Kombucha tonic, like fire cider is an immune supplement that increases stamina and supports health in the winter months. Make it with kombucha vinegar to increase the probiotic and digestive support of this health boosting folk remedy that you can make at home.
Last summer I received a dropper bottle of Kombucha tonic as part of an Ultimate Bundles promotion. It was a lot like the fire cider I make every fall using apple cider vinegar and spicy vegetables and herbs – warm and a little tart. Until I tried that Kombucha tonic from Get Kombucha, I never considered making Fire Cider with Kombucha. But I was missing out.
Start with kombucha vinegar
I had a lot of kombucha vinegar on hand. We use a continuous brew kombucha system here at Joybilee Farm and it often gets away on me, because we aren’t drinking it every day. When you are using the continuous brew kombucha system, you may end up with a little Kombucha vinegar, if you don’t add fresh cooled tea to your vat at least twice a month. That can happen when you can’t empty the kombucha reservoir fast enough and there isn’t enough room in the vat to put in fresh tea and sugar.
It’s too tart to drink straight. But it’s still good for anything you might use cider vinegar for. I’ve used it for cleaning. I’ve used it for salad dressing and marinade. I’ve used it to soak mustard seeds for grainy mustard. But until I tried that little dropper bottle I’d never thought of using it for Fire Cider.
First, if your kombucha vat gets a little too sour, don’t despair, draw down the kombucha vat by 2/3rds and pour in fresh cooled tea with sugar. Your kombucha will be tasty and ready to drink in 4 to 6 days.
But don’t toss out that lovely kombucha vinegar. Use it to make Kombucha tonic. Just like master tonic or fire cider, kombucha tonic is used as an immune supplement and cold and flu remedy, besides the other benefits of kombucha.
Fire cider, a folk tonic made popular by Rosemary Gladstar, is a remedy that can be taken throughout a bout of common cold, flu, hangover, or general unwellness. It works fast to clear sinuses, warm a sore throat, get rid of dampness, and ease stomach cramps. It is a warming remedy that improves circulation.
You can put this remedy in a dropper bottle for travel or to take at work. But at home I like to store it in a bottle in the fridge. Use 1 tablespoon per day to maintain stamina and avoid sickness during the winter months.
Print
Kombucha Tonic Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 3 cups 1x
- Category: herbal remedies
- Method: fermentation
- Cuisine: Kombucha
Description
Kombucha tonic, like fire cider is a warming tonic that improves circulation and helps the body stay strong during cold and flu season. It’s spicy and can be added to salad dressings, or taken straight. Use it daily for immune support.
Ingredients
- ½ cup grated raw ginger
- 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
- 2 hot peppers, including seeds, chopped
- ½ cup rosehips, dried
- 2 organic lemons, chopped, including skin
- 2 tablespoons turmeric powder or 2 ounces of fresh turmeric root
- 1 teaspoon black pepper cloves, whole
- 2 ½ cups of kombucha vinegar
Instructions
- Prepare each ingredient except kombucha vinegar and place in a wide mouth quart jar. Cover with Kombucha vinegar. Use a knife to dislodge any air bubbles in the jar. Cover with a fermentation weight to prevent the vegetables from floating on top of the vinegar. Cap with a fermentation lock.
- Refrigerate for 1 month. Strain out the solids. Retain the liquid. You should have 2 ½ cups of kombucha tonic. I like to put the liquid in dropper bottles to use as a tincture. It’s portable and convenient.
To use:
Take one tablespoon once a day for immune and circulatory support. If you are using a dropper bottle 1 tablespoon is about 3 droppers full.
Notes
You can change up this recipe adding the herbs and spices you like the best. I omitted horseradish, a common fire cider ingredient, only because I didn’t have any. This is a recipe that you can add what you have and omit what you don’t have.
Kombucha Tonic
Kombucha tonic, like fire cider is a warming tonic that improves circulation and helps the body stay strong during cold and flu season. It’s spicy and can be added to salad dressings, or taken straight. Use it daily for immune support.
Yield: 2 ½ cups
- ½ cup grated raw ginger
- 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
- 2 hot peppers, including seeds, chopped
- ½ cup rosehips, dried
- 2 organic lemons, chopped, including skin
- 2 tablespoons turmeric powder or 2 ounces of fresh turmeric root
- 1 teaspoon black pepper cloves, whole
- 2 ½ cups of kombucha vinegar
Directions:
Prepare each ingredient except kombucha vinegar and place in a wide mouth quart jar. Cover with Kombucha vinegar. Use a knife to dislodge any air bubbles in the jar. Cover with a fermentation weight to prevent the vegetables from floating on top of the vinegar. Cap with a fermentation lock.
Refrigerate for 1 month. Strain out the solids. Retain the liquid. You should have 2 ½ cups of kombucha tonic. I like to put the liquid in dropper bottles to use as a tincture. It’s portable and convenient.
To use:
Take one teaspoon once a day for immune and circulatory support. If you are using a dropper bottle 1 teaspoon is about 3 droppers full.
Make this immune boosting kombucha tonic
If you are making kombucha at home you will inevitably end up at one time or another with kombucha vinegar. When you do, use it to make this therapeutic, immune boosting kombucha tonic, using food ingredients you likely already have on hand. You’ll be happy to have it on hand when the flu shows up in your community.
Consider making a double or triple batch of kombucha tonic and sharing it with friends and neighbors to keep everyone healthy during the viral season.
The Fire Cider Book
Fire Cider has been used by herbalists and shared with family and friends for generations as a remedy to ward off sickness and promote health. Rosemary Gladstar, the herbalist that brought fire cider main stream, collaborated with dozens of herbalists in 2019 to create Fire Cider! 101 Zesty Recipes for Health-Boosting Remedies made with Apple Cider Vinegar. While there are no kombucha tonic recipes inside this Apple Cider book, every recipe in this book could be made with Kombucha vinegar in the place of cider vinegar.
The recipes range from traditional folksy fire cider with garlic, onions, and horseradish to Rose Petal Healing Vinegar, a topical skin care remedy for sunburns, Hibiscus, Pomegranate, Orange “Cheater” Fire Cider from Chestnut school, to stinging nettle vinaigrette dressing. Through this book you’ll learn all the culinary and medicinal uses for vinegar infusions, oxymels, drinking vinegars and other vinegar based herbal food and medicine. This book is a great introduction to herbalism for the beginner and an inspiring connection with modern herbalists that are actively teaching and using herbal medicine today. The collaborator list reads like a whose-who in the herbal community over the past 30 years, with both the elders of herbalism and the young blood represented.
Apple cider vinegar was traditionally used for sore throat, stomach ache, digestive problems, weight loss, fever, fatigue, sunburn, leg cramps, allergies, colds and flu, heart burn, skin and hair care, and as a cleaning solution. You can freely use kombucha tonic in all of these ways.
Grab Fire Cider! 101 Zesty Recipes for Health-Boosting Remedies made with Apple Cider Vinegar, now and add this gem to your herbal library.
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