Tiantai provides complete Kombucha production systems — from tea brewing, sugar mixing, fermentation, and cooling to bottling.
All equipment is made of food-grade stainless steel with precise temperature control and automatic CIP cleaning.
Custom solutions are available from pilot scale to full commercial production from 1HL-200HL Kombucha brewing equipment, ensuring consistent flavor, hygiene, and efficiency.
Tiantai Kombucha Brewing Equipment is always doing our best for the study of the kombucha brewing technique. Today we will talk about How much water shall I add if I want to cool the Tea Liquid for Kombucha brewing?
The temperature of the tea liquor in kombucha directly affects the survival of the SCOBY (Sodium Scopariae Inoculum) and the fermentation effect. We can explain this from a practical processing perspective:
I. The Purpose of Cooling and Adding Water
In industrial production, the temperature of the tea liquor after processing is usually quite high (80-90°C), while the SCOBY inoculation temperature generally requires not to exceed 30°C (ideally 25-28°C).
Therefore, it is necessary to cool the tea liquor by adding cold water or using a cooling system.
Calculation of Cold Water Ratio (Empirical Value)
Target Temperature Calculation Formula
Let:
T₁ = Hot tea liquid temperature (°C)
T₂ = Cold water temperature (°C)
Tₓ = Target temperature (°C, approximately 25~28°C)
M₁ = Hot tea liquid volume
M₂ = Cold water volume
Then:
M₂ / M₁ = (T₁ – Tₓ) / (Tₓ – T₂)
II. Practical Example
Assumptions:
Tea liquid temperature: 90°C
Cold water temperature: 20°C
Target temperature: 28°C
Substituting into the formula:
M₂ / M₁ = (90 – 28) / (28 – 20) = 62 / 8 = 7.75
That is:
Hot tea liquid : Cold water ≈ 1 7.8
This means that if you have 100 L of hot tea (90°C), you will need approximately 780 L of cool water at 20°C to lower it to 28°C.
III. Practical Industrial Operation Recommendations
If the tea concentration is high, you can first brew a strong tea (2-3 times the concentration), then dilute and cool it by adding cold water;
Industrial equipment often uses plate heat exchangers or jacketed tanks instead of directly adding water;
If directly adding water, it is recommended to control the total dilution ratio to approximately 1:5 to 1:8 (adjust slightly according to the tea concentration and equipment conditions);
Ensure that the final sugar concentration (Brix) and tea polyphenol concentration meet the fermentation requirements (usually 8-10% sugar and 0.2-0.4 g/L tea polyphenols).
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Ivy Liang(Sales Director)
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