Guest guest Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 I use a quarter cup of sugar in a wide-mouth quart jar of tea, plus the starter. Takes about seven days to have a decent little scoby, and it gets thicker over time if you don't drink the KT. Makes a good starter when upgrading to a 2 or 3 gallon dispensor - just dump it all in. Be well, Mike -- Zone 8, Texas http://www.taroandti.com/ Exotic Plant Info and More... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/organichomesteading/ http://www.naturalbeefarm.com/ Natural Beekeeping > Hi all... I've managed to lose my link to the page that gave directions for making your own scoby. However, I remember a bunch of it, just want to run this by more knowledgeable folks, to make sure I've got it straight. > > I bought plain, raw kombucha, and I made one cup of STRONG black tea with a heaping Tbsp of sugar in it. Once the tea was cool, I mixed the one cup of tea with one cup of the bottled kombucha. I have it sitting in a small bowl, in a relatively quiet place, covered with a tea towel. > > So far, was this correct? > > I think I understood that this could take 2-4 weeks to develop a good scoby. Is this correct? > > Are there any steps I missed? Anything I should watch out for? > > I have some Grolsch bottles on the way...if I don't do a secondary ferment (with flavors, etc), how necessary are the Grolsch-style bottles? > > Thank you! > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 I use a quarter cup of sugar in a wide-mouth quart jar of tea, plus the starter. Takes about seven days to have a decent little scoby, and it gets thicker over time if you don't drink the KT. Makes a good starter when upgrading to a 2 or 3 gallon dispensor - just dump it all in. Be well, Mike -- Zone 8, Texas http://www.taroandti.com/ Exotic Plant Info and More... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/organichomesteading/ http://www.naturalbeefarm.com/ Natural Beekeeping > Hi all... I've managed to lose my link to the page that gave directions for making your own scoby. However, I remember a bunch of it, just want to run this by more knowledgeable folks, to make sure I've got it straight. > > I bought plain, raw kombucha, and I made one cup of STRONG black tea with a heaping Tbsp of sugar in it. Once the tea was cool, I mixed the one cup of tea with one cup of the bottled kombucha. I have it sitting in a small bowl, in a relatively quiet place, covered with a tea towel. > > So far, was this correct? > > I think I understood that this could take 2-4 weeks to develop a good scoby. Is this correct? > > Are there any steps I missed? Anything I should watch out for? > > I have some Grolsch bottles on the way...if I don't do a secondary ferment (with flavors, etc), how necessary are the Grolsch-style bottles? > > Thank you! > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 In message <jr0uj4+f4j4eGroups> you wrote: > I bought plain, raw kombucha, and I made one cup of STRONG black tea with a heaping Tbsp of sugar in it. Once the tea was cool, I mixed the one cup of tea with one cup of the bottled kombucha. I have it sitting in a small bowl, in a relatively quiet place, covered with a tea towel. > > So far, was this correct? Nothing wrong. But you could have made a proper brew straight away, adding as much raw Kombucha as you had, even the whole bottle. A quart of tea requires about 4 tbs of sugar (100 grams) > I think I understood that this could take 2-4 weeks to develop a good > scoby. Is this correct? Not really. It will only take about a week. The raw liquid you bought is perfect for brewing Kombucha as long as they contain the Kombucha Bacteria and Yeasts. > Are there any steps I missed? Anything I should watch out for? How much do you want to brew? If more than a quart, just double the recipe above. > > I have some Grolsch bottles on the way...if I don't do a secondary ferment > (with flavors, etc), how necessary are the Grolsch-style bottles? , if you like your Kombucha fizzy, bottle your brew when it tastes as you like it. I should taste it after about 7 days. Groelsch Bottles are sturdy enough to take a bit of pressure from the developing fizz, but even then you need to check your bottles after a few days and 'burp' them = release the pressure a little to avoid exploding bottles. After bottling, leave some liquid with the scoby in your fermentation glass and cover. This will be your new starter whenever you are ready to make another brew. Always leave it at room temperature. Keep asking as questions arise. You will soon get used to the routine of Kombucha brewing. Hope you will find it as rewarding as I have for about 30 years! All best with blessings, Margret in the UK :-) -- +------------------ Minstrel@... --------------------+ http://www.therpc.f9.co.uk/family/scobygrow/home.html http://bavarianminstrel.wordpress.com http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Meditations/Focus/focus.html http://creation.com/creation-videos Invited or not, God is present! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 Margaret...both. I did one cup strong black tea with 1 Tbsp sugar, when it cooled, I added in one cup raw KT. Guess I'll just watch it for scoby formation. > Hi , > Did you use ordinary tea or ready brewed Kombucha tea? > It's the latter you need, ready brewed Kombucha tea. Tea and sugar alone > will never make you a scoby unless you have added some of the Kombucha > culture liquid and/or scoby, as you need the bacteria and yeasts of the > Kombucha culture to make another scoby. > > I hope I interpreted correctly what you wrote. > Keep asking, if things are still unclear. > > Kombucha greetings from very cold Derby UK, > > Margret:-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 Margaret...both. I did one cup strong black tea with 1 Tbsp sugar, when it cooled, I added in one cup raw KT. Guess I'll just watch it for scoby formation. > Hi , > Did you use ordinary tea or ready brewed Kombucha tea? > It's the latter you need, ready brewed Kombucha tea. Tea and sugar alone > will never make you a scoby unless you have added some of the Kombucha > culture liquid and/or scoby, as you need the bacteria and yeasts of the > Kombucha culture to make another scoby. > > I hope I interpreted correctly what you wrote. > Keep asking, if things are still unclear. > > Kombucha greetings from very cold Derby UK, > > Margret:-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 I plan to do the continuous brew. Having done KT for a short time before (more than a decade ago), I recognize that I will eventually want more than my gallon jug can make in a week (sharing with others), and that, being lazy, I want something that is simpler in the long run. Hopefully, also get a larger brewing vessel than the gallon jar I currently have. Well...once I know when my Grolsch bottles will show up, I'll take my attempt at a scoby and dump it in my brewing jar. I have more store-bought KT on hand, too, if needed. Thanks, Margaret...I appreciate the assistance. And I like your links, never intended to study Hebrew or Greek, but your site just might convince me to...nothing like reading the original! By His grace, > > > I bought plain, raw kombucha, and I made one cup of STRONG black tea with a heaping Tbsp of sugar in it. Once the tea was cool, I mixed the one cup of tea with one cup of the bottled kombucha. I have it sitting in a small bowl, in a relatively quiet place, covered with a tea towel. > > > > So far, was this correct? > > Nothing wrong. But you could have made a proper brew straight away, adding > as much raw Kombucha as you had, even the whole bottle. > > A quart of tea requires about 4 tbs of sugar (100 grams) > > > I think I understood that this could take 2-4 weeks to develop a good > > scoby. Is this correct? > > Not really. It will only take about a week. The raw liquid you bought is > perfect for brewing Kombucha as long as they contain the Kombucha Bacteria > and Yeasts. > > > Are there any steps I missed? Anything I should watch out for? > > How much do you want to brew? If more than a quart, just double the > recipe above. > > > > I have some Grolsch bottles on the way...if I don't do a secondary ferment > > (with flavors, etc), how necessary are the Grolsch-style bottles? > > , if you like your Kombucha fizzy, bottle your brew when it tastes > as you like it. I should taste it after about 7 days. Groelsch Bottles > are sturdy enough to take a bit of pressure from the developing fizz, but > even then you need to check your bottles after a few days and 'burp' them = > release the pressure a little to avoid exploding bottles. > > After bottling, leave some liquid with the scoby in your fermentation > glass and cover. This will be your new starter whenever you are ready > to make another brew. Always leave it at room temperature. > > Keep asking as questions arise. You will soon get used to the routine > of Kombucha brewing. > Hope you will find it as rewarding as I have for about 30 years! > > All best with blessings, > > Margret in the UK :-) > -- > > +------------------ Minstrel@... --------------------+ > http://www.therpc.f9.co.uk/family/scobygrow/home.html > http://bavarianminstrel.wordpress.com > http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Meditations/Focus/focus.html > http://creation.com/creation-videos > > Invited or not, God is present! > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 I plan to do the continuous brew. Having done KT for a short time before (more than a decade ago), I recognize that I will eventually want more than my gallon jug can make in a week (sharing with others), and that, being lazy, I want something that is simpler in the long run. Hopefully, also get a larger brewing vessel than the gallon jar I currently have. Well...once I know when my Grolsch bottles will show up, I'll take my attempt at a scoby and dump it in my brewing jar. I have more store-bought KT on hand, too, if needed. Thanks, Margaret...I appreciate the assistance. And I like your links, never intended to study Hebrew or Greek, but your site just might convince me to...nothing like reading the original! By His grace, > > > I bought plain, raw kombucha, and I made one cup of STRONG black tea with a heaping Tbsp of sugar in it. Once the tea was cool, I mixed the one cup of tea with one cup of the bottled kombucha. I have it sitting in a small bowl, in a relatively quiet place, covered with a tea towel. > > > > So far, was this correct? > > Nothing wrong. But you could have made a proper brew straight away, adding > as much raw Kombucha as you had, even the whole bottle. > > A quart of tea requires about 4 tbs of sugar (100 grams) > > > I think I understood that this could take 2-4 weeks to develop a good > > scoby. Is this correct? > > Not really. It will only take about a week. The raw liquid you bought is > perfect for brewing Kombucha as long as they contain the Kombucha Bacteria > and Yeasts. > > > Are there any steps I missed? Anything I should watch out for? > > How much do you want to brew? If more than a quart, just double the > recipe above. > > > > I have some Grolsch bottles on the way...if I don't do a secondary ferment > > (with flavors, etc), how necessary are the Grolsch-style bottles? > > , if you like your Kombucha fizzy, bottle your brew when it tastes > as you like it. I should taste it after about 7 days. Groelsch Bottles > are sturdy enough to take a bit of pressure from the developing fizz, but > even then you need to check your bottles after a few days and 'burp' them = > release the pressure a little to avoid exploding bottles. > > After bottling, leave some liquid with the scoby in your fermentation > glass and cover. This will be your new starter whenever you are ready > to make another brew. Always leave it at room temperature. > > Keep asking as questions arise. You will soon get used to the routine > of Kombucha brewing. > Hope you will find it as rewarding as I have for about 30 years! > > All best with blessings, > > Margret in the UK :-) > -- > > +------------------ Minstrel@... --------------------+ > http://www.therpc.f9.co.uk/family/scobygrow/home.html > http://bavarianminstrel.wordpress.com > http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Meditations/Focus/focus.html > http://creation.com/creation-videos > > Invited or not, God is present! > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 13, 2012 Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 Mike, I'm making a starter scoby that I'll transfer into a gallon container for a continuous brew. It's already forming nicely. Probably in a day or two, I'll transfer it, and the liquid, into my gallon jar with the fresh tea. Thanks for doing the math on the sugar. Appreciate that. > > Not sure what sort of scoby you'll make in 8oz of tea. But four cups of > tea can fit into a quart, so it'll be a quarter of the sugar you'd use > in a quart, which would equal about a Tbsp, so you're fine. If you can > go bigger, tho, I'd opt for that. What are your future plans for this > scoby? Are you planning to upsize it or are you just experimenting to > see what happens? > > Be well, > Mike > > - > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 13, 2012 Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 Mike, I'm making a starter scoby that I'll transfer into a gallon container for a continuous brew. It's already forming nicely. Probably in a day or two, I'll transfer it, and the liquid, into my gallon jar with the fresh tea. Thanks for doing the math on the sugar. Appreciate that. > > Not sure what sort of scoby you'll make in 8oz of tea. But four cups of > tea can fit into a quart, so it'll be a quarter of the sugar you'd use > in a quart, which would equal about a Tbsp, so you're fine. If you can > go bigger, tho, I'd opt for that. What are your future plans for this > scoby? Are you planning to upsize it or are you just experimenting to > see what happens? > > Be well, > Mike > > - > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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