Our family enjoys lots of outdoor activities during the warmer months, but heat, humidity, sweat, and thirst just seem to go hand in hand, don’t they? Â To stay hydrated and comfortable while you are enjoying all that summertime recreation, skip the sports drinks full of GMO high fructose corn syrup or hidden artificial sweeteners and opt for the delicious, healthy, fermented drink from Russia – kombucha tea.
I have a number of videos with recipes on how to make kombucha various ways but have never done one on how to pack it safely in a lunch or cooler.
Kombucha must be packed in glass containers as it has an acidic, vinegar quality to it (don’t let that fool you – it tastes yummy) that will leech chemicals from plastic and metal from stainless steel. Ideally, the glass should be clear, not colored.
Kleen Kanteens and other stainless steel bottles are NOT appropriate for kombucha tea and neither is food grade plastic – ever!
But packing glass in a lunchbox with a young child is a bit of a dangerous venture, wouldn’t you agree?
In this short video below, I show you how I pack kombucha tea in a picnic basket or lunchbox to ensure that everyone stays safe!
Packing Kombucha Safely in a Lunchbox (Video)
In essence, all you need to do is empty the small glass seltzer bottles available at the supermarket. Small sparkling water bottles work well too. Syfo seltzer is a good brand in my area. Then fill them a little more than halfway with kombucha and safely tuck it into a foam sleeve before placing it in the lunchbox. That’s all there is to it!
Don’t Pack Commercial Kombucha in School Lunches
One word of caution. It is recommended that you do not pack bottles of commercial kombucha in a child’s lunchbox that are labeled as containing tiny amounts of alcohol. GT’s Kombucha with the black lid is one brand labeled in this manner. Only pack small bottles of home brewed kombucha or transfer commercial kombucha into small, unlabeled bottles. Misguided school lunch police have been known to suspend students from school for having store kombucha bottles in their lunchbox.
Source
Mad As a Hatter, Dr. Kaayla Daniel
More Information
Want to know more about kombucha? Â These articles provide more detail for your research.
Fluoride in Kombucha: Should You Be Concerned?
Can Candida Sufferers Drink Kombucha?
Does Kombucha Prevent Grey Hair?
Batch vs Continuous Brew Kombucha
Have You Tried Kombucha?
Kombucha: Drink It and Wear It?
Jun Tea: Â Kombucha Champagne
Thank you for posting this because I have been using plastic! So what should I bottle my kombucha in when I do a second ferment? I have tried glass (big mason jar) and cracked it, even when I was burping it regularly.
yes, the list of things i am able to buy at the health food store just gets smaller and smaller. i talked to GT’s a few weeks ago because i was curious how they changed their product so that the alcohol level wasn’t a concern anymore. i was told they are using a different strain of probiotics in the scoby that produces much lower alcohol content. no idea what this really means or how this could be done… maybe it’s not the real stuff anymore. some people i have spoken to say they won’t drink the stuff anymore because they sense it is “dead” aka pasteurized. i don’t have a sense for this, in fact i never tried the drink before it was taken off the shelves. gt’s says on their site it’s not pasteurized. the representative didn’t have good knowledge of how they changed the probiotics and told me to email dave. i did, but heard nothing back. i didn’t think to ask about the fermentation vessels. this relates to something else regarding pasteurization, irradiation, and labeling i have been trying to figure out. for irridiation, i guess everything is supposed to be labeled, right? with that little symbol. unless it is a product with irradiated ingredients, as long as the whole product is not irradiated. but, i heard produce PLU’s starting with the number 3 means it’s been irradiated. those aren’t labeled. then there was that whole proposal by the FDA to label irradiated foods as pasteurized. but organic foods can’t be irradiated right? …but can they be irradiated and then labeled as pasteurized as a sort of loophole? seems there is a lot of deception on the part of the FDA to keep customers in the dark.
Hi! I had a question–I have made kombucha in a glass suntea jar, but it has a plastic spout. Is this not okay to use? thanks!!
Nothing ever can beat homemade, eh? How disappointing that some of these kombucha makers are making such a crucial error in the production of their product. Very very disappointing.
Yes it is a shame. I don’t think these homebrewers mean to hurt themselves and the ones around them. I think they are using plastic because the lack of education in the kombucha world. Only with some experience or ones who learn the ph levels and effects of acidics on things like plastic are just uninformed and would switch to glass right away if they knew.
@Olivia, I had the same question .. I’m going to call them and see. I will stop buying their product if this is so. I will report back when I get an answer. If somebody already knows, please post.
does anyone know if GT’s kombucha uses stainless steel for fermentation? if so i will have to stop buying their drinks when i’m out of mine…
Or make seltzer at home – you will reduce your carbon footprint, and you can make endless egg creams!
You are so clever! Thanks for the tip!
What happened to the handle of the picnic basket in the picture? It looks broken. So unimportant of a detail, just had to ask though.
Thank you for your post on safely packing kombucha! I’m just learning about this wonderful drink. My sister just made a batch for the first time (that we’re all anxious to try!) and knowing how to pack it while on-the-go is so helpful. Quick question – how long can it be out of the fridge and still be good? Will it make you sick if it sits out too long?
No, it can sit out all day and you would be fine. It doesn’t go bad .. it just gets stronger in flavor. I actually store my glass jugs of kombucha in the pantry and only refrigerate the 1/2 gallon we are currently drinking so it’s cold when we pour it.