User Guide
5. Pour the contents of the sac into the COOLED tea and stir briskly.
MAKE SURE THE TEA IS ROOM TEMPERATURE! Tea hotter
than 85 Degrees F will start to kill your SCOBY. Test pH to
ensure it is below 4. If it's above 4, add more vinegar.
6. Cover with a coffee filter or paper towel secured with a rubber
band. Insects are attracted to the sugary tea especially in tropical
areas, so make sure it is well covered. DO NOT USE
CHEESECLOTH. Fruit flies can crawl though this!
7. Let sit for 7-30 days in a constant 68-84 degrees F. Do not place
in direct sunlight. At cooler temperatures, the tea ferments
slower and the culture growth is inhibited. If your home is
cooler, you can store the tea in the oven with the oven light on
after replacing it with a 7-15 watt light bulb, or a Styrofoam box
with a night light. DO NOT ferment the tea using a gas pilot light.
WHILE YOU WAIT... The first sign of growth will appear by day 3-7 in
the form of fine filaments floating in your mixture. The original SCOBY
will not have increased in size, but it will produce a larger culture on
the surface of the tea that MAY OR MAY NOT FLOAT to the surface.
During the brewing period some UGLY, DARKISH GROWTH may first
appear on the surface, then a thin skin will form. Many white gas
bubbles will be seen; the skin will solidify and congeal into a new
culture that will look like a thin pancake. Often people will mistake
what begins to form on the surface as mold. MOLD IS VERY RARE
with the proper pH. Your first culture will vary between 1/8" to
1/3" thick. There will be dark brown strands under the culture
which is the simple root structure that will fuel your following
batches.
Taste the tea on the 7th day using a straw to see if it is ready, if it
tastes too sugary, then let it ferment longer. Usually it takes 7-14
days, but it could take longer depending on the temperature of your
environment. If the tea has fermented, then everything is ok, even
though the culture has not fully formed.
You are now ready to prepare your second batch.
YOUR SECOND BATCH
Make your next batch the same way you made your first batch, but
this time, add the new culture you grew into the new batch.
Instead of using vinegar, you can use about 25%) of your Kombucha
tea from the first brew. The more Kombucha you use as starter, the
faster your second batch will brew. Once the culture has been used
to make a batch of tea, it is now called a mother.
The mother can either sink into or float on top of the tea. You will
probably see dark matter and new strands attached to the underside
of the culture you grew. This is the simple root structure of the
culture.
Your second culture will grow faster and thicker than the first. The
new culture may attach to the first culture. You can just pull them
apart if you'd like.
If done correctly, your Kombucha will become so potent that it is not
necessary to use a SCOBY to start the new batch; you can simply use
the tea!
Fermenting tea will smell like overripe apples or vinegar. Many small
bubbles might form on the surface. Remember that your tea is alive.
Sometimes the tea will have formed a bubble and rise over the tea.
The top cultures will have dried and become discolored. Simply press
the culture back down and submerge it into the tea.
PREPARED TEA should be kept cool in the refrigerator, preferably a
glass container. The longer it is kept in the fridge, the smoother the
taste will become. Home brewed Kombucha is only slightly
carbonated since it is not brewed in a sealed container. If you want a
heavily carbonated tea, cap the bottles and leave it at room
temperature for 1-3 days. Be sure to open bottles twice daily to
release pressure. Keep bottles covered or in a plasic bin as they
may explode from pressure. Always wear eye protection when
handling fermenting bottles!
STORING YOUR SURPLUS SCOBYS
You can store your extra SCOBYS in a glass container submerged in
sweet tea, at room temperature or in the refrigerator (which slows
down the rate of metabolism). They will keep as long as they have
oxygen and sugar to live on, and are not allowed to dry out. When
storing for a long time, the sweet tea should be refreshed.
CAUTIONS: Some individuals may be allergic to Kombucha tea. Drink
only about 2 oz at first to test the tea to any allergic reaction. A few
may suffer from stomach distress due to carbonation and
fermentation in the tea. Pregnant and breastfeeding women
should be aware that drinking very large amounts of the tea can affect
the pH level of some bodily fluids and contain a small amount of
caffeine and alcohol. Do not drink the tea if it is extremely sour. Do
not use ceramic containers that may contain lead.
If the tea has not fermented in 14 days, please CONTACT ME through
the Amazon Messaging System.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: What do I do with the original culture you sent me?
A: Once you have established a consistent brew, you keep I or 2
SCOBYS in the brew and give away any extras.
Q: How do 1 make my Kombucha more effervescent?
A: Nice work! Now that you have your 1st brew, you might want to
make it fizzier. You can store your Kombucha in an air tight container,
either a capped bottle or a sealed jar, fill the container to the top
leaving only / 2 " of airspace, and allow the anaerobic fermentation
to continue. This will allow the gas to be pushed into the Kombucha.
If you want it to "go flat" just allow the gas to escape as you would
with a soda. Always cover bottles and use eye protection!
Q: Can I use raw apple cider vinegar like Braggs?
A: If you are looking to make pure Kombucha, I would stick to
pasteurized vinegar. Using a raw ACV may wont's kill your SCOBY,
but it may throw off the taste a bit.
Q: Now that I am a Kombucha master, how do I go about flavoring my
Kombucha?
A: There are a plethora of recipes you can find online. However, one
of my favorite ones is very simple one. I take a few slices of ginger and
add it into my finished bottle of Kombucha. In a matter of a few hours
to a day, the gingered Kombucha is delightful.
Happy brewing,
Scoby St. Cloud