1 Gallon Jun Kombucha Starter Kit - USDA Organic Jun SCOBY, Starter Tea and Ingredients Review (2026)

What jun kombucha is and why this kit exists

Jun is a cousin of standard kombucha brewed with green tea and honey instead of black tea and cane sugar, which gives it a lighter, brighter and slightly more floral flavor than a typical black tea batch. Fermentaholics, the seller behind this kit, builds it around a USDA certified organic jun SCOBY grown in a licensed lab plus 12 fluid ounces of starter tea, enough to get a first 1 gallon batch fermenting without sourcing a culture separately. For someone who has already made regular kombucha and wants to try the honey-based version, this kit removes the biggest obstacle, which is finding a reliable, organic jun starter culture in the first place.

What's in the box and what you still need

Alongside the SCOBY and starter tea, the kit includes organic honey, organic green tea, pH strips, an adhesive thermometer, a breathable cloth cover, a rubber band and written instructions, so the consumable ingredients for the first batch are bundled together. What is explicitly not included, per the listing title itself, is a jar, so buyers need their own 1 gallon glass fermenting vessel before they can start. That is a reasonable omission since most fermenters already own jars in various sizes, but it does mean the advertised price is for ingredients and culture only, not a complete out-of-box brewing setup. The breathable cloth cover and rubber band matter more than they sound, since jun needs airflow during fermentation while still being shielded from fruit flies and dust, and a mismatched cover is a common reason a first batch grows mold instead of a healthy pellicle.

Brewing temperature and timeline

Standard guidance for jun is to steep the tea, dissolve the honey, add the SCOBY and starter tea, then ferment in the 75 to 85 degree Fahrenheit range. The adhesive thermometer strip included in the kit is meant to help track that window without buying a separate gauge, which matters because jun tends to move a bit faster than black tea kombucha once the honey and warmer end of that range are involved. Checking the batch a few days in rather than waiting the full timeline used for a standard kombucha brew helps avoid over-fermenting a jun batch into something more vinegary than intended.

How it stacks up against other jun starter kits

In a roundup of jun tea supplies this kit ranks third of eight, behind Fermentaholics' own smaller jun starter culture pack and a deluxe DIY kit that bundles a scoby with six swing top bottles, a funnel and a brush for bottling the finished batch. Buyers who already have jars and bottling gear and just want the culture and ingredients get more value from this simpler kit, while anyone starting from zero equipment may prefer the deluxe bundle that adds bottling supplies for a bit more money. Lower-ranked rivals in the same guide tend to sell only the raw SCOBY and starter tea without the extra honey, green tea, pH strips or thermometer this kit bundles in, so the gap in score often comes down to how much a buyer still has to source separately after the culture arrives.

Verdict

This kit is a straightforward way to try jun without hunting down an organic SCOBY and starter tea on your own, and bundling the honey, tea and testing strips saves a first-timer from assembling ingredients piecemeal. It works best for someone who already owns a gallon jar and just wants the culture and consumables, since the kit is upfront that a jar is not included. Buyers who want bottles and a funnel too should look at a more complete bundle instead. Anyone who has brewed standard black tea kombucha before will find the process familiar, with the main adjustments being the honey, the green tea and a slightly faster fermentation timeline to watch for.

Frequently asked questions