Kombucha, a fermented tea beverage gaining popularity for its unique flavor and health benefits, owes its rich taste and nutritional value to scientific brewing processes and precise support from professional equipment. As a professional manufacturer of kombucha brewing equipment, Tian Tailai takes you on a journey to explore the core equipment essential for kombucha production—from sorting and pretreating tea raw materials, to extracting and purifying tea liquid, and finally to SCOBY fermentation and cultivation, culminating in finished product filling. Each piece of equipment plays a vital role in ensuring the creation of high-quality kombucha.
I. Tea Raw Material Pretreatment Equipment
Tea Washing Machine
Equipped with a vortex air pump, the tea washing machine generates bubbles to drive water droplets across the tea surface, simulating natural rinsing and efficiently removing dust, impurities, and microorganisms. It features water-saving advantages, allowing flexible water replenishment and replacement based on production scale, aligning with sustainable production concepts. The adjustable-speed conveyor motor enables automatic feeding and discharging, allowing operators to precisely control the washing rhythm according to tea output and quality requirements. A spray device is activated immediately after washing to prevent secondary pollution during tea transfer.
Tea Grinder
To improve the extraction efficiency of active ingredients from tea, the tea grinder crushes the tea leaves to an appropriate particle size, thereby expanding the contact area between the tea and the extraction liquid. Different types of tea, due to varying textures and characteristics, require adaptive grinding parameters (e.g., rotation speed, grinding duration) to ensure uniform particle size, laying the foundation for efficient extraction.
II. Extraction Equipment
Hot Tea Extraction Tank
For large-scale kombucha brewing, the hot tea extraction tank is core equipment. It uses a high-temperature environment to accelerate the dissolution of tea polyphenols, caffeine, and other components, enabling rapid extraction. Made of high-quality food-grade stainless steel, the tank has excellent thermal insulation and corrosion resistance. Its sophisticated internal structure ensures uniform mixing and full contact between tea and solvent during extraction. Moreover, a precise temperature control system keeps temperature fluctuations within a minimal range, ensuring consistent extraction results for each batch and meeting the needs of industrial mass production to efficiently produce high-quality tea bases.
Cold Tea Extraction Tank
Cold extraction technology has gained popularity in recent years, and the cold tea extraction tank is key equipment to realize this process. In a low-temperature environment, tea polyphenols and flavor substances in tea are slowly dissolved, which not only maximizes the retention of the tea’s original fragrance and delicate taste but also reduces the precipitation of bitter substances. It is particularly suitable for making low-bitterness, fresh-flavored kombucha bases.
III. Fermentation Equipment
Open Flat-top Fermenter
For the primary fermentation of kombucha, the open-top flat fermentation tank is recommended to provide a suitable environment for the SCOBY. Its 150° conical bottom facilitates the precipitation and cleaning of fermentation residues, while the jacket on the bottom and sidewall precisely maintains the optimal fermentation temperature of 22-28°C. A 360° rotating CIP spray ball installed on the top enables full-range cleaning of the tank interior before and after fermentation, ensuring hygiene. A carbon dioxide relief arm (with a butterfly valve, detachable) timely discharges carbon dioxide generated during fermentation to prevent excessive pressure inside the tank; a full-sanitary sampling valve (with EPDM seal) allows operators to take samples regularly for testing and monitor the fermentation process; a sanitary welded thermometer sleeve is compatible with high-precision temperature sensors to provide real-time feedback on the internal temperature, ensuring stable fermentation.
Closed Pressurized Fermentation
In the secondary fermentation and blending stage, the closed pressurized fermentation tank plays a key role. Its top adopts a closed dished head to ensure good sealing and maintain a stable pressure environment inside the tank. The jacket ensures constant fermentation temperature. A full-sanitary sampling valve facilitates real-time monitoring of the fermentation liquid status; The “dry hopping” port provides a convenient channel for adding various flavor ingredients, meeting the needs of diverse flavor blending and fully assisting in the creation of high-quality kombucha.
IV. Post-Processing Equipment
UHT Instant Sterilizer
The UHT instant sterilizer heats the tea liquid to a high temperature in an extremely short time (usually a few seconds) and then cools it rapidly. While killing harmful microorganisms and extending the product shelf life, it maximizes the retention of the nutritional components, flavor, and color of kombucha. Suitable for various types of kombucha—whether pure tea bases or products with added flavors (e.g., fruit juice, herbs)—this equipment achieves efficient sterilization and meets market demands for long-shelf-life, high-quality products.
Homogenizer
To fully mix the fermentation liquid with other additives and prevent stratification, the homogenizer is essential. It refines and uniformly disperses particles in the liquid through a strong shearing force and pressure, ensuring a smooth taste and stable texture of kombucha. When adding ingredients such as honey and fruit juice, the homogenizer enables the uniform distribution of each component, which not only improves the uniformity of the product’s appearance but also optimizes its taste.
Filter
The filter is used to remove invisible solid impurities from the kombucha liquid (e.g., tea crumbs, microbial cells), further improving the clarity and purity of the tea liquid. High-precision filter media are adopted to accurately trap tiny particles, ensuring the final product meets high-quality standards.
Filling Machine
The aseptic filling machine plays a crucial role in the final stage of kombucha production, accurately packaging the sterilized and filtered tea liquid in an aseptic environment. Adopting advanced filling technology ensures precise filling volume and strictly controls the filling environment to avoid secondary pollution, guaranteeing stable product quality during long-term storage. It meets the requirements of special international standard indicators, allowing kombucha to reach consumers safely and freshly.
Professional kombucha brewing equipment is the cornerstone of high-quality products. From raw material processing to finished product filling, each piece of equipment performs its dedicated function and collaborates closely, jointly contributing to the crafting of delicious and healthy kombucha and providing a steady supply of high-quality fermented tea beverages to the market. For more information about kombucha brewing equipment, please visit our product page: https://kombuchaequipments.com/product/