Newbie Question

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone:

My name is Elaine. I am new to the list and new to making kombucha. I got my

first scoby from an acquaintance. She gave me the instructions to cold brew 8

green tea bags in a gallon of water overnight. In the morning add a cup of sugar

and the scoby. Cover with a paper towel and ferment for 7 days.

Well, the first problem was that I didn't have a gallon container. I had two 1/2

half gallon ones, so I cut the scoby in half and put a half in each container.

The results were not good. Well, not bad, either. The new scobies were very thin

and the kombucha had no fizz. It also tasted like beer, and I swear whenever I

drank it, I felt buzzed. Maybe because it was all new to me. I've had commercial

kombucha before, but it was pomegranate and something else. I've never had

" straight " kombucha.

The second time I fixed it, I used loose green and black tea. I did half and

half of each, and boiled the water vs. cold brew. I also added about 2 cups of

sugar and let it ferment 10 days vs. 7. This one came out MUCH better. It

doesn't have a beer taste and it is definitely fizzy.

So, I hope I'm doing it right. There's so much information out there, I feel

like I'm on overload. Anyway, I look forward to chatting with everyone.