Our mission
Culture & Clay exists to explain home kombucha brewing clearly and honestly. Most of what goes wrong in a home brew comes down to a handful of measurable things — tea and sugar ratios, temperature, pH, and pressure in the bottle. Those are learnable. Our job is to make them legible, and to be honest about the parts that are genuinely uncertain.
We publish a tool library organised by brewing stage, three free calculators, and a set of long-form guides. There is no account to create, no email to hand over, and no upsell at the end of an article.
How we write
- Plain language first. If a sentence needs a glossary, we rewrite the sentence.
- Function over brand. We describe what a tool does and what to look for. We do not name products, and we do not recommend where to buy them.
- Ranges, not absolute claims. Where home brewers genuinely vary — batch size, temperature, tea dose — we give a range and explain what moves it.
- Honest about uncertainty. Where the evidence is thin or the outcome depends on conditions we cannot see, we say so rather than implying a guarantee.
- Safety stated, not implied. pH thresholds, mould identification and bottle pressure are covered explicitly because they are the areas where a mistake has real consequences.
- Original artwork only. Every illustration on this site is drawn for us and stored as code. We do not use stock photography, and we do not reproduce anyone else's images.
What we are not
Not a brand or manufacturer
We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any kombucha brand, equipment maker or retailer. Any resemblance to a named product is coincidental.
Not a shop
We do not sell tools, bottles, cultures or kombucha. There are no affiliate links, no sponsored placements and no referral arrangements of any kind.
Not professional advice
Nothing here is brewing, food-safety, legal or medical advice. For decisions with real consequences — pressure equipment, food safety, your health — consult a qualified professional.
Not a guarantee
We cannot promise a brewing result. Your culture, water, climate, vessels and hygiene all influence the outcome, and none of them are visible to us.
Editorial standards
These are the rules we hold ourselves to on every page.
| Standard | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| No fabricated reviews or testimonials | We do not publish user reviews, star ratings or testimonials, and we never invent them. |
| No false credentials or certifications | We do not claim accreditation, certification, approval or partnership with any body, laboratory or regulator. |
| No effectiveness guarantees | We do not claim that a technique, tool or recipe will produce a particular result. |
| No infringement | We use original illustrations, original writing and generic descriptive language. No third-party logos, trademarks or copyrighted images appear on this site. |
| Educational framing throughout | Tool entries and articles are reference material. They describe how things are commonly done, not what you must do. |
| Accessibility and clarity | Text meets contrast expectations, images carry descriptive alternative text, and pages work by keyboard and on small screens. |
| Corrections welcome | If something is wrong, tell us and we will fix it. Corrections take priority over new material. |
Kombucha health & safety
This section is deliberately prominent, because it is the part most often left out.
- Kombucha contains trace alcohol. A normally fermented home brew typically contains somewhere between roughly 0.5 % and 1 % alcohol by volume, and it can be higher. It is not an alcohol-free drink.
- Kombucha contains caffeine when it is brewed from real tea, because it is brewed from real tea.
- It is not suitable for children. Do not serve kombucha to young children, and never supply it to anyone below the legal drinking age in your area.
- Speak to a healthcare professional first if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, immunocompromised, diabetic, managing a digestive condition, taking prescription medication, or recovering from illness. Fermented drinks are not appropriate for everyone.
- Kombucha is a food, not a medicine. We make no claim that kombucha treats, cures, prevents or alleviates any disease or condition, and we do not present it as a substitute for medical treatment.
- Home-brewed kombucha is a live fermented product. Hygiene, pH and storage conditions determine whether a batch is good to drink. When in doubt, throw it out.
Alcohol and responsibility
- This site is written for adults of legal drinking age. It is not intended for anyone below that age.
- We do not encourage excessive consumption of alcohol or of kombucha.
- We do not provide instructions for distillation, for increasing the alcohol content of a brew, or for selling home-brewed kombucha.
- If you drink alcohol, do so responsibly, and do not drink and drive.
- If you are pregnant, may be pregnant, or are taking medication, seek professional advice before drinking any fermented beverage.
- Never supply alcohol or kombucha to minors. If you or someone you know has a problem with alcohol, please seek help from a qualified professional or a support service in your country.
Home-brewing law varies by location
Rules covering home fermentation, the alcohol content of fermented drinks, container limits and the sharing or sale of home-brewed products differ between — and often within — countries, states, provinces and municipalities. They also change over time.
We describe common practice in general terms only. It is your responsibility to check the requirements that apply where you live before you brew, bottle, store or share what you make. Nothing on this site should be read as legal advice or as a statement that any particular practice is permitted in your jurisdiction.
About our authors
Articles carry an author byline so you know who wrote them. Our contributors write about brewing from practical experience and from published home-fermentation guidance. We do not present them as medical professionals, and we do not claim institutional affiliation for any of them.
How the site is funded
Culture & Clay is funded by nothing but the time of the people who write it. We take no advertising, run no affiliate links, accept no sponsorship, and sell no products or subscriptions. There is no mailing list and no account system.
That is a deliberate choice. It means no tool page can be influenced by a manufacturer, and no article has a commercial reason to exist.
Contact
Corrections, questions and suggestions are genuinely welcome — corrections especially. The quickest route is the contact form, or you can email us directly at [email protected]. See our Privacy Policy for how we handle what you send us.
Drink responsibly. Finished kombucha contains trace alcohol and caffeine. It is not suitable for children, and anyone who is pregnant, breastfeeding, immunocompromised, diabetic or taking medication should consult a healthcare professional before drinking it.