Goji Berry and Peanut Kombucha Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Ingredients: 3.5 Cups Shelled, Salted Peanuts; 6 TBSP Dried Goji Berries; 1 Gallon Fermented Kombucha; 16 Oz Swing Top Bottles; Funnel; Small Strainer; Small Pot

Enjoy the extraordinary strong flavors of peanuts mixed with Goji berries’ sweet and savory flavors to create this one-of-a-kind Kombucha drink!

I can see some of your faces cringing when you read the words peanuts and kombucha in the same sentence. It’s like trying peanut butter and jelly on a hamburger. Super mind blowing. It shouldn’t work together but somehow it really does. Goji berries somewhat pioneered the super food movement. Slapped full of antioxidants and vitamins, these little guys pack a seriously nutritious punch. I can’t think of any reason to not add them to kombucha. They don’t add much to the color, but they sure do add a lot of flavor and nutrients. And talk about fizzy kombucha, holy cow! You will DEFINITELY need to burp this daily. I popped this open and a peanut (well several) shot right out and hit my friend in the head!! ha! Be forewarned. Peanuts are a strange character to say the least. Some people, actually many people, are highly allergic to them. Others are not affected at all. I wonder if fermentation does anything to the proteins that cause allergic reactions? Anyone know anything about that?

In flavoring kombucha, the peanuts come through extraordinarily strong. It almost reminds me of putting peanut butter in a smoothie, no hiding it. They also add a saltiness factor which, strangely enough, goes well with kombucha! Not sure if I would do just a plain peanut kombucha because it may be too strong without some sweetness backing it up. Maybe I would use it for smoothies only or something. For this kombucha, all I did was take salted peanuts that were already out of the shell and kind of twisted each with my fingers so they split in half and would fit in the bottle better. Then I added a small handful of dried goji berries. It was really simple, especially because both of these items are pantry items and can always be there for you.

PRIMARY VS SECONDARY FERMENTATION

It’s important to note that brewing homemade kombucha is almost always a two-step fermentation process. Brewing kombucha is only a one-step process for those who prefer an unflavored flat kombucha. Otherwise, the steps consist of a primary fermentation and secondary fermentation.

Primary Fermentation: The primary fermentation is the first step of the kombucha brewing process. This is where your SCOBY transforms regular sweet tea into the tart and slightly sweet kombucha we love. At the end of this stage, you will have finished kombucha, but it will be flat and unflavored. Have you skipped this step? Then check out our guide on making kombucha at home or our guide on making jun kombucha at home. Traditional kombucha is going to yield a bolder brew, while jun kombucha is milder and a bit more tart.
Secondary Fermentation: The secondary fermentation is the step where you bottle, carbonate, and flavor your kombucha by the addition of sugar and flavors. This step is essentially adding a bit of sugar/flavor to each airtight bottle and letting it ferment a little longer, allowing the yeast to carbonate the beverage in an airtight environment naturally. How exactly does this happen? See our post on kombucha secondary fermentation here.

Since this recipe is for the secondary fermentation, to make this recipe, you’ll need to have kombucha that has finished the primary fermentation and ready to bottle.

INGREDIENTS

3.5 Cups Shelled, Salted Peanuts– This is where most of the flavor will come from.
6 TBSP Dried Goji Berries– These festive red berries carry a sweet yet bitter flavor.
1 Gallon Fermented Kombucha– You need kombucha that has completed primary fermentation and is ready to bottle and flavor.

SECONDARY FERMENTATION PREPARATION

This recipe makes one 16-fluid-ounce bottle. A 1-gallon batch of kombucha will make seven 16-ounce bottles, so for one gallon, you will need to multiply the ingredients by 7. Before beginning this recipe, you will need to:

Reserve 12 – 16 fluid ounces of kombucha and a pellicle from a batch of kombucha that has finished primary fermentation. It’s best to pour from the top of the brew jar as the bottom will have a much higher yeast concentration. Use this as the starter for your next gallon batch of kombucha. If you need to make kombucha to get caught up to this step, you will need to see our post on how to make kombucha.
With your kombucha starter tea and SCOBY placed aside, enough kombucha will be left over in the jar to make seven 16 oz bottles when pulled from a gallon batch. Flip-top or swing bottles are the gold standard and are considered the best bottles for kombucha secondary fermentation. However, any bottle with a lid designed to hold pressure will work. It’s important to note the difference between airtight and pressure-rated lids. Airtight lids alone are not good enough for secondary fermentation; in addition to being airtight, the lids must also be capable of holding pressure. Airtight lids are designed to keep ambient air from entering and exiting; however, they are not designed to hold pressure. Inadequate lids will allow carbonation to leak during secondary fermentation, thus preventing your kombucha from ever carbonating.

INGREDIENTS

3.5 Cups Shelled, Salted Peanuts– This is where most of the flavor will come from.
6 TBSP Dried Goji Berries– These festive red berries carry a sweet yet bitter flavor.
1 Gallon Fermented Kombucha– You need kombucha that has completed primary fermentation and is ready to bottle and flavor.

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SECONDARY FERMENTATION PREPARATION

This recipe makes one 16-fluid-ounce bottle. A 1-gallon batch of kombucha will make seven 16-ounce bottles, so for one gallon, you will need to multiply the ingredients by 7. Before beginning this recipe, you will need to:

Reserve 12 – 16 fluid ounces of kombucha and a pellicle from a batch of kombucha that has finished primary fermentation. It’s best to pour from the top of the brew jar as the bottom will have a much higher yeast concentration. Use this as the starter for your next gallon batch of kombucha. If you need to make kombucha to get caught up to this step, you will need to see our post on how to make kombucha.
With your kombucha starter tea and SCOBY placed aside, enough kombucha will be left over in the jar to make seven 16 oz bottles when pulled from a gallon batch. Flip-top or swing bottles are the gold standard and are considered the best bottles for kombucha secondary fermentation. However, any bottle with a lid designed to hold pressure will work. It’s important to note the difference between airtight and pressure-rated lids. Airtight lids alone are not good enough for secondary fermentation; in addition to being airtight, the lids must also be capable of holding pressure. Airtight lids are designed to keep ambient air from entering and exiting; however, they are not designed to hold pressure. Inadequate lids will allow carbonation to leak during secondary fermentation, thus preventing your kombucha from ever carbonating.

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Goji Berry and Peanut Kombucha Recipe

Recipe by Fermentaholics Course: Goji Berry, Peanut, KombuchaCuisine: KombuchaDifficulty: Easy

16 FL Oz Bottles

7

Bottles

Prep time

10

minutes

Second Fermentation

1-3 Days

This Goji Berry and Peanut Kombucha recipe is for seven 16 fluid ounce bottle. Before bottling your kombucha, remove the SCOBY pellicle along with 12-16 ounces of kombucha starter tea from your brew, and reserve for your next batch.

Ingredients

3.5 Cups Shelled, Salted Peanuts
6 TBSP Dried Goji Berries
1 Gallon Fermented Kombucha
SUPPLIES
16 Oz Swing Top Bottles
Funnel
Small Strainer
Small Pot

Directions

Take the little peanuts between your fingers and sort of twist them so they break into halves, then add them to the bottle.
Pop in all the goji berries.
Fill each bottle with kombucha, leaving about an inch of head space.
Be sure to leave yourself enough kombucha to use as your starter for the next batch, about 2 cups per gallon.
Tightly place caps on each bottle.
Keep bottles at room temperature for 1-3 days days, depending on temperature.
Once per day, you’ll want to “burp” the bottles by removing the cap to allow built up pressure to escape and place the cap back on. As soon as you put the cap back on, the carbonation will begin to build back up, so no worries of it getting flat. Try not to skip this or you will have kombucha all over your face and your kitchen when you do go to open it.
When you are happy with the flavor and fizziness of your kombucha (1-3days), place bottles in the fridge to chill and halt the fermentation.

Notes

First-time brewers may find it helpful to substitute a glass bottle for a plastic bottle of equal size. Fill the plastic bottle as directed above, leaving 1-2 inches of empty headspace at the top. This plastic bottle will now be used as a pressure gauge. Once this bottle becomes rock solid, you will know the remaining are ready. This method can help prevent bottle bombs.