Kombucha

[terez]

New flavor; cherry pie. Dark sweet cherry juice, cinnamon and cloves.

[iamfaithful]

Never did post how the honey/green tea experiment worked...FAILED!

I thought I posted a new way to use SCOBYs... It is for making jerky...

Here is how to make it in a nut shell:
Slice the SCOBYs really thin or use thin ones & cut into 1" wide strips.
Put them in a marenade that you would like - maybe a teriaki sauce???
Dehydrate til almost dry yet flexable at 105 degrees or less to keep the integrity of the live bacteria & yeast
When dry place back into the marenade to rehydrate for several hours (this could take a second day.
Again: dehydrate at 105 degrees or less until krispy...

I will be making this in a few weeks as my CB has about 4" of SCOBYs in it as it is resting til I get ready to brew again. (I have loads of it bottled)
Let me know if you get adventuresome to make some....

[Eliza_Jazz]

Hi guys, I don't know if you remember me, I've been here a couple of times in my quest to gather up the courage to brew my own kombucha.

Well, I finally did it....but I don't know if I'm doing it correctly and what to do next. I need your help and will very much appreciate it

I bought a scoby on amazon, they were very well reviewed. My scoby arrived and was a nice healthy specimen, round, about half to 3/4 inches thick. I brewed the tea according to specs and placed the scoby in. Placed coffee filter at the mouth of the jar, and keep it in a dark kitchen cabinet as specified in the instructions that came with the scoby.

Over time, a nice baby formed on top. Because I put the tea in a large half gallon glass jar, the baby was much bigger in surface are than the mom, but much thinner, too.

Then just two days ago, I noticed that a second baby scoby is forming on top. While the first baby was attached to the mom, the second one was separated and floating on the very top, and is very, very thin. Is this normal? Am I keeping it too long? I don't see any frothing, but I'm afraid to disturb it and taste it....

Yesterday, my sister-in-law came in for Christmas, and asked to see it. In the process of pulling it out of the cabinet, even though I did it gingerly, the original mom scoby and attached baby tipped sideways and sank kind of askew to the bottom. That scared me.

I took a picture with my phone but it's giving me trouble and I haven't been able to attach it here. Something funny ...my 17 y.o. extra cool and collected DS thinks it's gross and it's been quite funny to see his face when he sees me looking at my scoby...he is opposing my calling the baby "baby" He says it's weird to have some crazy science experiment going on in the kitchen cabinet. And while he enjoys kombucha from the store, I don't think he'll be drinking any of the home brewed.....and knowing now how it's made, maybe the store-bought will be shunned, too.

What do you think? Am I doing something wrong? Should I bottle it already, or should I taste it first?

Any and all input from you experienced fermenters is very, very much appreciated.

[iamfaithful]

Not uncommon... How long has it been since you started the brew? If 14 days then taste it! Should be tart/sour but maybe a little sweet... too sweet let it go a little longer... Vinegar... you let it go too long! Pull out the SCOBYs, take 2 cups off the top & strain the rest for your hotel..

Put the hotel liquid in a jar with your babies (pull it off the momma, that is OK) & put a breatheable cover on it. Put it away... it will make a baby for you...

Brew a new batch & put the mamma & starter in it as usual.... taste it after 14 days... Idear brewing temp is 80*... so it could go longer or shorter depending on the temp..

To taste insert a straw down the side of the jar moving the floating SCOBY out of the way a little...

If a jar gets jiggled or moved it can cause the baby to fall to the bottom... no biggie a new one will form as you found out... if you leave it for a long time it will get thick too but your brew will have turned to vinegar....

You are doing well..... Hugs!

[Eliza_Jazz]

Originally Posted by iamfaithful

Not uncommon... How long has it been since you started the brew? If 14 days then taste it! Should be tart/sour but maybe a little sweet... too sweet let it go a little longer... Vinegar... you let it go too long! Pull out the SCOBYs, take 2 cups off the top & strain the rest for your hotel..

Put the hotel liquid in a jar with your babies (pull it off the momma, that is OK) & put a breatheable cover on it. Put it away... it will make a baby for you...

Brew a new batch & put the mamma & starter in it as usual.... taste it after 14 days... Idear brewing temp is 80*... so it could go longer or shorter depending on the temp..

To taste insert a straw down the side of the jar moving the floating SCOBY out of the way a little...

If a jar gets jiggled or moved it can cause the baby to fall to the bottom... no biggie a new one will form as you found out... if you leave it for a long time it will get thick too but your brew will have turned to vinegar....

You are doing well..... Hugs!

Thank you, thanks so much for your advice!

[iamfaithful]

No problem! you can find me faster on msg on FB
link is in my signature...
Happy Brewing

[metqa]

Originally Posted by Eliza_Jazz

Hi guys, I don't know if you remember me, I've been here a couple of times in my quest to gather up the courage to brew my own kombucha.

Well, I finally did it....but I don't know if I'm doing it correctly and what to do next. I need your help and will very much appreciate it

I bought a scoby on amazon, they were very well reviewed. My scoby arrived and was a nice healthy specimen, round, about half to 3/4 inches thick. I brewed the tea according to specs and placed the scoby in. Placed coffee filter at the mouth of the jar, and keep it in a dark kitchen cabinet as specified in the instructions that came with the scoby.

Over time, a nice baby formed on top. Because I put the tea in a large half gallon glass jar, the baby was much bigger in surface are than the mom, but much thinner, too.

Then just two days ago, I noticed that a second baby scoby is forming on top. While the first baby was attached to the mom, the second one was separated and floating on the very top, and is very, very thin. Is this normal? Am I keeping it too long? I don't see any frothing, but I'm afraid to disturb it and taste it....

Yesterday, my sister-in-law came in for Christmas, and asked to see it. In the process of pulling it out of the cabinet, even though I did it gingerly, the original mom scoby and attached baby tipped sideways and sank kind of askew to the bottom. That scared me.

I took a picture with my phone but it's giving me trouble and I haven't been able to attach it here. Something funny ...my 17 y.o. extra cool and collected DS thinks it's gross and it's been quite funny to see his face when he sees me looking at my scoby...he is opposing my calling the baby "baby" He says it's weird to have some crazy science experiment going on in the kitchen cabinet. And while he enjoys kombucha from the store, I don't think he'll be drinking any of the home brewed.....and knowing now how it's made, maybe the store-bought will be shunned, too.

What do you think? Am I doing something wrong? Should I bottle it already, or should I taste it first?

Any and all input from you experienced fermenters is very, very much appreciated.

It sounds like, so far, you are doing everything correctly! Congratulations.

Too many people put too much faith in the integrity of the Scoby. the scoby is basically the cellulose formed by the bacteria and yeast as it colonizes and feeds. It is formed on the surface of the liquid where it has most access to air and oxygen. if the jar is jiggled or the scoby sinks enough below the surface to make a gap the scoby, that is always forming will continue to form on the surface, it just won't be connected to the piece that's below the surface. a thick scoby is only thick because it's been undisturbed long enough to grow a new surface above the existing one.

It's okay if the scoby sinks. It's okay if a "new" one forms right above. There is no lack of continuity in the forming of the scoby, it's always forming. You just can't see it until it's grown so much it looks like a film and then keeps growing above itself. You've nothing to worry about. A thin scoby is still a scoby.

the only time you need to be worried about the integrity of the scoby is if it is the wrong color, if other things are growing on its dry surface ( try not to let the surface get dry. It's okay to slosh it abit to keep the surface wet and protected. This does disturb the formation of the scoby but cosmetics is less important than health) and if your healthy scoby starts dis-integrating and turning to mush or filaments. Your scoby should be like non stretchy wet leather, or like clams, it's hard to tear and doesn't give or separate when pressed. It is healthy if its hard to tear by hand. anything less and something may be wrong. ( this does not apply to paper thin scoby of course, cause it's barely formed and easily torn)

Have you had a sample yet to see how it's coming along?

[metqa]

It must be the jar!! the kombucha would taste delicious if it weren't for that strange and very wrong aftertast. I'm gonna have to dump over a gallon of finished kombucha and try again. I have my gallon jar that used to be my hotel, brewing seperately and I'll taste that to see if it's fine. I'd hate it if my tall pretty jar has some sort of contaminant. It's a party drink dispenser, made of glass, so it should be safe. Maybe the spigot is suspect....

I got my two gallon brewer( with the cracked top) back from BF's house, I guess I will restart brewing in that and hope it holds up in the meanwhile.

I'm gonna dump my Kombucha and try cleaning the tank AGAIN and then I'm just gonna let plain water sit in it for a few days and see if that taste comes out again. I'd use boiling water to clean it but the glass has decorative bubbles in the glass and I'm afraid they might explode from expansion/contraction.

Wish me luck!

[metqa]

Yak! Eyyak! *cough* Okay, I think it's the spigot!!!

So I decided to taste my 1 gallon jar, since it's been a few days. the only way to get some out is the straw method, so I submerged a straw and drew out a dram and tasted it. Weak and tastes like the vinegar I proofed it with, but on it's way. Feeling testy, I stuck the straw down into my pretty dispenser to compare. Oddly enough, it tasted of kombucha but not the strange taste. So I got a different glass and decanted some through the spigot, same amount and tasted....
...
... EEEYYYYAAAAAAAAKKKKKK! It was so back I had to go spit it out into the sink. Awful chemically just wrong on the back of the tongue , poison response gag reflex automatic .

Okay, so when I taste it from the top, it's fine but when it goes through the spigot, it's poison. I might not have to dump my Kombucha after all if I can just pour it out into another container bypassing the spigot. I hope this works, I was worried I'd have to dump the scobies I used in there.

Wish me luck again, I've got sweet tea a'brewin'!

[metqa]

Okay! Thank you for all your wishing! I've confirmed that when poured out of the top of the pretty container , the Kombucha tastes just fine. I just drank a whole glass of it without any reaction AT ALL! I'll have to replace that spigot as it must have some material in it that makes it taste nasty. It was like that from the very first use, but I thought my brew had gone bad so I've probably tossed gallons of drinkable Kombucha because of that darned spigot! Hahaha. I'm so glad to have found the problem.

Since the bucha is actually good I can use it as a starter for my next two batches. too bad I already put the white vinegar in one. Oh well, it'll be good tasting the next batch!

[metqa]

Oh My Goodness, My Friend said the Smartest and Funniest thing just now. She was joking about my Kombucha making and Moonshine. Then she said

"You are making Sunshine, because it's not illegal and you can make it during the day!"

I LOVE IT! and it's so true. The Kombucha is a beautiful Sparkling Golden color and it makes me happy, just like Sunshine!!!

[terez]

I'm glad you figured out the problem, metqa. What a waste of good kombucha!

I just found a bottle of store bought kombucha at the bottom of my fridge. It was really fizzy, but there was no scoby inside.

Sometimes when I bottle the bootch, scobies form in the bottles.

I guess I should allow less air in the bottles, but it doesn't really bother me.

[metqa]

I like finding old kombucha in the fridge. I know what saounds crazy but somehow the long cool storage makes it taste just like I like it. I think it mellows a bit while getting strong in other flavors.

I guess the extra air in the bottle allows the scoby to form, eh? I've never seen a scoby in a commercially sealed bottle but my home brew bottles will grow one.

[iamfaithful]

Wow! never knew that a spigot could cause that much trouble...

I never use my spigot.... It is always clogged so I just siphon!!!

[metqa]

Having a spigot is SO nice, if it doesn't cause problems. I keep a mesh bag over it to keep any buggers out, and I just press it once or twice occasionally to let liquid flow through and it doesn't get clogged. This problem I don't blame on the spigot, but on whatever material they made it out of that makes it taste nasty. the Spigot on my Happy Herbalist brewer has NEVER given me any problems, so long as I check and tighten it regularly. It's nice to decant directly into the bottle without having to lift and pour the whole batch into a pourable spout container.

My kitchen smells great, to me, with 3 batches going.

[porcupine73]

Aging in the fridge does make it mellow out nicely. Using honey I think it tastes kind of nasty even after secondary, but after at least 6 months in the fridge - - it's delicious. Many fermented products are like that.

I have noticed the kombucha kind of 'stratifies' in the CB's, the stuff at the bottom will seem nasty, then it gets a little better toward the top. I have to clean my CB's at the minimum once every two weeks or the taste from the dead yeast settlings is too nasty to tolerate.

Second ferment with maple syrup grade B, pretty good, but can get a little bitter, so using a bit of sugar and maple syrup for the 2F. That comes out pretty good.

[iamfaithful]

Porcupine! You came out of the woodwork! Glad to see you again!

Do you want a JUN culture ferments with green tea & hunny
much milder than KT and lends itself well to ginger, lemon & orange juice in equal amounts on the 2F...

Let me know on FB if you do....

[metqa]

Hey Porcupine. I wish I could wait around on purpose for my kombucha to mellow. mostly I just forget bout it and find it later, LOL!

I just put 6 bottles in the fridge after sitting sealed for a day and half, It's not ideal in flavor but I didn't have any ginger or cranberry to add to it. I'll do that next batch.

Maple KT sounds interesting!

[millergirl1976]

I have been following this thread with interest... I was in my local health store today, and they have kombucha on tap!!

.20/ounce, and I got a refillable container. I made my whole family try some.

So, how much and how frequently, do you all drink it?

[metqa]

Originally Posted by millergirl1976

I have been following this thread with interest... I was in my local health store today, and they have kombucha on tap!!

.20/ounce, and I got a refillable container. I made my whole family try some.

So, how much and how frequently, do you all drink it?

Oh My, How C O O L is THAT!

They say to start with 4 oz a day and to go up from there a bit at a time if you take to it well. I could drink a whole 16 oz bottle each day, but I'd also have to make it with Decaf Tea or I'd be a bouncy Busy body! I think when I made it and drank it regularly I'd drink an average of about 8 oz a day, about 4 oz or so with each meal if not more between. It seems to be a good tonic, at least it helped with my digestion during a rough time.

[millergirl1976]

Originally Posted by metqa

Oh My, How C O O L is THAT!

They say to start with 4 oz a day and to go up from there a bit at a time if you take to it well. I could drink a whole 16 oz bottle each day, but I'd also have to make it with Decaf Tea or I'd be a bouncy Busy body! I think when I made it and drank it regularly I'd drink an average of about 8 oz a day, about 4 oz or so with each meal if not more between. It seems to be a good tonic, at least it helped with my digestion during a rough time.

So cool. Two different types at all times, and they post on their FB page when they switch it out.

How will I know if I don't take to it well?

[metqa]

I guess if someone feels bad after drinking it or breaks out on the skin or the mouth, or gets the runs or something like that. Y'know, food allergy type stuff. BF said he felt a strange "buzz" that was not like alcohol caffeine but like being more more aware. Caffeine buzzes make you feel jittery and alcohol makes you feel slow. He said he felt good. I felt it too when I tried it first. Really enlightening sorta. ( might have been some caffeine for me since I don't drink much)

[millergirl1976]

Thank you meta!

[terez]

Originally Posted by millergirl1976

I have been following this thread with interest... I was in my local health store today, and they have kombucha on tap!!

.20/ounce, and I got a refillable container. I made my whole family try some.

So, how much and how frequently, do you all drink it?

I drink about 8 oz a day. I never had any reaction to drinking kombucha when I first started, maybe because it was the store bought and they didn't let it get too strong.

My new batch will be pink grapefruit. The one I'm drinking now is pomegranate/cloves.

[millergirl1976]

Originally Posted by terez

I drink about 8 oz a day. I never had any reaction to drinking kombucha when I first started, maybe because it was the store bought and they didn't let it get too strong.

My new batch will be pink grapefruit. The one I'm drinking now is pomegranate/cloves.

My mother-in-law makes her own, and my son said that Grandma's is "better" than the stuff I got on tap. Eventually, I am going to end up making my own, as well. I am going to keep reading here in the meantime- I am only on about page 6 of this thread, and I havent gotten to the part yet where you all started flavoring your own...

[terez]

Originally Posted by millergirl1976

My mother-in-law makes her own, and my son said that Grandma's is "better" than the stuff I got on tap. Eventually, I am going to end up making my own, as well. I am going to keep reading here in the meantime- I am only on about page 6 of this thread, and I havent gotten to the part yet where you all started flavoring your own...

It's a regular encyclopedia, this thread! I know what you mean.

[metqa]

I just got Knudsen's Pure 100% Juices at a "new low price" at Kroger. $5.99 for a jar. I picked up blueberry, cranberry and pomegranate. Yesterday I whizzed up my frozen berries to flavor the kombucha, but I'd rather keep my berries for my kefir and use the juice for my Kombucha.

[terez]

Originally Posted by metqa

I just got Knudsen's Pure 100% Juices at a "new low price" at Kroger. $5.99 for a jar. I picked up blueberry, cranberry and pomegranate. Yesterday I whizzed up my frozen berries to flavor the kombucha, but I'd rather keep my berries for my kefir and use the juice for my Kombucha.

You use a water kefir?

I'm hearing that fruit makes the kombucha more fizzy than processed juices. So, when I spin up my pink grapefruit and add it, I'll see if it's true and report back here.

[metqa]

Probably, with all the bits and pieces. I make milk kefir. I've got water kefir grains but my friend dehydrated them and I've been too busy to rehydrate to see if they survived.

[iamfaithful]

https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/K...HealthHealing/

See if this link will get you to a tremendous informational site for not only Kombucha, but water kefir & milk kefir as well as JUN and a host of other fermenting information... be sure to look for information in the FILES section at the top.

It is a no selling site just people culturing sharing information... and cultures....

Water kefir will produce more carbonation no mater what fruit/juice is used as long as it has sugar content... I personally use the juice as I dont like to deal with fruit in my drinks...