Well, kombucha flavored as cream soda. Maybe old roommates wouldn’t have named the forever fermenting jars in the cupboards “kombucha monsters” if I had developed this delight back then! While part of kombucha’s charm is its vinegar twang, this rendition almost keeps the pucker factor completely at bay.
Give this flavor a go when you’re ready to try something new with your kombucha! It is simple, and I haven’t quite discovered any other flavor like it after years of drinking this good gut bug brew.
Cream Soda Kombucha
Ready for a new take on plain kombucha? Add in two extra ingredients and you can have homemade and probiotic cream soda-flavored kombucha so easily!
Ingredients
- 4 cups unflavored kombucha see notes for link to recipe
- 2 tablespoons black-strap molasses
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
-
In a large bottle with a stop-top (to help create fizz), pour in unflavored kombucha. Carefully pour in the molasses and vanilla extract, tightly fix the lid on and gently swirl until all ingredients are combined. Let sit on your counter for three days, then drink or transfer to the fridge. Will keep for months! But, don't do that to yourself. Drink it all now!
Recipe Notes
To make regular kombucha, please follow the recipe here, then add the cream soda flavor during the second fermentation stage (when you bottle the kombucha!)
Jacob
Elena was just talking about wanting to start a kombucha train! I wasn’t totally on board, then I came here and you convinced me. Well done.
Lucia
WOO WOO! That’s the sound the kombucha train makes 🙂 I certainly hope you do, and that you’ll keep me updated!
Sarah
Mmmm..I need to try this! I’ve done cream soda with water kefir, but it doesn’t turn out quite how I like it every time.
Lucia
Let me know how it goes!!
Via
We dont have black-strap mollases here in indonesia, is there any substitute for this ingredient?
Lucia
Hmm! You could try either the vanilla extract by itself, or maybe add in some brown sugar in place of the molasses!
Richard
I just tried it with maple syrup and it tastes pretty good.
Lucia
Hey Richard! Maple syrup sounds AWESOME! Thanks for letting me know how it tastes–keep me in the loop with other flavors you try, too!
luan
Do you have pomegranate molasses instead? If so, give that a try.
Lucia Hawley
Hi Luan! Yes, pomegranate molasses in kombucha is an AMAZING combination! I’m so glad you wrote that idea–pomegranate molasses makes so many things that much better!
Lucia
Erika
Where did you buy your stop-top bottles? Any recommendations?
Lucia
Hi Erika! I like to buy mine from Ikea, I think they’re around 3 or 4 dollars per bottle. Most Targets also should carry stop top bottles these days! Hope that’s helpful!
Lori
You can also find them at party stores that supply ingredients and bottles for brewing beer. Trader Joe’s sells a ginger brew that my husband and I love. I recycle the bottles since they have the flip stopper tops…only downside is the bottles are green. I personally prefer clear so I can see all the yummy additives (flavoring) and prebiotic activity!
Lucia
Hee hee, me too, I love seeing my brew in clear bottles! Thank you for the tip on the bottles!
Brandi
I got my flip top bottles at TJMaxx, Marshalls, & HomeGoods. Here in TN the bottles are $2 each (16 and 32 oz). They are by the same manufacturer that Crate & Barrel sells.
Lucia
Oooh, good to know, Brandi! Thank you for the head’s up!
Summer
LOL. I thought I had invented “kombucha monsters.” But I guess it’s an easy conclusion to come to!
Eric
You say exactly but how kombucha do you use?
Amy
when you add the flavoring and sugar and let it set for 3 days do you leave your SCOBY in the jar? I am about ready on my kombucha but need to know before I flavor. BTW, I ordered my bottles on Amazon I think so got 6 for around $12 with free Prime shipping.
Lucia
Nice deal on the bottles! You want to leave the SCOBY in your fermenting jar, not in the bottle that you’re putting flavors into. Keep the SCOBY in the fermentation jar for the next batch!
Amy
awesome! Thank you!
Amy
So my new batch of kombucha so far has turned out better, I didn’t make such a strong sweet tea. I just bottled and flavored it yesterday and put it by a register for the second fermentation. I strained the booch before bottling. I checked on them this morning it it almost looked as if were growing a tiny baby SCOBY at the top of the bottle. Is this possible? It makes me want to strain it again but that would be a huge PITA. Thoughts?
Lucia
Hi Amy, my apologies for the delayed response! Yes, it is very common for a new little scoby to form in bottled kombucha–even though we take out the mother scoby after we’ve fermented batches to our liking, all that good bacteria and yeast is still in the liquid itself, so it can easily form a new scoby! I’d say that’s a sign of a healthy brew 🙂 Typically if that happens to me, I’ll pour the bottled liquid out slowly when I’m ready to drink it (into a cup), and usually the scoby stays in the bottle that way, and not in my cup. But don’t worry about it! Hopefully this is helpful!
Ash
I made my own version using red tea and leaving out the molasses and I thought it was great! I only let my Kombucha ferment 6 days to stay a little sweeter.
Lucia
That’s great! Love the idea of letting it ferment a little bit less so it stays sweet. So fun being able to ferment at home and make a batch perfect for you and your preferences! <3
Elizabeth B
Will the alcohol in the vanilla extract kill the probiotics in the brew?
Lucia Hawley
Hi Elizabeth!
The small amount of alcohol in the amount of vanilla added I don’t think would kill off enough of the probiotics to render the kombucha bacteria-less! If it did, I believe the second ferment would not work properly, and in batches I’ve made it goes quite well! Let me know how it goes for you, I’d love to hear!
Kombucha Joe
I think the blackstrap molasses flavor is too strong. Next time, I will cut it down to 2 teaspoons, and make up the difference with regular, organic cane sugar.
Lucia Hawley
Hi Joe!
That sounds like a great idea! Thank you for letting me know how using this recipe went, and that you’ll be tweaking things for next time!
Lucia
Billy
This cream soda sounds delicious! Absolutely love the recipe. Cannot wait to make it.
Lucia Hawley
Lemme know what you think when you do! <3
Bob Theoret
Thank you for teaching me how to do tjis.
Bob Theoret
Thanks for teaching me how to do this.
Lucia Hawley
Any time, Bob!
Ron
This sounded so delicious, that I made two bottles from by last batch of 1F. All the other 2F bottles (fruit puree combos) developed as usual. This one did nothing – completely dead, no scoby, no bubbles, nada. 8^(
What brand molasses and vanilla do you use?
Lucia Hawley
Hmm! I haven’t had this happen before, though I wonder if it was the vanilla and it acted as an antimicrobial in this instance? Perhaps you could try making it again with just the molasses, then add vanilla after the second ferment. I’ll do some digging and see what I can find but hopefully that’ll do the trick!