It’s that time of the year again! Beautiful leaves are falling, many of us are wearing 5 layers a day to prepare for our rapidly changing weather, and last but not least, pumpkin spice flavors are popping up everywhere! If you think you are addicted to pumpkin spice lattes, wait until you try our pumpkin spice kombucha recipe!
Kombucha has a way of really drawing out the flavors you feed it with. Perhaps that is why I love this recipe so much! Fall just doesn’t feel complete without sitting outside, admiring the falling leaves with a pumpkin spice kombucha in hand.
If You Have a Sweet Tooth…
If you like your kombucha with a little more sweetness, I recommend pulling your kombucha out of primary fermentation a little earlier than you usually would for this recipe. While we will add a bit of sugar prior to second fermentation, the other ingredients offer little additional sugar. We generally ferment ours over three days for 2F, and the end product has very little sweetness. Alternatively, you can add sugar beyond what this recipe calls for.
Primary Fermentation + Airtight Glass Bottles
FYI, this is a second fermentation kombucha recipe. You need to have kombucha that has already completed the initial fermentation process on hand. Both are truly very simple—waiting for your primary fermentation kombucha to work its own magic is the toughest part! If you don’t know where to begin with brewing kombucha, no worries! We offer a Kombucha Starter Kit with everything you need to brew your first batch! It also comes with very straightforward instructions.
This recipe also requires airtight glass bottles. These are a staple for home kombucha brewers. I recommend getting 16 oz swing-top bottles; our recipes are written for them, they are a convenient size for drinking directly from the bottle, and they work well with kombucha overall! You will need a funnel for this recipe–and just about every other second fermentation recipe–as well.
Scale to Your Batch
This pumpkin spice kombucha recipe is written for six 16 oz bottles. While we often write our recipes per bottle, this one just makes more sense to do with a bigger batch. There are several different spices involved, and the measurements become rather tedious for small batches. Knock it out all at once, or scale the recipe back to whatever you need! The recipe is written to work out pretty perfectly for a gallon of primary fermented kombucha.
Pumpkin Spice Kombucha Recipe
This pumpkin spice kombucha recipe is the perfect way to enjoy fall weather! With fresh pumpkin puree and a perfect blend of pumpkin pie spices, it delivers ample flavor and the warmth the season needs! The recipe is written for six 16 oz bottles of kombucha (approx. 1 gallon primary fermentation kombucha)--feel free to scale it to your needs.
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Pumpkin Puree
- 1/4 Cup Sugar
- 1 Tbs Fresh Ginger
- 1 tsp Cinnamon (ground) Can substitute with 1/2 fresh cinnamon stick in each bottle
- 1/4 tsp Nutmeg (ground)
- 1/4 tsp Allspice (ground)
- 1/8 tsp Cloves (ground)
- Approx. 3/4 Gallon Kombucha post-primary fermentation
Instructions
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Prepare six 16 oz glass flip-top bottles to be filled. Place a funnel in the mouth of the first bottle.
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Add pumpkin puree, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves to a small blender or food processor*
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Blend until smooth
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Add approx. 1 cup of kombucha to the blender and blend until smooth. (This increases liquid content of our mixture and makes it easier to pour into the bottles)
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Use the funnel to split the mixture evenly between the 6 bottles
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Fill the remainder of each bottle with the kombucha, leaving approx. 1 inch of headspace at the top of the bottle.
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Seal each bottle and store in a dark space for 1-5 days**, "burping" or releasing excess carbonation as needed. Test taste each day
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Once sweetness and flavor meet your preferences, refrigerate the bottles. Enjoy once cool.
Recipe Notes
*I use a single-serving Ninja blender cup. This works perfectly for the size of the recipe.
**I generally leave the bottles for 3 days, and they are pretty unsweet by this time. I recommend refrigerating after 1 or 2 days if you like your kombucha on the sweet side
I usually don't get loads of carbonation from this one; you might be safe burping them every other day. If the contents of the bottles are not rising out of the bottle upon opening, you should be able to lengthen time between "burps"
That’s it for this one! If you are feeling adventurous and have some time to spare, try making the recipe with homemade pumpkin puree! If you are going for efficiency, canned pumpkin puree works great too.
I hope you get the opportunity to enjoy this one while taking in the beauty of colorful fall leaves! It truly makes the season even more special. Enjoy your pumpkin spice kombucha!
Cant wait to try this! Odd question. I have a gallon of kombucha I put in the fridge yesterday. Could I take it out and do this? Or should I wait for my fresh kombucha?
Hi Nandry!
Realistically, the kombucha you put in the fridge yesterday should work just fine for this. However, it likely will take a little more time for fermentation since it was in the fridge for a bit. If you want this recipe to be perfect, I’d suggest waiting for fresh kombucha. If you want to make it now, it should still turn out pretty great and I’d just recommend fermenting for at least 3 days!
Hope you love it! Happy Brewing! 🙂
-Kristie
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