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Rose Hips Lavender Kombucha

When you pop the cap to this kombucha, a little speaker inside begins blaring Shakira. You take one sip and involuntarily start dancing in the kitchen. Seriously, try it.

A Beginner's Guide on How to Make Rose Hips Lavender Kombucha

Rosehips don’t lie, and they never disappoint. Naturally astringent, they are a beautiful, tart, refreshing addition to any cup of tea, and this includes kombucha tea.

The rosehips are the fruit of the rose plant. They bear the seeds and can be eaten raw but are more commonly found dried and used for teas, jams, and rosehip soup.

The flavor that rose hips bring is beautifully subtle. It’s a delicate combo of fruity and earthy that tastes undoubtedly luxurious. Rose hips contain a high concentration of vitamin C, so they pull their weight as part of team health, too! Vitamin C helps you absorb iron from other foods that you eat, so adding this kombucha to a green smoothie with spinach would be a great way to capitalize on nutrient intake. Drinking it by itself is glorious, too. This time, I added some dried lavender to go along with the rose hips to emphasize the soft floral characteristics. If you wanted something a little stronger, you could add dried hibiscus or orange peels, honey, or lemon juice.

I encourage you to play around and see what works for you and what doesn’t! I know I love the combo of rose hips and lavender. Give it a try!

Primary vs Secondary Fermentation

It’s important to note that making 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 a secondary fermentation.

1. 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.

2. 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 is ready to bottle.

Ingredients

Kombucha: You need kombucha that has completed primary fermentation and is ready to bottle and flavor.
Rosehips: Rosehips are the fruit of the rose plant. They bear the seeds and can be eaten raw but are more commonly found dried and used for teas, jams, and rosehip soup.
Dried Lavender Flowers: Calming, grounding lavender is one of nature’s best treats. It is versatile in its application, but in them all, lavender’s superpower is its ability to offer serenity. Adding it to your kombucha is no exception.

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.