First Brews--No SCOBY

[Guest guest]

I've been brewing for 8 days and wanted to harvest the KT. I had two

batches because I had 3 SCOBYs. I put 2 SCOBYs in the one batch (3

qts water, 4 tea bags, 1-1/3 cup sugar, about 1 cup starter) and 1

SCOBY in the other batch (same ingredients). The differences between

the batches were the number of SCOBYs and the kind of tea -- all

black tea in the one batch and 3 green bags with 1 black bag in the

other batch. I messed up here and don't know which batch was which,

but here's the problem: the batch with 2 SCOBYs in it did not

produce a new SCOBY at all. The other produced a rather thin SCOBY

with holes in it. The new SCOBY sealed the (wide) mouth of the

brewing container (I used a 4-qt glass Pyrex bowl). All the original

SCOBYs had sunk.

I tasted both batches of tea and they taste pretty much the same to

me (I've never tasted KT before so I don't really know what to

expect). It tasted to me quite like iced tea with lemon. It wasn't

unpleasantly tart but had the tiniest bit of a zing. Have I just not

brewed long enough? I don't know if I'd call it sweet, but maybe it

was -- I certainly wanted to keep drinking it. It was good! And

talking of not brewing long enough and " checking " the brew after so

many days, for what does one check? How do I know if the KT is

ready? By taste?

Why would there be no new SCOBY in the one batch? The batches brewed

beside one another in the same conditions. Is is OK to drink? I'm

not really sure what to do next. I did harvest the tea with no SCOBY

and put it in a glass pitcher to sit on the counter for a day, and

I'm going to try again with the those 2 SCOBYs that didn't form a

new one. As for the thin, holey SCOBY, I recovered the bowl to let

the tea go a day or two more. I'm afraid I'll have to start over

with no KT for another couple of weeks, but I'm so anxious to start

drinking it.

You all are so helpful and knowledgeable -- I would certainly

appreciate your guidance. Thanks in advance.

--Kathleen