Hi everyone! Welcome to our channel and thanks for stopping by to learn how to make your own kombucha scoby! 😄🥰Now that you have a scoby, check out our fave recipes we share in this video --> th-cam.com/video/tPVMgQC91Mo/w-d-xo.html 😋 And if you haven't already, we'd love for you to subscribe! Happy fermenting! ❤
Wow! That's so awesome Virginia! And we love the name btw! Yeah you can save some serious money making it yourself instead of buying it and it's SOOO easy. We have more scobies than we know what to do with! 😂 Thanks so much for sharing!
@@FermentationAdventure you're the only ones that show the scoby in stages thanks. Is a scoby Hotel kind of like a cockroach Motel we got a couple of those
Maybe that one kind has more good stuff in it because it's a dark jar. I've tried that other kind that begins with a K and I didn't really like it but why buy it when I can make it Enmark it's $8 for about a quart and a half. I think I will buy a giant jar of pickles. Or something in glass that I can use. I've been buying the Classico spaghetti sauce cuz it has really nice jars. Now I have to eat the whole jar of pickles just so I can make more ginger bug
I just did this.... the first trial.... I got mold.... tried it again and it worked!!!!!!!.... the first SCOBY fell to the bottom then it made another one on top.... so excited
That's so awesome Fion! 🤩 We've had batches of things get mold so we just throw it out, sterilize everything and start over. No big deal just like you did! We hope it's tasty!
Hi guys, Just wanted to say thank you. I finally got into kombucha and lacto fermentation because of your videos, and I'm having a blast with all the f2 flavour combos. Thanks again for the fermentation videos; it made fermentation and kombucha brewing less daunting. 😊🤗
To make the starter tea you can always make a super concentrated cup of tea, and then dilute that into your final amount of water. That way you don't have to cool it.
Add, not using ice and heating a smaller amount of water reduces your carbon demand. Granted, it's not a lot, but if we all started thinking that way it helps.
Thank you for making this informative video. I’ve been buying kombucha tea for over a year now and never knew how easy it was to make. You guys are great! I love your videos. 😊
I just bottled my first batch of homemade kombucha using a scoby purchased online. Started a second batch with a 2nd scoby from another company to see how they compare. Will make my own scoby using your tips. Thanks for this video!
I tried this recipe with gt brand kombucha and sweet tea, didn't have any mason jars, so I put the mix in some small 3"x3" containers...a few days later some foam on top, after a few more days a baby scoby is forming in each container, yay!
I am about to start the process of making my first mother scoby! Thank you for all this great information. I am so excited for my family to try kombucha for the first time. (I've had it, so if they hate it... more for me! ha)
Great job guys! I got my kombucha journey started 1 year ago using GTs original. Kombucha brands are definitely not equal and GT and Health Ade are my top two favorite commercial brands along with a local NY brand Coastal Craft. Looking forward to next video!
I followed your process a year ago, now I have 3 half gallons of hotels! I have 2 half gallons for my consumption. I'm selling my scobies as I don't know what else I can do with them! And when people buy kombucha from me I send them links of your videos to watch how they do it at home.
Wow!! Thank you SO MUCH for sharing! We really appreciate it and are so happy to have inspired you. It's amazing once you make kombucha you end up having so many scobies it's crazy! Happy fermenting and thank you again! ❤️❤️❤️
Don't let your starter culture go to vinegar. Taste it during the 7 to 10 day period to see how acidic it's getting. It should be a clean taste, not vinegar. If your SCOBY is still thin start a new batch of tea and use the SCOBY and some of the starter liquid to go for round 2. It will get thicker and duplicate the more you use it. A vinegar SCOBY is predisposed to making vinegar. I make 2 10 litre batches at a time, one black, one green. It gets cold here so I use a submersible aquarium heater to keep the jar at 24 deg C - 75 deg F. BTW Love your show.
Thanks so much for the comments Anthony! Everyone has different tastes when it comes to fermented drinks from sweet wine to very dry wine and I think kombucha is similar. That's a great idea for making a cleaner less vinegar tasting kombucha. We're so happy you're enjoying our videos! Happy fermenting!
@@FermentationAdventure Totally 💯 agree with your comment. I love plain Kombucha. I like the slight vinegar taste so much. I've also always liked my wine red & on the dry side... Totally get your point👍🏾💯
Thanks for making this video. I wish I'd seen it before trying to grow my own SCOBY after watching a different video. I used a Kevita kombucha and after 3 weeks I grew a dime-sized SCOBY. Fortunately, I didn't get any mold. I'm going to retry the process with some GT as Kombucha can be crazy expensive up here in Alaska (when you're not in one of the big cities.). Happy fermenting!!
Wow! Thank you so much for the comment SueJean! We were pretty surprised when one of the bottles ended up not making a scoby. They must have something that stops the fermentation process. Glad to hear someone else got similar results. Good luck growing a scoby! I bet things take longer to ferment up in Alaska when it's cold.
@@FermentationAdventure You're welcome! "The Big Book of Kombucha" says on page 40 that they don't recommend trying to grow a scoby from commercial brands but I got the book after I tried growing one and the authors were selling scoby's so I took their advice with a grain of salt. Apparently, not all store brands have the same good qualities and that's something else to consider when trying different brands. You might like the taste of one over another but the health benefits may not be equal. Making your own gives you a chance to control those variations (my opinion). Fermentation in Alaska is more challenging in the summer for me as my wood stove gives me nice warm spots for "growing things" during the winter. I have wild temperature variations in the summer. For example, yesterday it was 80 degrees. Today it's 60 degrees. I have far less control over things in the summer. Overall, however, the pleasure of drinking kombucha makes the challenge worthwhile. My next experiment will be focused on a rhubarb version. Happy fermenting!!
That's amazing that you're making some tasty ferments up in Alaska! You can definitely make some great scobies from store bought kombucha which we've done many times now. So glad you're enjoying your homemade kombucha! 😊
Hey cute couple!! I followed your directions to the T, and I DID IT!! I made my own SCOBY. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with all who are interested. I will follow your next video for making the actual Kombucha and then second fermentation. I’m so excited! 😊
Woohoo!! Thanks for sharing! We're so happy to hear about your success creating your own scoby! We're very excited for you as you're well on your way to making kombucha!! 🥰
I made mine from a 16 ounce bottle of Gt's Pure Kombucha, I put it right into a half gallon Ball jar, covered with a t-shirt that I cut in half, and used a rubber band to hold the cloth in place, and in two weeks I had my scoby and starter to start my first batch, I don't add any sweet tea when I make a new scoby, it works everytime.
You're video is intriguing... I've been brewing my own Kombucha for a couple months now and I learned of a faster way to add the scobie and starter liquid to the sweet tea vs letting it cool down naturally or putting it in ice water to chill... Brew a half batch of water with all the tea... then in a jar that's marked off for how many gallons you want to brew, add in your tea and sugar mixture then add cold, filtered water up to the full mark for how many gallons you're brewing. You may still need to let it cool a little bit longer but not much!
Great idea! We've done this many times and it works well to cut down the time without needing to go through the whole hassle of ice baths. Thanks for the suggestion!
Wow fascinaring and informative. I tried making a clove kombucha with a scoby from my apple cider vinegar but it didn't really work thanks guys luv n light x
Thanks so much for sharing! Apple cider vinegar will definitely make a different kind of ferment versus a kombucha starter. That's an interesting idea though! We hope you're getting some tasty kombucha! 🥤
Thank you for this video! I'm making a SCOBY for the first time and we were worried that the "growth" wasn't normal... but it looks NOTHING like the mold you showed! I really appreciate you sharing!
Thanks for your comment! So glad you're enjoying the videos! You could use your first batch if you want but it would probably taste way too vinegary so we like to use the second batch instead since it's fermented for much less time. Happy fermenting!
Nobody does, because its wrong information! Think about it! Its tea, sugar, and culture ( the store bought bottle). What do you think your “ next” batch will be?
Hi guys, I'm new to your channel and you inspired me to grow my own SCOBY; I'm a tea drinker so when a heard about a fermented tea drink immediately I wanted to try it; but I did not know where to buy the actual kombucha here in my country (Panama), then watching this video I noticed the GT brand and it clicked I saw it on my local grocery store so I went to buy it and thy like half of it, the rest I used to try and grow my SCOBY and it worked I have my SCOBY now but I did it on a 12 oz mason jar so it is tiny. I figured I can change it to another jar with some more tea and start to make my own kombucha, thank you guys for your help.
Wow that's so awesome Maria! Hello to you down in Panama! We're so happy that you got your scoby working from the GT Brand. It must be hard to get some items down there but great when you're able to do things yourself. Thanks so much for your comment! ❤️❤️❤️
Earl Grey tea has Oil Of Bergamot. Its from a citrus fruit called a Bergamot orange from Southern Italy. Its one of my favorite teas. And you're right... probably not good for making Kombucha. I came back to this video to take some notes and to make sure I'm doing everything right. 🙌💙🙌
Thanks for coming back to our kombucha video! We're so happy to hear our videos continue to be a good reference! And we couldn't agree with you more about Earl Grey - so good! 😋
Thanks for the question! Since scobies are made up of tons of bacteria and yeast it's a question of if the culture is still alive. If we transfer a scoby to a new batch of sweet tea and it's not producing any more scobies then the batch might have finally been exhausted. Usually for us what happens is that our scoby gets super thick so then we'll start using one of the smaller scobies that form. It's pretty rare that we'll have a batch that dies though. I hope that helps!
my boyfriend and I are starting our kombucha adventure! so grateful to have found your channel. we love you both, and find your videos so helpful. thank you :)
I never even intended on getting into Kombucha but I just saw 2 Scobys on sale for $10 and couldn't refuse, I will DEFINITELY be using this method to grow more scobys with my homemade kombucha
I just made mine today and used the GT brand. They had Kevita but I read the back ingredients and it’s not pure kombuchas. The first ingredient is seltzer water. Which is my guess why it didn’t work. It also look to have more ingredients which I assumed was preservatives.
I make my scoby without tea - just pour some of your favourite kombucha into a jar (about two cups), cover with a tea towel and leave for about 3 weeks undisturbed in a cupboard. That's it!
Very nice! That should do it well also! Great shortcut if you're just trying to make the scoby and not a whole giant batch of kombucha. Thanks for sharing! 😊
Great video, I dumped mine out when I moved from Ca, so I bought a jar at a store that had a small scoby in the neck. Now they are taking over my house.
All the kombucha at my local stores were refrigerated and flavored. Will this affect me trying to grow a scoby from them? I was thinking maybe I should let the bottles that I will grow scoby from sit at room temp for a while. What do y'all think would be the best approach to take so I can successfully grow a scoby? Thank you for making this video!
Thanks for the question Madi! We've grown a scoby from kombucha that was flavored many times due to not seeing any unflavored on the store shelves. It's worked fine for us so far! Also all the kombucha we've bought is always refrigerated because it's still alive. Give it a try! It should work out as long as it says there are live cultures in the bottle. Happy fermenting!
You guys are great teachers. You made it fun for us students! Thank you so much! My neighbor gave me a piece of scoby during early phase of the pandemic. It multipled so many folds (like 3" thick) that I got scared and didn't know what to do. I also couldn't keep up drinking so much kombucha. Here are some of my questions: - Can you get fat from drinking too much. I'd think the sugar already converted and it should be okay? - Can diabetics drink kombucha? - Can I use kombucha to pickle vegetables? Does it make the pickling even better than using vinegar? - Will the caffeine in the tea keep some sensitive folks up at night? - Can I keep the scoby alive in the fridge ( like the sourdough starter), then I'll just take it out and make a bottle if I want some kombucha? This way I won't have to keep making them and don't know what to do with so much kombucha.
Thanks so much for the love Es Chang! When you make kombucha there will still be some sugar left so a lot of times there's still calories in it less than a soda but still calories nonetheless. Diabetics who need to watch their sugar intake will have to watch out because there's still sugar. Kombucha is alive and is a starter which could be used to ferment vegetables! It might taste different than the normal lacto-fermentation method but give it a try and see if you like it! Also if you're sensitive to caffeine, making kombucha doesn't change the caffeine so you might have to be aware of that. A lot of people like to keep their scobies at room temperature and say that the cold can harm their scobies. I would experiment with either and see which works for you. We hope that helps! Thanks for watching!
I'm so excited to say I just grew my own scoby from this video! It was a struggle finding a warm enough place in my cold kitchen. At first I used the oven light with the door cracked open, but I got tired of moving it every time I wanted to bake something. I made a kombucha cave on the top shelf of a cabinet using a lava lamp as a heat source, and now my scoby is almost big enough to start my first batch of kombucha! I used GT brand kombucha. You make it so easy! Next project will be a ginger bug!
Wow Liz! That's amazing to hear and so funny that it was a lava lamp that gave you enough warmth. That's awesome. Enjoy your kombucha and good luck on your batch of ginger ale! It's one of our favorite drinks! 💓
This is so cool. 👍🏼 I’ve been making kombucha for years so I have a mother and lots of babies. But how awesome is this… to be able to make my own Scoby. And thanks for explaining what scoby stands for. Had no idea. Can’t wait to try it. 😊
Thank you for sharing this. I'm having a hard time where I live to find the scoby. This will help me. If you want to cool down the tea in just 1 or 2 minutes, don't just put it in the icewater. Put the lid on and move it around for 1 or 2 minutes...goes veeery fast. Learned this in my younger days...then of course done with warm beer bottles or cans...
Thanks for the question Sharrice! Some people actually don't refrigerate at all but it will keep fermenting and taste very strong of vinegar. We like to enjoy our ferments within 6 months as long as we don't see any mold etc. I hope that helps and hope it's tasty!
You should be able to keep on using your scoby over and over again but one thing you'll notice is that you'll grow so many new scobies and your original will keep getting thicker. At some point we just use one of the smaller ones so it does take up so much space. They grow fast!
I love how considerate you are for people from developing countries like me because you pumped up the quality of the video so that I don't need to adjust to the highest resolution which helps me save my internet data/ balance. Subbed for more! Here's my question: Do you name your scobies?
No problem! Here's the full recipe that we use: fermentationadventure.com/how-to-make-a-kombucha-scoby/ It actually depends on how strong you like your tea. We like about 1 tablespoon per half gallon, so that might be about three tea bags about?
12:47 Very well explained practical video really happy n satisfied with but 1 q how much liquid from store bought did u put I can't tell otherwise I have everything ready to grow my first scobby waiting for yr ans tnku
Thanks so much! We hope you have great success with creating your own scoby starter culture. In the recipe in the video, we were using a half gallon jar, which is equivalent to 2 quarts. So if you're using a 1 quart jar for this recipe, you can divide all other ingredients in half. This would mean you can use 1/2 cup of store bought kombucha in your 1 quart jar. Happy fermenting!
Hello! Yes, you can use honey instead of sugar. We actually recently released a video that test many different types of sugars to see how well they ferment --> th-cam.com/video/TTHom2VY2R4/w-d-xo.html. This was technically for a ginger bug drink, but should translate well to kombucha as well. Happy fermenting! 😄
I ordered my SCOBY from Amazon in late January. I have been using it to make Kombucha but it would always take about 14 to 21 days to "brew" a batch of Kombucha, and even then it didn't seem to be very acidic. My SCOBY is just now (7 months later) starting to look like it should and "brewing" faster. I believe, because of ordering it online, my SCOBY was dormant and needed to "wake up" before making really good Kombucha. If I had made my own SCOBY the process would have happened faster but I couldn't find unflavored Kombucha in our area, it was all flavored.
Thanks so much for the comments Amy! We couldn't find any unflavored kombucha where we were so we ended up making a kombucha scoby from flavored kombucha and it still worked just fine. You can always give it a shot if you have to. It's great that it's fermenting faster for you now though! Happy fermenting!
Hello guys, great work and keep it up! Why do we use two cups from the liquid where the SCOBY grew for Kombucha considering that we already have the SCOBY? I assume it helps the process. What if we don't use it? More of a scientific question. Thank you for the video!
I used to make it all the time but then I moved and my Scobys turned bad in the process and got mold. Ready to start again now, so thank you for this! One reason you might not buy a SCOBY online is it is summer and the heat of sitting in a mailbox might kill or weaken it. I live in Tucson and 115 degrees for hours would not be good for it. So I will use your method. Wish me luck!
Hello guys, thank you for sharing the recipe for making scoby from scratch. I like your videos and also started making Tepache at home on regular basis as per your guidance. You are doing a great job. I wanted to know what type of kombucha you bought for this recipe? Thank you.
Thank you so much for the kind words Nandita!! We've used GT's kombucha many times and it's worked well for us. There's also a link on our website to another brand you can buy in case you really need another one but that should work great! fermentationadventure.com/gear/
Hi! Yes! Traditionally, kombucha is made with black tea, and it tends to do best with black tea. We'd recommend still making a SCOBY using black tea and then make a first batch with black tea to give it the best start possible, but then you can use that SCOBY to make green tea kombucha after that. If you notice that it doesn't seem to be working as well after many batches, you could throw in another black tea batch of kombucha to reinvigorate your SCOBY again. Hope that helps!
since you two are so excited about this i wanted to ask a outside the spectrum question. I started making honey mead years ago, have stopped now, in the process i found out if i let the fermentation continue it goes to vinegar! great honey vinegar, so now: here's the question, what can I do with this gorgeous honey vinegar scobe?
Oh wow! That actually sounds really delicious. We've actually never tried honey vinegar. Does it taste good or is it too acidic? Some people like using something like a kombucha vinegar for cleaning since it's so acidic. We'd love to hear more about yours! 🍯🐝
You mean use it to get a kombucha mother started? Apple cider vinegar is a totally different ferment but it's very acidic like kombucha is. I'm sure if you mixed the two you'd come out with something that's totally different but you could always try it! Good luck!
Hello! Since it usually ferments for longer when you're growing the Scoby culture, it will be very vinegary. If you don't mind the taste, you can drink it, or you could also use it in cooking, baking, or as a cleaning solution. Also save some of the liquid to help start your future batches of kombucha. In case you haven't seen it yet, here's the next step in making your own Kombucha: th-cam.com/video/tPVMgQC91Mo/w-d-xo.html
It's possible it might be able to grow a scoby after a good amount of time, but there might not be enough fuel from the sugar remaining in the store bought kombucha. With a fresh batch of sweet tea, there's plenty of fuel to grow a new scoby. Hope that helps and happy fermenting!
Thank you for the tutorial. I’m going to make my own SCOBY. So far I’ve only seen refrigerated kombucha, can I use a refrigerated bottle of kombucha to begin the process?
Hi! We're excited that you're embarking on this kombucha journey! Yes, all the kombucha you'll find in the store will be refrigerated, and it's a good sign that the culture in the bottle is still active.
Thanks so much for the question! You should still be able to use decaf tea since it does still have bitterness to it. It might turn out slightly different but should still give you great results. Give it a try and let us know how it goes! 😊
Thanks for the question! You should be able to keep it on the counter but after a month or two you'd want to pour off the strong kombucha from it and refresh it with a new batch of sweet tea. If not, the scobies will most likely die after a long period.
If you ferment kombucha for a very long time it becomes VERY acidic. It's even stained our hands for days with the vinegar smell. So basically it becomes a strong vinegar so you could use it like you would with regular distilled vinegar. It will have a strong smell though!
Thanks so much for your question! It depends on how sweet you like it but since honey is sweeter than sugar, some people like to use a replacement of 2/3 cup of honey per 1 cup of sugar. We hope that helps! 😊
Thanks so much! The scoby hotel is basically like keeping a batch of kombucha going on the counter, where you would continue to refresh with fresh sweet tea occasionally. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the question Elisa! Maybe make some apple cider vinegar? You can also try using it as a starter culture for other drinks etc. Store it in apple juice or apple cider vinegar most likely the way you would with kombucha scoby.
Thanks for the question Kim! Distilled water would work just fine since it wouldn't have chlorine. We have a good carbon filter on our refrigerator that filters out the chlorine so either way it would work great. Good luck and happy fermenting!
Thanks for watching! You'll want to use sweet tea in your scoby hotel to maintain your scobies, and just refresh the tea every so often. It's a very similar process to just making kombucha over and over. Hope that helps!
To do that you'd probably have to leave sweet tea on the counter for several days in many different parts of the world and with many different types of water sources, tea, etc. and keep cycling through batches hundreds or thousands of times to get the perfect combination of ingredients and natural bacteria and yeast to get it to evolve into what we know as kombucha today. Or you can buy a batch of kombucha to use as a starter that's already perfected to make a nice batch that you can have confidence knowing that it would probably work right the first time. If you need a scoby to start, you can even buy it on Amazon! amzn.to/2PQvAEp We hope that helps!
I had no idea you could start cultivating kombucha like that, thank you so much! What about the kombucha hotel video you promised? Next video? looking forward to 🙂
😂 You caught us. We still haven't made it! But really all you have to do is keep putting your scobies in a jar. After a while if it gets too vinegary, pour most of it off and top up with fresh sweet tea. That's it! 😊
Thanks so much for the question Randy! You could try to use herbal tea for temporary batches but kombucha really loves living in the tannins of darker tea. There's also jun tea which you can make with green tea. You can definitely experiment but generally most kombucha is either with black or green tea. Let us know how it goes!
Definitely Joan! It should work but might possibly slow it down. You might have to experiment with it. There's also another type of kombucha tea call "jun tea" that uses honey and a different type of tea. Hope that helps!
My commercial scoby disappeared in my first batch but it tastes great. Trying a second batch with a cup of the original to see if it will regrow the scoby.
Hi everyone! Welcome to our channel and thanks for stopping by to learn how to make your own kombucha scoby! 😄🥰Now that you have a scoby, check out our fave recipes we share in this video --> th-cam.com/video/tPVMgQC91Mo/w-d-xo.html 😋 And if you haven't already, we'd love for you to subscribe! Happy fermenting! ❤
This is not from scratch. You are a cheater and clickbaiter.
I just made my first scoby using yall's method! I don't drink Kombucha, but y'all have now saved my dad alot of money🥰
Wow! That's so awesome Virginia! And we love the name btw! Yeah you can save some serious money making it yourself instead of buying it and it's SOOO easy. We have more scobies than we know what to do with! 😂 Thanks so much for sharing!
@@FermentationAdventure you're the only ones that show the scoby in stages thanks. Is a scoby Hotel kind of like a cockroach Motel we got a couple of those
Maybe that one kind has more good stuff in it because it's a dark jar. I've tried that other kind that begins with a K and I didn't really like it but why buy it when I can make it Enmark it's $8 for about a quart and a half. I think I will buy a giant jar of pickles. Or something in glass that I can use. I've been buying the Classico spaghetti sauce cuz it has really nice jars. Now I have to eat the whole jar of pickles just so I can make more ginger bug
Classico spaghetti sauce is really good
Can you use a raw huney
Love from Tanzania, Africa. Made my first scoby and first batch of Kombucha. Thank you !!
Welcome! That's wonderful to hear! Kombucha is delicious! 😄
You guys have definitely put in a lot of work to teach us the basics. Well done people! Love from India 🇮🇳
Thank you so much for the love Madz! We really appreciate it! 💓 We love teaching others!
I just did this.... the first trial.... I got mold.... tried it again and it worked!!!!!!!.... the first SCOBY fell to the bottom then it made another one on top.... so excited
That's so awesome Fion! 🤩 We've had batches of things get mold so we just throw it out, sterilize everything and start over. No big deal just like you did! We hope it's tasty!
you two are so full of positive energy and love. you radiate it
Thank you so much! We're so happy to hear you feel our positive energy through our vids! 🥰
Hi guys,
Just wanted to say thank you. I finally got into kombucha and lacto fermentation because of your videos, and I'm having a blast with all the f2 flavour combos.
Thanks again for the fermentation videos; it made fermentation and kombucha brewing less daunting. 😊🤗
Woohoo! It's our pleasure. Thank you so much for your sweet comment. We love hearing about your successes in fermentation! Congrats! ❤️
To make the starter tea you can always make a super concentrated cup of tea, and then dilute that into your final amount of water. That way you don't have to cool it.
Nice! Thanks so much for the idea! 😁
Add, not using ice and heating a smaller amount of water reduces your carbon demand. Granted, it's not a lot, but if we all started thinking that way it helps.
Thank you for making this informative video. I’ve been buying kombucha tea for over a year now and never knew how easy it was to make. You guys are great! I love your videos. 😊
Thank you so much for the love! We appreciate you! 🥰
I just bottled my first batch of homemade kombucha using a scoby purchased online. Started a second batch with a 2nd scoby from another company to see how they compare. Will make my own scoby using your tips. Thanks for this video!
I tried this recipe with gt brand kombucha and sweet tea, didn't have any mason jars, so I put the mix in some small 3"x3" containers...a few days later some foam on top, after a few more days a baby scoby is forming in each container, yay!
Awesome Kevin! We hope you get some tasty kombucha soon! 🎉
I am doing my own Kombucha for the past 2 months now and love it!!!. Thank you!!!
That's awesome! Congrats on making your own Kombucha!
I am about to start the process of making my first mother scoby!
Thank you for all this great information. I am so excited for my family to try kombucha for the first time. (I've had it, so if they hate it... more for me! ha)
Yay! We're so excited for you! We wish you great success growing your own SCOBY and that you have many wonderful batches of kombucha in your future! 😄
@@FermentationAdventure Thank you so much!!
Great job guys! I got my kombucha journey started 1 year ago using GTs original. Kombucha brands are definitely not equal and GT and Health Ade are my top two favorite commercial brands along with a local NY brand Coastal Craft. Looking forward to next video!
Thank you! So true, a local brewery with Kombucha is a great way to support your local businesses!
I followed your process a year ago, now I have 3 half gallons of hotels! I have 2 half gallons for my consumption. I'm selling my scobies as I don't know what else I can do with them! And when people buy kombucha from me I send them links of your videos to watch how they do it at home.
Wow!! Thank you SO MUCH for sharing! We really appreciate it and are so happy to have inspired you. It's amazing once you make kombucha you end up having so many scobies it's crazy! Happy fermenting and thank you again! ❤️❤️❤️
Don't let your starter culture go to vinegar. Taste it during the 7 to 10 day period to see how acidic it's getting. It should be a clean taste, not vinegar. If your SCOBY is still thin start a new batch of tea and use the SCOBY and some of the starter liquid to go for round 2. It will get thicker and duplicate the more you use it. A vinegar SCOBY is predisposed to making vinegar.
I make 2 10 litre batches at a time, one black, one green. It gets cold here so I use a submersible aquarium heater to keep the jar at 24 deg C - 75 deg F.
BTW Love your show.
Thanks so much for the comments Anthony! Everyone has different tastes when it comes to fermented drinks from sweet wine to very dry wine and I think kombucha is similar. That's a great idea for making a cleaner less vinegar tasting kombucha. We're so happy you're enjoying our videos! Happy fermenting!
@@FermentationAdventure Thanks. Happy brewing ..
@@FermentationAdventure Totally 💯 agree with your comment. I love plain Kombucha. I like the slight vinegar taste so much. I've also always liked my wine red & on the dry side... Totally get your point👍🏾💯
Thanks for making this video. I wish I'd seen it before trying to grow my own SCOBY after watching a different video. I used a Kevita kombucha and after 3 weeks I grew a dime-sized SCOBY. Fortunately, I didn't get any mold. I'm going to retry the process with some GT as Kombucha can be crazy expensive up here in Alaska (when you're not in one of the big cities.). Happy fermenting!!
Wow! Thank you so much for the comment SueJean! We were pretty surprised when one of the bottles ended up not making a scoby. They must have something that stops the fermentation process. Glad to hear someone else got similar results. Good luck growing a scoby! I bet things take longer to ferment up in Alaska when it's cold.
@@FermentationAdventure You're welcome! "The Big Book of Kombucha" says on page 40 that they don't recommend trying to grow a scoby from commercial brands but I got the book after I tried growing one and the authors were selling scoby's so I took their advice with a grain of salt.
Apparently, not all store brands have the same good qualities and that's something else to consider when trying different brands. You might like the taste of one over another but the health benefits may not be equal. Making your own gives you a chance to control those variations (my opinion).
Fermentation in Alaska is more challenging in the summer for me as my wood stove gives me nice warm spots for "growing things" during the winter. I have wild temperature variations in the summer. For example, yesterday it was 80 degrees. Today it's 60 degrees. I have far less control over things in the summer.
Overall, however, the pleasure of drinking kombucha makes the challenge worthwhile. My next experiment will be focused on a rhubarb version. Happy fermenting!!
That's amazing that you're making some tasty ferments up in Alaska! You can definitely make some great scobies from store bought kombucha which we've done many times now. So glad you're enjoying your homemade kombucha! 😊
Hey cute couple!! I
followed your directions to the T, and I DID IT!! I made my own SCOBY. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with all who are interested. I will follow your next video for making the actual Kombucha and then second fermentation. I’m so excited! 😊
Woohoo!! Thanks for sharing! We're so happy to hear about your success creating your own scoby! We're very excited for you as you're well on your way to making kombucha!! 🥰
Yours is the first video that I've managed to find that starts from scratch. Thank you. 😊
Yay! Our pleasure. Happy fermenting!
I made mine from a 16 ounce bottle of Gt's Pure Kombucha, I put it right into a half gallon Ball jar, covered with a t-shirt that I cut in half, and used a rubber band to hold the cloth in place, and in two weeks I had my scoby and starter to start my first batch, I don't add any sweet tea when I make a new scoby, it works everytime.
Very nice! I bet it's using the sugar that's still present in the original one. We hope it tastes great!
You're video is intriguing... I've been brewing my own Kombucha for a couple months now and I learned of a faster way to add the scobie and starter liquid to the sweet tea vs letting it cool down naturally or putting it in ice water to chill... Brew a half batch of water with all the tea... then in a jar that's marked off for how many gallons you want to brew, add in your tea and sugar mixture then add cold, filtered water up to the full mark for how many gallons you're brewing. You may still need to let it cool a little bit longer but not much!
Great idea! We've done this many times and it works well to cut down the time without needing to go through the whole hassle of ice baths. Thanks for the suggestion!
I only drink herbal tea. I would love a video about the process of making Kombucha with herbal tea. Y'all's videos are so easy to follow!
Wow fascinaring and informative. I tried making a clove kombucha with a scoby from my apple cider vinegar but it didn't really work thanks guys luv n light x
Thanks so much for sharing! Apple cider vinegar will definitely make a different kind of ferment versus a kombucha starter. That's an interesting idea though! We hope you're getting some tasty kombucha! 🥤
Thank you for this video! I'm making a SCOBY for the first time and we were worried that the "growth" wasn't normal... but it looks NOTHING like the mold you showed! I really appreciate you sharing!
That's so awesome! We're happy that it helped and hope your kombucha is doing well! ❤️❤️❤️
I love this video on how to make it from scratch. Can’t wait to try it. You two are adorable! And Thank you for your knowledge! ❤
Aww, thank you so much! Kombucha is fun! 😃
Awesome! Thanks so much for watching!
Thank you thank you thank you!!! I have searched and searched and NO ONE tells not to use your original batch that you grew your FIRST scoby.
Thanks for your comment! So glad you're enjoying the videos! You could use your first batch if you want but it would probably taste way too vinegary so we like to use the second batch instead since it's fermented for much less time. Happy fermenting!
Nobody does, because its wrong information! Think about it! Its tea, sugar, and culture ( the store bought bottle). What do you think your “ next” batch will be?
Hi guys, I'm new to your channel and you inspired me to grow my own SCOBY; I'm a tea drinker so when a heard about a fermented tea drink immediately I wanted to try it; but I did not know where to buy the actual kombucha here in my country (Panama), then watching this video I noticed the GT brand and it clicked I saw it on my local grocery store so I went to buy it and thy like half of it, the rest I used to try and grow my SCOBY and it worked I have my SCOBY now but I did it on a 12 oz mason jar so it is tiny. I figured I can change it to another jar with some more tea and start to make my own kombucha, thank you guys for your help.
Wow that's so awesome Maria! Hello to you down in Panama! We're so happy that you got your scoby working from the GT Brand. It must be hard to get some items down there but great when you're able to do things yourself. Thanks so much for your comment! ❤️❤️❤️
You have inspired me to make my own scoby so I can make my own kombucha. Thanks for sharing 😊
Awesome! We're so happy we could help. Happy fermenting! 😄
12 days into making a SCOBY from some GT kombucha. I'm excited to see it working and I appreciate your process of showing me what to expect.
That's wonderful to hear! Congrats on making your own SCOBY! 😃
This is the most detail video I've watched about how to make homemade scoby. I am very interested to make my own....
That's awesome Laode! We're happy you enjoyed it. Happy fermenting! 😊
Earl Grey tea has Oil Of Bergamot. Its from a citrus fruit called a Bergamot orange from Southern Italy. Its one of my favorite teas. And you're right... probably not good for making Kombucha. I came back to this video to take some notes and to make sure I'm doing everything right. 🙌💙🙌
Thanks for coming back to our kombucha video! We're so happy to hear our videos continue to be a good reference! And we couldn't agree with you more about Earl Grey - so good! 😋
Very smart idea also save the money I am trying this first time using yr method can't wait for the result thnku
Awesome! Happy fermenting! 🥰
Last week in cpt my friend and I bought Kombucha
it was my forst time drinking it
Hi! So do you like Kombucha? 😄
yeap i do i started making mine on thur hopefully ill be drinking ot soon
That's great! Happy fermenting!
Thanks for your videos and all your work. Excellent information that works!
Thank you so much! 💓😄🥰
How long do scoby live, and when do you know it no good anymore? Ty
Thanks for the question! Since scobies are made up of tons of bacteria and yeast it's a question of if the culture is still alive. If we transfer a scoby to a new batch of sweet tea and it's not producing any more scobies then the batch might have finally been exhausted. Usually for us what happens is that our scoby gets super thick so then we'll start using one of the smaller scobies that form. It's pretty rare that we'll have a batch that dies though. I hope that helps!
my boyfriend and I are starting our kombucha adventure! so grateful to have found your channel. we love you both, and find your videos so helpful. thank you :)
That's so awesome Rachel! We hope you guys get a delicious kombucha going! It's hard to stop once you start! Haha! Enjoy!
I never even intended on getting into Kombucha but I just saw 2 Scobys on sale for $10 and couldn't refuse,
I will DEFINITELY be using this method to grow more scobys with my homemade kombucha
That's so awesome! That's also a great deal too. We hope you get some tasty kombucha! 😊
I made my Scoby the way you said It turned out awesome Thank you
That's amazing Artice! Thanks so much for letting us know! We hope you have some delicious kombucha. Experimenting with new flavors is fun too. Enjoy!
Thank you very much very informative
It's our pleasure! Thanks for watching! 😄
I just made mine today and used the GT brand. They had Kevita but I read the back ingredients and it’s not pure kombuchas. The first ingredient is seltzer water. Which is my guess why it didn’t work. It also look to have more ingredients which I assumed was preservatives.
That's awesome Susan! We hope it worked out for you! It was a cool project to try with different brands!
You guys keep coming up in my feed and I am missing you!
Aww, thanks for the sweet comment ❤️ One day there will be a new video in your feed! We're excited for that day too 😃
I make my scoby without tea - just pour some of your favourite kombucha into a jar (about two cups), cover with a tea towel and leave for about 3 weeks undisturbed in a cupboard. That's it!
Very nice! That should do it well also! Great shortcut if you're just trying to make the scoby and not a whole giant batch of kombucha. Thanks for sharing! 😊
Great video, I dumped mine out when I moved from Ca, so I bought a jar at a store that had a small scoby in the neck. Now they are taking over my house.
I've just grown scoby by using your recipe! It took more than expected, but it was worth it. Thank you very much!
Fantastic! Happy to hear you have a scoby!
All the kombucha at my local stores were refrigerated and flavored. Will this affect me trying to grow a scoby from them? I was thinking maybe I should let the bottles that I will grow scoby from sit at room temp for a while. What do y'all think would be the best approach to take so I can successfully grow a scoby? Thank you for making this video!
Thanks for the question Madi! We've grown a scoby from kombucha that was flavored many times due to not seeing any unflavored on the store shelves. It's worked fine for us so far! Also all the kombucha we've bought is always refrigerated because it's still alive. Give it a try! It should work out as long as it says there are live cultures in the bottle. Happy fermenting!
You guys are great teachers. You made it fun for us students! Thank you so much!
My neighbor gave me a piece of scoby during early phase of the pandemic. It multipled so many folds (like 3" thick) that I got scared and didn't know what to do. I also couldn't keep up drinking so much kombucha. Here are some of my questions:
- Can you get fat from drinking too much. I'd think the sugar already converted and it should be okay?
- Can diabetics drink kombucha?
- Can I use kombucha to pickle vegetables? Does it make the pickling even better than using vinegar?
- Will the caffeine in the tea keep some sensitive folks up at night?
- Can I keep the scoby alive in the fridge ( like the sourdough starter), then I'll just take it out and make a bottle if I want some kombucha? This way I won't have to keep making them and don't know what to do with so much kombucha.
Thanks so much for the love Es Chang! When you make kombucha there will still be some sugar left so a lot of times there's still calories in it less than a soda but still calories nonetheless. Diabetics who need to watch their sugar intake will have to watch out because there's still sugar. Kombucha is alive and is a starter which could be used to ferment vegetables! It might taste different than the normal lacto-fermentation method but give it a try and see if you like it! Also if you're sensitive to caffeine, making kombucha doesn't change the caffeine so you might have to be aware of that. A lot of people like to keep their scobies at room temperature and say that the cold can harm their scobies. I would experiment with either and see which works for you. We hope that helps! Thanks for watching!
When making kombucha, there should not be any sugar left. I would suggest using less sugar or fermenting longer.
I'm so excited to say I just grew my own scoby from this video! It was a struggle finding a warm enough place in my cold kitchen. At first I used the oven light with the door cracked open, but I got tired of moving it every time I wanted to bake something. I made a kombucha cave on the top shelf of a cabinet using a lava lamp as a heat source, and now my scoby is almost big enough to start my first batch of kombucha! I used GT brand kombucha.
You make it so easy! Next project will be a ginger bug!
Wow Liz! That's amazing to hear and so funny that it was a lava lamp that gave you enough warmth. That's awesome. Enjoy your kombucha and good luck on your batch of ginger ale! It's one of our favorite drinks! 💓
This is so cool. 👍🏼 I’ve been making kombucha for years so I have a mother and lots of babies. But how awesome is this… to be able to make my own Scoby. And thanks for explaining what scoby stands for. Had no idea. Can’t wait to try it. 😊
Woohoo! Great to hear you love kombucha too! As we've learned, there's always more to learn! 😅
Thank you for sharing this. I'm having a hard time where I live to find the scoby. This will help me.
If you want to cool down the tea in just 1 or 2 minutes, don't just put it in the icewater. Put the lid on and move it around for 1 or 2 minutes...goes veeery fast. Learned this in my younger days...then of course done with warm beer bottles or cans...
Fantastic, glad this will help you! Great idea on cooling down the tea faster, thank you! 😄
How long does itn last unrefridgersted
Thanks for the question Sharrice! Some people actually don't refrigerate at all but it will keep fermenting and taste very strong of vinegar. We like to enjoy our ferments within 6 months as long as we don't see any mold etc. I hope that helps and hope it's tasty!
@@FermentationAdventure h thanks!!
How many times can u reuse the scoby to make another batch
You should be able to keep on using your scoby over and over again but one thing you'll notice is that you'll grow so many new scobies and your original will keep getting thicker. At some point we just use one of the smaller ones so it does take up so much space. They grow fast!
Thank you guys am following your videos from now on
Awesome! Welcome to the beautiful world of fermenting! We're glad you found us.
They're so happy fermenting stuff
Yep! 😅
@@FermentationAdventure it's cool! Love!
Thank you ,you have shown me what i need.. cant wait.
Awesome! We're excited for you! 😄
Kombucha makes tummy smile.
Ha! Yes indeed! 😁
I love how considerate you are for people from developing countries like me because you pumped up the quality of the video so that I don't need to adjust to the highest resolution which helps me save my internet data/ balance. Subbed for more! Here's my question: Do you name your scobies?
We're so happy you found us! We haven't named our scobies yet but we've heard a lot of people do! There's some funny names. 😂
Appreciate the science experiment in the second half!
Glad you enjoyed! Thanks!
Great thinking
Thank you! 😄
I really liked you step by step thank you .
Thank you! We're glad it was helpful for you!
Amazing! So informative and entertaining. Love it!
Awesome Timothy! We're glad you're enjoying our videos! Happy fermenting!
I made my first Scoby it was fun, Thanks
That's so awesome! Congrats! Now what kind of kombucha will you make next? Oh the possibilities!
Great and informative video, thank you for sharing..i live in Italy and i was wondering, is natural mineral water ok to use?
Many thanks for the useful information you've provided.
Our pleasure! We're so happy to hear you find it useful!
How many tea bags to start?you used raw and strained..thanks🤙
No problem! Here's the full recipe that we use: fermentationadventure.com/how-to-make-a-kombucha-scoby/ It actually depends on how strong you like your tea. We like about 1 tablespoon per half gallon, so that might be about three tea bags about?
Steam the tea in less water (stronger) and then you can use cold water to cool it down with topping to the water needed😉
Thanks so much for the tip! That would definitely help with cooling it down. 🍵
12:47 Very well explained practical video really happy n satisfied with but 1 q how much liquid from store bought did u put I can't tell otherwise I have everything ready to grow my first scobby waiting for yr ans tnku
Thanks so much! We hope you have great success with creating your own scoby starter culture. In the recipe in the video, we were using a half gallon jar, which is equivalent to 2 quarts. So if you're using a 1 quart jar for this recipe, you can divide all other ingredients in half. This would mean you can use 1/2 cup of store bought kombucha in your 1 quart jar. Happy fermenting!
Can you use honey instead of sugar?
Hello! Yes, you can use honey instead of sugar. We actually recently released a video that test many different types of sugars to see how well they ferment --> th-cam.com/video/TTHom2VY2R4/w-d-xo.html. This was technically for a ginger bug drink, but should translate well to kombucha as well. Happy fermenting! 😄
I ordered my SCOBY from Amazon in late January. I have been using it to make Kombucha but it would always take about 14 to 21 days to "brew" a batch of Kombucha, and even then it didn't seem to be very acidic. My SCOBY is just now (7 months later) starting to look like it should and "brewing" faster. I believe, because of ordering it online, my SCOBY was dormant and needed to "wake up" before making really good Kombucha. If I had made my own SCOBY the process would have happened faster but I couldn't find unflavored Kombucha in our area, it was all flavored.
Thanks so much for the comments Amy! We couldn't find any unflavored kombucha where we were so we ended up making a kombucha scoby from flavored kombucha and it still worked just fine. You can always give it a shot if you have to. It's great that it's fermenting faster for you now though! Happy fermenting!
My life is so good , luck methods making kombucha
@@FermentationAdventure is it ok to use a Ginger flavored one?
Hello guys, great work and keep it up! Why do we use two cups from the liquid where the SCOBY grew for Kombucha considering that we already have the SCOBY? I assume it helps the process. What if we don't use it? More of a scientific question. Thank you for the video!
I used to make it all the time but then I moved and my Scobys turned bad in the process and got mold.
Ready to start again now, so thank you for this!
One reason you might not buy a SCOBY online is it is summer and the heat of sitting in a mailbox might kill or weaken it. I live in Tucson and 115 degrees for hours would not be good for it. So I will use your method. Wish me luck!
Hello guys, thank you for sharing the recipe for making scoby from scratch. I like your videos and also started making Tepache at home on regular basis as per your guidance. You are doing a great job. I wanted to know what type of kombucha you bought for this recipe? Thank you.
Thank you so much for the kind words Nandita!! We've used GT's kombucha many times and it's worked well for us. There's also a link on our website to another brand you can buy in case you really need another one but that should work great! fermentationadventure.com/gear/
Thanks for the video! Could you please send the link for the Scoby Hotel? thanks
Thanks for this, but why 'black tea'? Can I use another like say 'green tea'?
Hi! Yes! Traditionally, kombucha is made with black tea, and it tends to do best with black tea. We'd recommend still making a SCOBY using black tea and then make a first batch with black tea to give it the best start possible, but then you can use that SCOBY to make green tea kombucha after that. If you notice that it doesn't seem to be working as well after many batches, you could throw in another black tea batch of kombucha to reinvigorate your SCOBY again. Hope that helps!
since you two are so excited about this i wanted to ask a outside the spectrum question. I started making honey mead years ago, have stopped now, in the process i found out if i let the fermentation continue it goes to vinegar! great honey vinegar, so now: here's the question, what can I do with this gorgeous honey vinegar scobe?
Oh wow! That actually sounds really delicious. We've actually never tried honey vinegar. Does it taste good or is it too acidic? Some people like using something like a kombucha vinegar for cleaning since it's so acidic. We'd love to hear more about yours! 🍯🐝
Can in use apple cider vinegar with the mother?
You mean use it to get a kombucha mother started? Apple cider vinegar is a totally different ferment but it's very acidic like kombucha is. I'm sure if you mixed the two you'd come out with something that's totally different but you could always try it! Good luck!
Followed this process and I made my scoby...so is the liquid my first fermentation?
Hello! Since it usually ferments for longer when you're growing the Scoby culture, it will be very vinegary. If you don't mind the taste, you can drink it, or you could also use it in cooking, baking, or as a cleaning solution. Also save some of the liquid to help start your future batches of kombucha. In case you haven't seen it yet, here's the next step in making your own Kombucha: th-cam.com/video/tPVMgQC91Mo/w-d-xo.html
Can I just put the store bought kambucha outside (without tea and sugar) with a cloth on top to get a scoby?
It's possible it might be able to grow a scoby after a good amount of time, but there might not be enough fuel from the sugar remaining in the store bought kombucha. With a fresh batch of sweet tea, there's plenty of fuel to grow a new scoby. Hope that helps and happy fermenting!
Thank you for the tutorial. I’m going to make my own SCOBY. So far I’ve only seen refrigerated kombucha, can I use a refrigerated bottle of kombucha to begin the process?
Hi! We're excited that you're embarking on this kombucha journey! Yes, all the kombucha you'll find in the store will be refrigerated, and it's a good sign that the culture in the bottle is still active.
Yummy! Love the video! Thank you guys!
Thanks for watching Jay and Denisse! So happy you enjoyed it. 😊
@@FermentationAdventure We love our Kombucha! We've been making Kombucha for about 8 months. We loved this video to make our own scoby!
Thanks! We just made some delicious flavored kombucha and look forward to sharing those recipes in the near future!
Wow! Flavored kombucha sounds amazing!! Waiting for that video!!
Hi Jay and Denisse! We just saw this comment! Did you find our flavored kombucha video? th-cam.com/video/tPVMgQC91Mo/w-d-xo.html
can you use decaf teas?
Thanks so much for the question! You should still be able to use decaf tea since it does still have bitterness to it. It might turn out slightly different but should still give you great results. Give it a try and let us know how it goes! 😊
Great video!
Thank you!! 😄
where do you keep your scoby hotel? and can you let it sit around forever?
Thanks for the question! You should be able to keep it on the counter but after a month or two you'd want to pour off the strong kombucha from it and refresh it with a new batch of sweet tea. If not, the scobies will most likely die after a long period.
You mentioned using the liquid to make a scoby for cleaning. Cleaning what? And how would one do that?
If you ferment kombucha for a very long time it becomes VERY acidic. It's even stained our hands for days with the vinegar smell. So basically it becomes a strong vinegar so you could use it like you would with regular distilled vinegar. It will have a strong smell though!
I do not use white sugar so how much honey do I need?
Thanks so much for your question! It depends on how sweet you like it but since honey is sweeter than sugar, some people like to use a replacement of 2/3 cup of honey per 1 cup of sugar. We hope that helps! 😊
Did you make the video about scoby hotels? Btw: I’m making my first batch after bingeing your videos. Y’all are so cute! 🥰
Thanks so much! The scoby hotel is basically like keeping a batch of kombucha going on the counter, where you would continue to refresh with fresh sweet tea occasionally. Hope that helps!
Making my 1st scoby! Say a little prayer that it makes!
Best of luck to you and the scoby! If this one doesn't work out, definitely keep trying. We've had great success with this method.
It took two tries but I have a Scoby. Thank you.
After scoby is made can you use
The liquid from scoby to start
Your kombucha?..
Hello! Yes, you can! Once you have a healthy Scoby going, then your liquid can be your starter culture. The Scoby is a great sign that it is working.
I have a scobie made from apple cider vinegar. What can I use it for. Also how do I store scobie as I have more then 1.
Thanks for the question Elisa! Maybe make some apple cider vinegar? You can also try using it as a starter culture for other drinks etc. Store it in apple juice or apple cider vinegar most likely the way you would with kombucha scoby.
Love THIS!! Thank you so much for making this video!
Yay!! Thanks so much for the love!
Is it possible to make a scone using white tea?
Thank you. I like GT best. Thanks for the lesson.
It's our pleasure! Glad to help! ❤️
Do you use distilled water? If not what is the nonclorinated water that you use? Thanks.
Thanks for the question Kim! Distilled water would work just fine since it wouldn't have chlorine. We have a good carbon filter on our refrigerator that filters out the chlorine so either way it would work great. Good luck and happy fermenting!
Thank you for the video. I am trying right now to make a scoby with the GT brand. What liquid goes in the scoby hotel? Thank you!
Thanks for watching! You'll want to use sweet tea in your scoby hotel to maintain your scobies, and just refresh the tea every so often. It's a very similar process to just making kombucha over and over. Hope that helps!
How do you do it without kombucha though
To do that you'd probably have to leave sweet tea on the counter for several days in many different parts of the world and with many different types of water sources, tea, etc. and keep cycling through batches hundreds or thousands of times to get the perfect combination of ingredients and natural bacteria and yeast to get it to evolve into what we know as kombucha today. Or you can buy a batch of kombucha to use as a starter that's already perfected to make a nice batch that you can have confidence knowing that it would probably work right the first time. If you need a scoby to start, you can even buy it on Amazon! amzn.to/2PQvAEp We hope that helps!
I had no idea you could start cultivating kombucha like that, thank you so much! What about the kombucha hotel video you promised? Next video? looking forward to 🙂
😂 You caught us. We still haven't made it! But really all you have to do is keep putting your scobies in a jar. After a while if it gets too vinegary, pour most of it off and top up with fresh sweet tea. That's it! 😊
You all
are so cute, thanks for sharing. I will give this a try.
Aww thanks so much! We hope you have great success in making your scoby!
Can I use something else besides black tea or green tea? could I use a herbal tea? maybe chaga tea?
Thanks so much for the question Randy! You could try to use herbal tea for temporary batches but kombucha really loves living in the tannins of darker tea. There's also jun tea which you can make with green tea. You can definitely experiment but generally most kombucha is either with black or green tea. Let us know how it goes!
Can I use honey for the sugar?
Definitely Joan! It should work but might possibly slow it down. You might have to experiment with it. There's also another type of kombucha tea call "jun tea" that uses honey and a different type of tea. Hope that helps!
@@FermentationAdventure yes, I know about Jun. I am not a big fan of green tea.
Another brilliant video!!!
Aww thanks so much!! Really appreciate the love!
My commercial scoby disappeared in my first batch but it tastes great. Trying a second batch with a cup of the original to see if it will regrow the scoby.
That should work so we're hoping you have great success! 😃
Can monkfruit be used?