The next day or after the sugar tea mixture has cooled to room temperature, the starter tea and Scoby mushroom are ready to be added.
Directions:
Clean the area you will be using with a paper towel or clean cloth using distilled white vinegar as your cleaning agent.
Wash your hands with distilled white vinegar. Avoid using anti-bacterial soap of any kind on hands, or near Scoby's before touching them.
Drizzle a little distilled white vinegar on a clean bowl or plate, gently remove the Scoby mushroom from the finished batch of Kombucha tea and place the Scoby mushroom on the plate or bowl.
Strain 1 Cup (Per 1/2 gallon) of the old Kombucha tea through a non-metal strainer, this will be your 'Starter tea' for the new batch.
Add the starter tea to the new batch of cooled sugar tea.
Gently place the Scoby mushroom into the cooled sugar tea with starter liquid using your hands.
Cover the jar with a few paper towels, securing them with a strong rubber band.
Store Kombucha in a well ventilated, clean place, out of direct sunlight, where it will not be moved or jostled, away from any garbage cans, dirty laundry, chemicals and possible infestation of insects/pests for 7 to 10 days.
Ideally Kombucha should be kept in a place where the temperature is between 68 and 80 degrees.
If the area is too cold, the tea will take a lot longer to ferment and if the area is too hot/humid the Scoby may begin to mold.
Directions:
Clean the area you will be using with a paper towel or clean cloth using distilled white vinegar as your cleaning agent.
Wash your hands with distilled white vinegar. Avoid using anti-bacterial soap of any kind on hands, or near Scoby's before touching them.
Drizzle a little distilled white vinegar on a clean bowl or plate, gently remove the Scoby mushroom from the finished batch of Kombucha tea and place the Scoby mushroom on the plate or bowl.
Strain 1 Cup (Per 1/2 gallon) of the old Kombucha tea through a non-metal strainer, this will be your 'Starter tea' for the new batch.
Add the starter tea to the new batch of cooled sugar tea.
Gently place the Scoby mushroom into the cooled sugar tea with starter liquid using your hands.
Cover the jar with a few paper towels, securing them with a strong rubber band.
Store Kombucha in a well ventilated, clean place, out of direct sunlight, where it will not be moved or jostled, away from any garbage cans, dirty laundry, chemicals and possible infestation of insects/pests for 7 to 10 days.
Ideally Kombucha should be kept in a place where the temperature is between 68 and 80 degrees.
If the area is too cold, the tea will take a lot longer to ferment and if the area is too hot/humid the Scoby may begin to mold.
Potential problems:
Mold - If black mold spots form on the mushroom, throw the Scoby mushroom and entire tea batch away.
Insects - If bugs contaminate your tea, throw the Scoby mushroom and entire tea batch away.
Weird Smells – If Scoby mushroom smells rotten, cheesy or just wrong, throw the Scoby and entire tea batch away.
Expect to observe on a totally healthy, normal Scoby mushroom: Stringy brown stuff (Yeast), white bubbles or thick white spots, weird shapes or different textured Scoby mushrooms, different shaped/sized Scoby 'Babies' that form in layers on the older Scoby after each batch. A vinegary, acidic, vaguely alcoholic, yeasty smell is also normal. All these things are fine, do not worry.
Mold - If black mold spots form on the mushroom, throw the Scoby mushroom and entire tea batch away.
Insects - If bugs contaminate your tea, throw the Scoby mushroom and entire tea batch away.
Weird Smells – If Scoby mushroom smells rotten, cheesy or just wrong, throw the Scoby and entire tea batch away.
Expect to observe on a totally healthy, normal Scoby mushroom: Stringy brown stuff (Yeast), white bubbles or thick white spots, weird shapes or different textured Scoby mushrooms, different shaped/sized Scoby 'Babies' that form in layers on the older Scoby after each batch. A vinegary, acidic, vaguely alcoholic, yeasty smell is also normal. All these things are fine, do not worry.
As shown above: Scoby mushrooms come in many different textures/shapes and sizes. They are also relatively resilient and tend to multiply after each new batch. For this reason and more, DO NOT risk drinking a possibly contaminated batch of Kombucha, simply throw it away and start over. I will write about how to store extra Scoby mushrooms and also alternative uses for them later in this series.
NEXT UP: How to bottle your Kombucha - Part 3