The best bottles for kombucha are so important! In order to make kombucha fizzy, you need the perfect bottle!
Why is the kombucha bottle important?
Kombucha is amazing. It’s a fermented tea that is full of good gut bacteria. Some people call it a panacea because it leads to better overall health, but you can’t put your finger on the one thing that it does. It’s not like a vitamin that does a specific job. But those of us that drink it regularly swear that it affects the overall health of our bodies. (although I am not a doctor, so I cannot speak authoritatively on this. I am just going by what I have personally experienced.)
One of the best things about kombucha is that it’s fizzy! It makes you feel like you’re drinking pop, but it has all the health benefits of a fermented beverage. But the bottle is actually what allows it to get fizzy.
Think of that science experiment when you were a kid where you put baking soda and vinegar in a jar and topped it with a balloon. The balloon blew up from the gasses that were released from the chemical reaction!
Kombucha is sort of similar. When you bottle it, you add a new source of sugar in the form of juice or fruit. The yeast and bacteria in the kombucha eat the sugar and they release gasses. The goal is to trap those gasses in the beverage by having a super tight fitting lid. That’s what carbonates it!
Kombucha In Mason Jars
The first way you can store kombucha is in Quart mason jars. I’ve absolutely done this before when I’ve been short on jars. Does it work? Yes. Does it work well? No.
The problem with mason jars is that the two part lid system is not airtight. Because of that, the gasses the kombucha produce leak out the top. When you go to open it, there’s not really any fizz left. Any fizz that it does build leaves through a huge opening at the top when you remove the lid.
However, with all that said, it still tastes great. I just made a batch and used multiple types of bottles on the same batch just to compare them. While this was the least fizzy, it still had the same great flavor.
I also wonder if using the one piece top instead of the two piece top would help with that? What do you think?
So if you’re just beginning and have mason jars on hand, just get started. Don’t wait until you have the money to buy everything. Don’t wait. Just get started.
Reused Kombucha Bottles With Screw On Lids
I’ve also used old kombucha bottles with screw on lids to bottle kombucha. You’d think that since kombucha had been in it before, it would be fine to have it in there again.
I think what happens is that once the lid is stressed by gasses the first time around, it does not have as tight of a seal on subsequent batches. Think about a balloon after it’s blown up. It never really gets back to the original shape.
On the batch I just did to compare, the reused kombucha bottles were better than mason jars, but still not really fizzy. The kombucha tasted great and it worked fine. If I had them laying around and didn’t want to invest in new bottles, I’d totally use them.
Reused Swing Top Bottles For Kombucha
Swing top bottles are the BEST for kombucha. The latch shuts the bottle really really tightly and does not allow the gas to escape. Because all that gas stays inside, the product is delightfully carbonated. It’s so refreshing!
Grolsch bottles
Lots of people reuse swing top bottles for their kombucha. I think the ones people use the most are Grolsch beer bottles. That totally works! When we first started brewing kombucha, we did the same thing.
I think my biggest concern was that I didn’t want people to see my kids drinking it and think it was beer. We usually strain our kombucha into a glass anyway, so that didn’t really stay a super valid concern for me.
Other beverage reused bottles
I shop a lot at Aldi and they sell a sparkling lemonade there. If I need to buy sparkling juice for something, I try to buy it there so that I can make use of the bottle when I’m done. It costs the same as other sparkling juices, but gives me the benefit of another kombucha bottle! These are large and they don’t store well in the fridge but they get the job done!
In both cases, those swing tops latch down really securely. They are perfect for kombucha, and it’s double duty. You can use what’s in it first and you’re not spending money for just a bottle
Some people don’t love this because they want all their bottles to be cute and match. I don’t care about that stuff, so I’m all in with reusing swing top bottles!
DO NOT USE DECORATIVE BOTTLES!!!!
You can find cute, decorative swing top bottles at places like TJ Max and Home Goods. DO NOT use those for kombucha! They are not designed for drinks under pressure. Ask me how I know this! I told you I’ve used all the bottles and I’ve used these! And then I’ve cleaned up kombucha from the ceiling all the way down to the floor and from one side of the kitchen to the other.
I’m so thankful no one was home when it happened, because the idea of glass exploding under pressure is terrifying. Just don’t use them. If the swing top bottle did not have beer or sparkling juice in it before, please do NOT put kombucha in it!
New Swing Top Bottles For Kombucha
This is my be all, end all for bottles! It’s the Swing top bottles in cobalt or clear or brown. They are so cute and they all match and they work perfectly! And they make a super fizzy, amazing kombucha!
These pictures were taken from a different batch, but I wanted to show you what it could actually look like with brand new, swing top bottles. It’s so good! This is why I feel like I don’t need pop when I have kombucha on hand!
They are hands down, the best bottles to use when brewing kombucha.
Best bottles for kombucha
As a recap, here they are in order
- New swing top bottles
- Reused swing top bottles
- Reused commercial kombucha bottles
- Mason jars
So that’s my comprehensive assessment of what I find to be the best bottles for kombucha. I’m a homesteader at heart so I really believe that you should use what you have and just get started. You might actually hate kombucha, or hate the process of making it over and over and over.
See if you like it. See if the process of making it works into your schedule. THEN invest in more fancy bottles that make it more fizzy and more impressive looking. Until you know that this is the thing for you, it doesn’t really make sense to invest a bunch of money into it!
I’m planning on writing more posts about the process of kombucha from beginning to end. I hope you’ll join me for those! Until then, tell me what you’ve used to bottle YOUR kombucha!
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