Kombucha

[pepperette]

[COLOR="DarkGreen"]Not sure I want enough fizz to 'splode a bottle! Just make tingles under the tongue! I could seriously drink this stuff all day, it is that good. I've taken one to work for lunch the past two days and wished I had another each day. I only have 1 left. Think I might start a two jugs when this batch is ready to bottle.[/COLOR]
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[Kamalam]

I know what you mean, Pepperette... We go through it so fast here... mainly I have to hide a bottle or two from my little boy who would drink the whole batch if given a chance!

Fizz report (Cindy!): Leaving the second batch in their bottles on the counter is helping a lot. Still not "store level" of carbonation, but better than before. The grape concentrate makes a huge difference. And now that I know it's sucrose (or glucose?) and NOT fructose that makes the difference, I might try experimenting with adding ginger and some sugar to some of my next bottles...

[BikerAng]

I'm up to making 2 batches at a time Pepperette, I seem to just go through it too quickly! I bottled up a batch (it was fermenting for 8 days @ 72-74 degrees) then I bottled it. I made three different flavors (tomorrow will be day 3 in the bottles w/flavors), and the wild blueberry has a lot of fizz (I'm burping the bottles because I don't want them to explode!). I also found some organic strawberry jam (sweetened with white grape juice) and that batch is by far the fizziest (is that a word? ). Can't wait to try them out!

[pepperette]

[COLOR="DarkGreen"]I wanted to make a blackberry one, but my jam is sugar free with Splenda- didn't think it would work. Now I have bottled flavors so I can do the next batch in cranberry, pomegranate, and blueberry. The blueberry is for DS to try- he asked what I'll do if he hates it-"throw it out?" Told him h*** no!- I'd drink it! Geez- what WAS he thinking- wasting good kombucha! HMMMPH!!

If I thought I had enough space, I'd try brewing in a 5 gallon jug and have more at a time to bottle![/COLOR]
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[cindy_cfids]

Originally Posted by Kamalam

Fizz report (Cindy!): Leaving the second batch in their bottles on the counter is helping a lot. Still not "store level" of carbonation, but better than before. The grape concentrate makes a huge difference. And now that I know it's sucrose (or glucose?) and NOT fructose that makes the difference, I might try experimenting with adding ginger and some sugar to some of my next bottles...

I am SOOOOO happy that you've experienced fizz lol. I'm reaching the end of bottles from 3 weeks ago and I lost half bottle to the geyser effect lol. I just don't have room in refrigerator.

"Store Level of carbonation" will be created when you bottle *before* it goes flat lol. I would suggest you bottle sooner. We took a completely flat batch and added grape juice to revive it. I don't normally add juice, only as a desperation measure and only reason I have had so many flat batches is that I intentionally brew them til they are sugar free.

You might start with plain batches with no additions to figure out optimal brew time. You know now that if it's flat you can rebottle with grape juice, but normally fizz should be created without any additions. After you get the basics down, then experiment lol.

[BikerAng]

I just tried the strawberry and blueberry flavors and they are totally fizzy and perfect tasting (dry and not sweet, kind of like wine)! YAY! This was my first batch of flavored kombucha, and I did bottle it with fruit a bit sooner than I would have if I was to drink it plain (let it 2nd ferment for 3 days, or was it 4?). Can't wait to try more flavors! Ginger lime sounds good to me for some reason, that will be a flavor for the next batch. Love this stuff!

[cindy_cfids]

Originally Posted by pepperette

[COLOR="DarkGreen"]If I thought I had enough space, I'd try brewing in a 5 gallon jug and have more at a time to bottle![/COLOR]
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My 5 gallon takes a lil less counter space than my 2.8 gallon, only much much taller lol.

I am loving the 5 gallon (which really only holds 4 gallon with air space) continuous brewing system. They say that with 70% starter it only takes 26 hours to process and should be bottled within 3 days max. So when I'm ready to process a gallon, I add one gallon fresh to 3 gallons of starter and bottle in 2 days. I've been doing 2 gallons a week, but could (in theory) do 1.2 gallon every 26 hours. It tastes fine fresh, I haven't tasted the finished bottled brew yet.

You can make a continuous brewer with any amount, it doesn't have to be 5 gal. but I don't have the patiences/strength to be brewing tea and or bottling every day. I also could never get ahead of my consumption, I'd be drinking them before they even had a chance to fizz. Plus I had brew bottles everywhere and still couldn't make enough.

Other than quantity, the biggest reason I wanted the 5 gallon system is that they say that many of the beneficial acids aren't even created til 14-21 days of the brew cycle, which you just can't get when bottling at 8 days.

I got my food grade plastic brewing container with flip spigot for $20 plus shipping from the happyherbalist. I actually bought 2 (not realizing one could produce over 7 gallons a week lol) but glad I did now, I can use the second one for big batch mixing, blending and bottling but most of the time I just bottle straight out of the main one, I don't even filter lol. The second one I use for spares, excess to make vinegar, I never put fresh tea in this one.

[BikerAng]

Interesting regarding the beneficial acids and brewing time. I have a spare scoby and about 2 cups of VERY old brew (a little over a month). This most recent batch I added some of the old brew plus some of the more recent brew as starter. Hmm, may need to look into this continuous brewer, I'm drinking a lot of kombucha!

[Faia]

Originally Posted by cindy_cfids

I got my food grade plastic brewing container with flip spigot for $20 plus shipping from the happyherbalist. .

I want one of those.

[cindy_cfids]

Originally Posted by BikerAng

Interesting regarding the beneficial acids and brewing time. I have a spare scoby and about 2 cups of VERY old brew (a little over a month). This most recent batch I added some of the old brew plus some of the more recent brew as starter.

A cup of beneficial acids in a batch any larger than 1.5 cups is too diluted to truly be beneficial though. My "starter" is 3 gallons. I only add/remove less than 30% (aka 1 gallon).

[Kamalam]

We've got a continuous brewer also, but ours is only 2.5 gallons. It does make the process easier to simply press down on the spigot, bottle what you can, and simply pour the new tea on top. Our scoby is huge now! We're seriously considering upgrading to a larger container or getting an additional one.

Like Cindy said, though, we are never ahead of our consumption... seems as if once the kombucha is bottled, going thru its second ferment, we are sort of hopping in place waiting as long as we can before just diving in and drinking it.

Which brings me to a question...Cindy you mentioned "many of the beneficial acids aren't even created til 14-21 days of the brew cycle, which you just can't get when bottling at 8 days." So are you saying that once the KT is in its second ferment, the ideal wait time is 14-21 days?? I'm not totally clear what you mean here...

If that's true, then we need to get a lot more bottles - and we'll have an initial long wait. But once over, we'll be back on schedule - though still having to wait for that second fermentation.

[Faia]

Originally Posted by Kamalam

Which brings me to a question...Cindy you mentioned "many of the beneficial acids aren't even created til 14-21 days of the brew cycle, which you just can't get when bottling at 8 days." So are you saying that once the KT is in its second ferment, the ideal wait time is 14-21 days?? I'm not totally clear what you mean here...

I *think* that refers to primary ferment when done in a sufficiently large vessel to allow for only exchanging a small (1 gallon out of 4 is 25%) amount of "old" out and "new" in. Not completely sure on this as I am more familiar with beer and kombucha is an entirely different animal.

[cindy_cfids]

Originally Posted by Kamalam

Cindy you mentioned "many of the beneficial acids aren't even created til 14-21 days of the brew cycle, which you just can't get when bottling at 8 days." So are you saying that once the KT is in its second ferment, the ideal wait time is 14-21 days?? I'm not totally clear what you mean here..

Unfortunately they are not created til 14-21 days of the FIRST ferment. (Fortunately that has nothing to do with bottle time and you don't have to wait 21 days to drink your bottles lol.) When I started the 5 gal. continuous brewing system, I started 2 of them (half gallon starter each + 2 gallons fresh tea). I continued to bottle every week but I would only withdraw 1 gallon each and add 2 gallons of fresh tea to each every week. So I was gradually building up my starter every week, til I had 4 gallons of starter that began 25 days ago. (it probably won't get to full beneficial strength for another couple of weeks yet) It is NOW in continuous brewing mode, prior to this I was doing regular batch brewing but the larger the percentage of starter became, the shorter the brew cycle.

When I say the brew cycle I mean the aerobic fermentation process with the scoby. The bacteria will continue to process as long as they have air, if you bottle with no air, they will cease to continue producing acetic acids. The yeast will continue to process as long as GLUCOSE is present. Bottling for fizz stops the bacterial actions. If you don't stop the process though the KT will become undrinkable, only continuous brewing system allows you to have drinkable KT with ALL the beneficial acids.

I have misplaced my book and I can not seem to find the info online about the acids produced between days 14-21. The specific acids meant nothing to me when I first read it, I just knew they were there. I am trying to learn about acetic, gluconic, glucuronic, etc. acids but these terms were all new and unfamiliar to me.

I am really loving drinking KT (takes me back to my soda addiction lol) but people swear about the health benefits and THAT is my main concern, producing the healthiest most beneficial product but the fizz is really thrilling me lol. I could feel it doing something when I first started drinking it, it seemed like I could feel a flush in every cell in my body. But gee alcohol will do that too, so may not be terribly beneficial, but I sure am willing to give it a good long trial.

[pepperette]

Originally Posted by Faia

I *think* that refers to primary ferment when done in a sufficiently large vessel to allow for only exchanging a small (1 gallon out of 4 is 25%) amount of "old" out and "new" in. Not completely sure on this as I am more familiar with beer and kombucha is an entirely different animal.

[COLOR="DarkGreen"]I checked on the Happy Herbalist site, and that is what I understood about continuous brewing, also.
Just how tall is the 5 gal. plastic brewer? I could not find dimensions at HH. Not sure it would fit in the "island" abode they're in now. And the frig sits under a soffit and has no room on top for a 5 gal. apparatus. [/COLOR]
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[Kamalam]

Originally Posted by cindy_cfids

Unfortunately they are not created til 14-21 days of the FIRST ferment. (Fortunately that has nothing to do with bottle time and you don't have to wait 21 days to drink your bottles lol.) When I started the 5 gal. continuous brewing system, I started 2 of them (half gallon starter each + 2 gallons fresh tea). I continued to bottle every week but I would only withdraw 1 gallon each and add 2 gallons of fresh tea to each every week. So I was gradually building up my starter every week, til I had 4 gallons of starter that began 25 days ago. (it probably won't get to full beneficial strength for another couple of weeks yet) It is NOW in continuous brewing mode, prior to this I was doing regular batch brewing but the larger the percentage of starter became, the shorter the brew cycle.

Ok....interesting. We were told that with our 2.5 gallon crock to always leave 20% starter tea remaining... it's been about 25 days since we got our kit. So if I'm understanding this right...we are probably only now starting to get the beneficial acids in our KT. And as I remember the first few batches were definitely "weaker" than our most recent brew.

Looking back on it, we probably should have left a higher percentage of starter tea - and I almost wonder if we should do that now?

[cindy_cfids]

Originally Posted by pepperette

[COLOR="DarkGreen"]Just how tall is the 5 gal. plastic brewer? [/COLOR]
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It is 14" tall - 12" across (is that called the diameter lol) and spigot sticks out 3" - Sure hope you can make it work lol

[cindy_cfids]

Originally Posted by Kamalam

We were told that with our 2.5 gallon crock to always leave 20% starter tea remaining... it's been about 25 days since we got our kit. So if I'm understanding this right...we are probably only now starting to get the beneficial acids in our KT. And as I remember the first few batches were definitely "weaker" than our most recent brew.

Looking back on it, we probably should have left a higher percentage of starter tea - and I almost wonder if we should do that now?

That's the normal percentage for batch brewing. Batch brewing isn't normally left to ferment for 21 days and I know you've bottled at least twice since, so none of your batches have been 21 days lol.

I bought a 2.8 gal glass brewer (it's pretty lol) but you can't put more than 2 gallons in it because you want to stay below the condensation line. It was wide so grew a monster scoby after accounting for starter & scoby, I didn't get much more than a gallon out of it. This winter took 3 weeks to get that gallon before bottling time, so I was just getting frustrated.

You can make a continuous brewer out of your current 2.5 gal. brewer and when it gets to being ready, bottle a half gallon add half gallon of fresh tea, and you can do this every day forever. As long as you keep 75% starter, anything can be a continuous brewer. You will be able to get 3.5 gallons a week (with ALL the beneficial acids) out of your brewer using this method versus 1.5 gallons a week (and only part of the beneficial acids) with the batch method. Sounds strange, but it works! It's the every day thing I can't do.

[Kamalam]

Originally Posted by cindy_cfids

That's the normal percentage for batch brewing. Batch brewing isn't normally left to ferment for 21 days and I know you've bottled at least twice since, so none of your batches have been 21 days lol.

I bought a 2.8 gal glass brewer (it's pretty lol) but you can't put more than 2 gallons in it because you want to stay below the condensation line. It was wide so grew a monster scoby after accounting for starter & scoby, I didn't get much more than a gallon out of it. This winter took 3 weeks to get that gallon before bottling time, so I was just getting frustrated.

You can make a continuous brewer out of your current 2.5 gal. brewer and when it gets to being ready, bottle a half gallon add half gallon of fresh tea, and you can do this every day forever. As long as you keep 75% starter, anything can be a continuous brewer. You will be able to get 3.5 gallons a week (with ALL the beneficial acids) out of your brewer using this method versus 1.5 gallons a week (and only part of the beneficial acids) with the batch method. Sounds strange, but it works! It's the every day thing I can't do.

Hail Kombucha Queen, lol. You rock! The only small, little problem with the continuous brewing method I see, is that you have to go through the whole tea making process every DAY!!

This basically takes us an hour and a half each time - steps being: boil water for five minutes, let it rest a minute or two, put in sugar, boil for another five minutes, put in tea, boil for ten minutes, let steep for an hour, then cool down - we do a rapid cool down by placing the pot in a cool water "bath." Whew. It's a lot of work to do everyday. On the other hand, I really want those beneficial acids!

Mamacita... and you know, the difference between "batch" brewing and "continuous" brewing was never explained by good, old Dave from the kombucha website from which we purchased our k-system. He markets it as a "continuous brewing system," with no mention of any of the things you have been telling us. Eeep.

I don't EVEN want to tell you about my yerba mate purchase for $87 (which I later learned sold for $4.98 on another website). I mean, I could have screamed, lol. Ok, it *did* include the gourd (small and not the one he actually uses in his video) and bombilla (sp) and a couple of little bonus items but oh man. (sorry for the tangent... I can only laugh now. Kind of, lol. ).

[cindy_cfids]

Originally Posted by Kamalam

problem with the continuous brewing method I see, is that you have to go through the whole tea making process every DAY!!

"batch" brewing and "continuous" brewing was never explained by good, old Dave from the kombucha website from which we purchased our k-system. He markets it as a "continuous brewing system," with no mention of any of the things you have been telling us. .

You can make up big batch and put it in refrigerator (prob best to let it be room temperature when putting in though) they say 3 days (but I can't imagine it not being good for at least 5) but you have to bottle & put in every day.

I know I can't do that lol that's why I bought the 5 gal. and I'm still new to all this so I could be all wrong but I don't think so lol. I put in a gallon and bottle within the next 3 days, if I don't do it no biggie. Worse comes to worse, I can add one gallon & bottle up all 4 gallons in a couple of days and start fresh or crank up both containers to full production.

I took Dave's free 7 day course and I was skeered, I wanted to see what was going on and he didn't have clear glass systems. (I wish I had found happyherbalist firstest) I thought I had copied all his course but I've gone over & over it several times and it seems kind of skimpy and you're right he doesn't explain AT ALL the 75% in 26 hour business (HH sent me a book of info lol) His idea of continuous brewing is the input output and it seems I had heard somewhere about continuous brewers producing much more than I was getting but didn't understand how. It wasn't til I ordered the two 5 gal. that I *got* it and said rut roh I'm going to have this stuff coming out my ears lol. I think/hope it's much more forgiving than to put me on a time table, although I do *want* the out put lol.

[pepperette]

Originally Posted by cindy_cfids

It is 14" tall - 12" across (is that called the diameter lol) and spigot sticks out 3" - Sure hope you can make it work lol

[COLOR="DarkGreen"]Geez- that'll fit and still leave some space for bottled 2nd ferment! But I think I willl need more than 10 bottles![/COLOR]
[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR]

[cindy_cfids]

Originally Posted by Kamalam

I don't EVEN want to tell you about my yerba mate purchase for $87 (which I later learned sold for $4.98 on another website). I mean, I could have screamed, lol. Ok, it *did* include the gourd (small and not the one he actually uses in his video) and bombilla (sp) and a couple of little bonus items but oh man. (sorry for the tangent... I can only laugh now. Kind of, lol. ).

I don't feel so bad now lol I got convinced on another website with all the raves for YM I bought 15# for $77 (& 4 bombilla, a gourd & cup) . I got it and tried it and said YUCK - They say it's an acquired taste and I'll keep trying but YUCK lol.

I've had better luck making KT out of it with lots of ginger in the bottling lol.

[Kamalam]

Originally Posted by cindy_cfids

I don't feel so bad now lol I got convinced on another website with all the raves for YM I bought 15# for $77 (& 4 bombilla, a gourd & cup) . I got it and tried it and said YUCK - They say it's an acquired taste and I'll keep trying but YUCK lol.

I've had better luck making KT out of it with lots of ginger in the bottling lol.

Yeah, I kind of knew going into it that YM wasn't my favorite kind of drink but I totally fell for the promo he put out... I thought, "Hmmm. Maybe this is a better brand. Maybe I will like it more than that Guayaki stuff. Maybe it would be a great alternative to use in KT..."

I'm so glad to hear you didn't mind using it with your KT - albeit heavily spiced, lol. I think that's what may end up happening in this household. Although in my new vegan nutrion book, he says he uses the YM in pre-workout drinks to give a boost in performance. Of course, then he follows the workout with some Maca... So freakin much to learn! But incredibly interesting...

I really think our next step is the five gallon container (though I really don't like the whole plastic thing, even if it's food grade. Hard to get around that I guess. I just keep thinking the acids mixing with the plastic... I don't know. Skeers me a little). Even if we did make a big batch of tea and refrigerated it, we'd have to bring it down to room temp to use in the brewer - we'd shock the scoby dead if we poured cold tea on top of it! But I guess we could leave it out overnight and pour in the morning. Oh well. It's an option at least! Thanks!

[cindy_cfids]

Originally Posted by pepperette

[COLOR="DarkGreen"]Geez- that'll fit and still leave some space for bottled 2nd ferment! But I think I willl need more than 10 bottles![/COLOR]
[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR]

That is wonderful!!! Amazon has Mr.Beer Bottles and a special but for that price you'd be better off getting & recycling filled bottles - do as I say, not as I do lol

[JoSkids]

"This basically takes us an hour and a half each time - steps being: boil water for five minutes, let it rest a minute or two, put in sugar, boil for another five minutes, put in tea, boil for ten minutes, let steep for an hour, then cool down - we do a rapid cool down by placing the pot in a cool water "bath." Whew. It's a lot of work to do everyday."

[COLOR="DarkOliveGreen"]Really, you do all that?! I brewed 4 pots of tea in my "coffeee"/tea maker. Poured it all into a large stock pot to cool added a bunch of sugar and when it was room temp (maybe a little warmer) I poured it in with the scoby's - all in all the brewing time took about 1/2 hour. The cooling time, obviously took a bit longer, but I did have 2 gallons of tea[/COLOR]

[Kamalam]

Originally Posted by JoSkids

"This basically takes us an hour and a half each time - steps being: boil water for five minutes, let it rest a minute or two, put in sugar, boil for another five minutes, put in tea, boil for ten minutes, let steep for an hour, then cool down - we do a rapid cool down by placing the pot in a cool water "bath." Whew. It's a lot of work to do everyday."

[COLOR="DarkOliveGreen"]Really, you do all that?! I brewed 4 pots of tea in my "coffeee"/tea maker. Poured it all into a large stock pot to cool added a bunch of sugar and when it was room temp (maybe a little warmer) I poured it in with the scoby's - all in all the brewing time took about 1/2 hour. The cooling time, obviously took a bit longer, but I did have 2 gallons of tea[/COLOR]

Oh man! That sounds a lot easier. We just followed the directions that came with our kit. We thought all the boiling, etc., was necessary to sterilize or whatever(!) the water... I'm seeing a new plan come together, lol.

[JoSkids]

[COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]Well, it had been a month, longer for my one of my other brews (I started from scratch - some tea and a bottle of synergy) and it didn't taste any different today than it did a week ago so I decided I was going to bottle what I had and brew more tea and start new brew.

I filled 14 bottles and added 1T apple juice concentrate to each. I am planning about 4 days for their second ferment (on the counter). We'll see what comes of all this - if nothing, I will toss the bottled brews and hope for the best with the new brews - I have a few good scoby's going now. They are still somewhat "filmy" maybe they just needed some "new" life to kick them into overdrive. I swear one of the scoby has gotten more solid since the bottling.

[/COLOR]

[JoSkids]

Originally Posted by Kamalam

Oh man! That sounds a lot easier. We just followed the directions that came with our kit. We thought all the boiling, etc., was necessary to sterilize or whatever(!) the water... I'm seeing a new plan come together, lol.

[COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]From what I have read, there is the scientific way and there is the wing it way and it seems to come out either way. Obviously I am of the wing it variety. I have found as I have gotten older that if I waited till I knew exactly how to do it, chances are I will never get to it and it is better for me to just jump in and give it a try. So here I am winging it... I am also lazy so if this is going to be too much work, I would almost rather pay $3/bottle for kombucha (well, almost)[/COLOR]

[cindy_cfids]

Originally Posted by Kamalam

I really think our next step is the five gallon container (though I really don't like the whole plastic thing, even if it's food grade. Hard to get around that I guess. I just keep thinking the acids mixing with the plastic... I don't know. Skeers me a little). Even if we did make a big batch of tea and refrigerated it, we'd have to bring it down to room temp to use in the brewer - we'd shock the scoby dead if we poured cold tea on top of it! But I guess we could leave it out overnight and pour in the morning. Oh well. It's an option at least! Thanks!

Or maybe you could make a concentrate to keep in the fridge and add it to room temperature bottled water (or even boil up & bottle your water in advance on the counter)??? That way you wouldn't have gallons of fresh tea crowding your fridge and adding it to a larger qty of room temp water wouldn't be such a shock - hmmm

The happyherbalist guy (live free and healthy Ed Kasper L.Ac., Acupuncturist & Medicinal Herbalist) says it's tested for kombucha compatibility. He just strikes me as one that wouldn't offer it if he thought it wasn't safe. He's had his scobys analized. He also has a wood 5 gal cask for $150. Here's a 4 gallon glass Product Detail probably need to change out the spigot to plastic though. A fish tank with siphon might work. Here's one on ebay - Italian Glass Beverage/Lemonade Jar 5 Gallon/19Liters. None of these options are really cheap & easy though.

Here's the comment from HH, but I still haven't found the listing of acids. I know it's in my first book, where ever that may be sigh. "Kombucha Researcher Mike Roussin indicated that at 80F and 7 days the ferment has the greatest variety of health benefits. (vitamins, oxylic acid, etc) However, he also noted that the longer fermentation proceeds the more beneficial acids have a chance to form. Some of these acids don't even appear until 14-21 days in the process. These acids are largely responsible for the detoxifying nature of KT and are the catalysts we seek in K-Tea. Glucose content maximizes around the 8th or 9th day. This implies that gluconic acid production could not peak until after that point. Gluconic acid is the biggest single contributor to the detox effect."

[cindy_cfids]

Originally Posted by JoSkids

"This basically takes us an hour and a half each time - steps being: boil water for five minutes, let it rest a minute or two, put in sugar, boil for another five minutes, put in tea, boil for ten minutes, let steep for an hour, then cool down - we do a rapid cool down by placing the pot in a cool water "bath." Whew. It's a lot of work to do everyday."

[COLOR="DarkOliveGreen"]Really, you do all that?! I brewed 4 pots of tea in my "coffeee"/tea maker. Poured it all into a large stock pot to cool added a bunch of sugar and when it was room temp (maybe a little warmer) I poured it in with the scoby's - all in all the brewing time took about 1/2 hour. The cooling time, obviously took a bit longer, but I did have 2 gallons of tea[/COLOR]

Yeah I read his directions and I'm not a knowledgeable cook but that sounded redundant if not backassward, even I know you never boil your sugar unless you're making candy and I've never heard of putting in the tea to the sugared mixture and I thought tea needed to be steeped not boiled. I thought green tea needed less than boiling water, but gee if it's working for ya lol

Now I have read (so many conflicting things lol) about boiling the water for 10 min. to do ??? (release chlorine, kill bacteria, not really sure) and others that say don't boil 10 min. because it depletes the oxygen. I use tap water, I do have a PUR water filter and hope for the best. I know with the fish, we had to leave water out open overnight so the chlorine would evaporate & not kill the fish, I'm assuming the scoby needs the same treatment. Maybe I should start leaving water out overnight.

[Kamalam]

Cindy, thanks for the info on the plastic container - and the link to that glass one. Heck, if you're going to go up to 4 gallons, though, you might as well get a five gallon container. It's good to hear that the HH guy really investigated the effect plastic might have on his scoby. Getting it analyzed! That really makes me feel better about it.

Oh, and the steps I listed for making the tea were not written very well... we don't boil the tea for an hour, I think that's just for ten minutes; we let it steep for an hour. My partner is in charge of that part so I am going by memory and a quick shout out over my shoulder as I was typing, lol. Still, steeping for an hour! On the other hand, we tried the "quick" method Dave gave as an alternative - kind of making a concentrate of tea, then adding distilled water later, and for some reason, that batch was not as good. So I'm not sure what happened there.

But I still like the idea of making a concentrate - I would love to bump up our production and get those beneficial acids. After reading that quote it seems more important than ever to do it "right." I mean, I'm not just drinking this stuff for the taste, even though that is awesome. But like you said, I really want the health bennies too...