5 Cold Beverages that you can Brew at Home

Whether you’re making sun tea, creating a farmer’s market-worthy kombucha flavour or going full brew master with your own beer label, here are the brew-only drinks you just have to try making yourself.

1. Kombucha

 Kombucha takes a bit of dedication to make on your own, but plenty of people are doing it. First, you’ll want to get your hands on a kombucha kit — specifically, the bacteria- and yeast-infused SCOBY that will ferment your beverage and turn it into the drink we all love so much. Follow more specific directions to make a basic kombucha batch to get started. Once you’ve got the basics down, you can then experiment with different flavours!

2. Beer

How cool would it be if the next time your friends come over; they have the option to drink one of your own home-brewed beers? Very cool! Although it’s a time-consuming hobby, there is no shortage of resources to learn how to brew your own beer. Start with getting all the scientific gadgets you’re going to need and get ready to see chemistry in action. Once you’re comfortable with the basic idea, start experimenting with fun alternative beers.

3. Iced Tea

There’s almost nothing simpler than brewing your own iced tea. It´s a refreshing, invigorating and delicious drink that can be quickly and easily made at home. You can pour hot water over tea and wait for it to cool off or you can even stick a few bags in a Mason jar and put it in the sun for a few hours. 

4. Ginger Beer

Better than commercially available ginger beers, homemade ginger beer has a more subtle flavour profile. Not only it is tastier, but it is also much healthier as it has lower sugar content and can be further boosted with probiotics depending on your preference. In its simplest form, ginger beer can be made using either fresh or dried ginger, sugar and lemon juice. Not to be confused with the fizzy ginger ale, ginger beer’s carbonation is created by adding yeast during the brewing process, whereas the ale’s fizziness is obtained through adding seltzer water.

5. Water Kefir

Water kefir is not only easy to make, it is a delicious, probiotic-rich, dairy-free beverage your whole family will enjoy. All it takes is a few water kefir “grains” (which are still just bacteria and yeast), sugar, water and something with mineral content and you’re off to the lightly fizzed fermented water races.