Re: Can anyone answer this and help me understand? (Long)

[Guest guest]

Kathleen, my own suggestion is to try bottled water

the next time, mark the jar, and see what happens

then.

Also, why not go all the way and use just plain old

white sugar? Try it on one jar with the bottled water

and see what happens then.

Do you brew the tea in glass or stainless steel?

I don't clean my own jars between brewings, just about

every 4th time or so, mainly when I happen to think

about it.

Hope this helps a little.

Pat S

[Guest guest]

I'm having the same problem down here in texas.....greatest tasting kt, but

thin puny looking scobys.....if you are moving your jars or opening them to

look to much, might be part of problem....Mine are getting better by leaving

them alone....but still not great, But the kt is good and smells nice so I'm

not worried yet....Let me know, what you find out....I am probably doing the

same thing you are.....Good luck....Also Name each mother scoby, and put their

name on the jar, and resulting bottles of brew...and you can get a clearer

pic of whats going on with each one........Sounds like you are doing

great.....My wife is already hooked on the bubbly brew, and says don't change

anything.....ron and vivian in leander tx

[Guest guest]

Kathleen,

My scobies were coming out very thin so I read the hints for improving the

scoby growth. Mine responded wery well to adding ¼ cup of light corn syrup

to the brew at the same time the sugar was being added. The scoby needed

cellulose that wasn’t available in the sugar I was using.

[Guest guest]

Hi Kathleen,

I would suggest that you try putting some of your finished Kombucha

tea, and a thin Kombucha colony if you have one, and leave it covered

in a glass jar, undisturbed, for at least two weeks, - more if needed.

Chances are, you will get a nice SCOBY by doing this...it may take a

few weeks to form though. The longer you leave it the thicker it will

get.

I've been brewing since 1994 and sometimes the SCOBY are thick and

sometimes just a thin film...this happens, as long as your KT is OK

don't worry much.

If you don't get any SCOBY from letting the KT sit for two or three

weeks then there is something else going on and you may need more help.

BTW I would also leave off doing the White Vinegar rinse you are doing

between brews. Just take out the thin scoby if there is one, decant

your KT and then start again without doing anything to the jars. Be

sure to add at least a cup, _try adding even more_ finished KT to your

new brew and see if it doesn't work out better.

You can keep trying new colonies but my recommendation would be to try

the things above first.

Peace, Love and Harmony,

Bev

- In original_kombucha , " kawtch " wrote:

>

>

> Hi everyone.

>

> I have an issue. and I can't seem to get clarity.

>

> I've been brewing for about 3-½ months, and I'm careful to

> follow " standard " procedure as far as brewing vessel (glass),

> time, temperature. I use 3 green and 2 black teas and organic sugar. I

> don't add any herbs or other additives to the brew. I use filtered

> water from our well. I don't wash the brewing containers with soap.

> I usually rinse between brews with white vinegar. I make sure the

> tea-sugar-water is cool or room temperature before adding scoby and

> starter.

>

> My brews are delicious. They are light and fizzy. I know fermentation is

> happening because they don't end up as they started; they don't

> taste like sweet tea. People who taste the KT say it tastes like cider

> (or like vinegar for my more sour brews).

>

> So my question(s):

>

> Why do my scobys not reproduce? In all the cycles and brews I've

> done (I have 3 1-gallon jars going at a time), I've only had about 3

> new scobys produced. The ones produced have been thin or holey. Now no

> new scobys are being made, brew after brew. It's as though the scoby

> can manage just one baby and then no more. This even happens when I take

> just some finished KT and let it go, covered, in a small jar to see if I

> can make more scobys. It'll make a thin scoby, one time (if that),

> and not again. They scoby will eventually sink, usually, but no new one

> will form. I let my brews go about 10 days on average, but not less than

> 7.

>

> I've had scobys from 2 different sources perform in this same

> manner. One scoby came from an at-home local brewer, the other from a

> respected vendor.

>

> OK, I know, if the KT is good, why worry about the scoby? Well, because

> I know this isn't how it's supposed to be. Because the

> Kombucha-balance website says the following about this problem: " NO

> SCOBY Not much you can do in this situation. There has to be at least

> some surface formation to recover. If you see at least the beginning of

> a clear film on the surface then refer to the section below titled

> " Increasing the Ratio of Acetobacter to Yeast Populations " . If there

> isn't then you need to get a new culture and starter from someone. "

> And because one of the reasons I started this is that I wanted to have

> great detoxifying and health-enhancing results so that I could then

> share them and the scobys with family and friends. I'm having

> neither those results nor scobys to share. So I'm wondering,

> wouldn't that indicate that, in spite of the lovely taste, something

> is wrong here? Despite its taste, maybe the KT isn't quite right,

> since it's not behaving in the way we expect KT to behave. Some of

> you get scobys forming in the fridge and in all kinds of unintended

> ways. And since the scobys I use have been from different sources, it

> seems the problem must be with something I'm doing. I just don't

> know what. And believe me, I've read and tried to figure it out.

>

> Any ideas?

>

> Thanks for reading such a long post.

>

> --Kathleen

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Pat, Kathleen and EveryOne,

This reminds me that I had a problem of thin SCOBY formation when

using one brand of Organic Sugar. I bought it in bulk from a local

coop but it didn't work as well as the Wholesome Foods Brand Organic

Sugar I usually use. The Wholesome Foods Brand Organic Sugar works

very well, makes good tasting, fizzy KT with nice thick SCOBY most of

the time, but the other one tended toward very thin Kombucha Colonies.

I use the lightest blonde Organic sugar not the darker ones.

You are right, it is a good idea to try different brands if one

doesn't work...same for teas.....however I personally prefer to stay

with Organic because of the pesticides and other chemicals used in

both sugar and tea production unless they are Organic.

Peace, Love and Harmony,

Bev

KOMBUCHA MANNA DROPS: Safe, Convenient, Effective and Easy to use.

Great for travel, work, and everyday along with your KT:-))

http://KMI.mannainternational.com

MANNA GREEN AND WHITE TEA EXTRACT -

Liquid Drops of Green & White Teas.

http://GTE.mannainternational.com

100% Certified Organic Ingredients and packaged in glass only!

-- In original_kombucha , BSPMerced@... wrote:

>

> Kathleen, my own suggestion is to try bottled water

> the next time, mark the jar, and see what happens

> then.

> Also, why not go all the way and use just plain old

> white sugar? Try it on one jar with the bottled water

> and see what happens then.

> Do you brew the tea in glass or stainless steel?

> I don't clean my own jars between brewings, just about

> every 4th time or so, mainly when I happen to think

> about it.

> Hope this helps a little.

> Pat S

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Kathleen,

Definitely try changing sugar brand.

I think Bev was under the impression you are rinsing your SCOBYs with

vinegar, and I agree definitely don't do that. Also, for now I'd say don't

wash out your jars, let everything be so that you aren't washing away any

of the culture components.

Also, use all of the SCOBY material that is developed, every time, just put

it all in the jar. Don't separate it or leave part of it out. Over this

past winter I had thin thin SCOBYs and I thought they would bounce back

when it got hot. It took longer than I expected. I started getting thin

SCOBYs after I had a yeast overgrowth and cut the yeast back severely, and

it got cold for winter. I let them build up together and didn't remove

anything, and now they are building nicely again. but in the meantime, I

needed to let it all hang together.

Definitely leave all SCOBy material so it can build up. You need all the

bacteria/yeast you can muster at this point.

--V

~~~ There is no way to peace; peace is the way ~~~~

--A.J. Muste

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I've heard of someone who put his brews on top of the fridge. Because of the

constant trembling of the fridge the brews were also constantly moving a bit

and he didn't get new Scoby's.

Byldzje

2006/9/6, kawtch :

>

>

> Hi everyone.

>

> I have an issue. and I can't seem to get clarity.

>

> I've been brewing for about 3-½ months, and I'm careful to

> follow " standard " procedure as far as brewing vessel (glass),

> time, temperature. I use 3 green and 2 black teas and organic sugar. I

> don't add any herbs or other additives to the brew. I use filtered

> water from our well. I don't wash the brewing containers with soap.

> I usually rinse between brews with white vinegar. I make sure the

> tea-sugar-water is cool or room temperature before adding scoby and

> starter.

>

> My brews are delicious. They are light and fizzy. I know fermentation is

> happening because they don't end up as they started; they don't

> taste like sweet tea. People who taste the KT say it tastes like cider

> (or like vinegar for my more sour brews).

>

> So my question(s):

>

> Why do my scobys not reproduce? In all the cycles and brews I've

> done (I have 3 1-gallon jars going at a time), I've only had about 3

> new scobys produced. The ones produced have been thin or holey. Now no

> new scobys are being made, brew after brew. It's as though the scoby

> can manage just one baby and then no more. This even happens when I take

> just some finished KT and let it go, covered, in a small jar to see if I

> can make more scobys. It'll make a thin scoby, one time (if that),

> and not again. They scoby will eventually sink, usually, but no new one

> will form. I let my brews go about 10 days on average, but not less than

> 7.

>

> I've had scobys from 2 different sources perform in this same

> manner. One scoby came from an at-home local brewer, the other from a

> respected vendor.

>

> OK, I know, if the KT is good, why worry about the scoby? Well, because

> I know this isn't how it's supposed to be. Because the

> Kombucha-balance website says the following about this problem: " NO

> SCOBY Not much you can do in this situation. There has to be at least

> some surface formation to recover. If you see at least the beginning of

> a clear film on the surface then refer to the section below titled

> " Increasing the Ratio of Acetobacter to Yeast Populations " . If there

> isn't then you need to get a new culture and starter from someone. "

> And because one of the reasons I started this is that I wanted to have

> great detoxifying and health-enhancing results so that I could then

> share them and the scobys with family and friends. I'm having

> neither those results nor scobys to share. So I'm wondering,

> wouldn't that indicate that, in spite of the lovely taste, something

> is wrong here? Despite its taste, maybe the KT isn't quite right,

> since it's not behaving in the way we expect KT to behave. Some of

> you get scobys forming in the fridge and in all kinds of unintended

> ways. And since the scobys I use have been from different sources, it

> seems the problem must be with something I'm doing. I just don't

> know what. And believe me, I've read and tried to figure it out.

>

> Any ideas?

>

> Thanks for reading such a long post.

>

> --Kathleen

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Kathleen,

look here how much tea, sugar and starter should be used

http://www.kombuchapilz.de/english/kombuchaproduction.htm

if you use much less that could be the reason

you said you use 3 green and 2 black tea bags and it seems per galon of water, i

think it's

too little tea. how about sugar?

good luck

>

>

> Hi everyone.

>

> I have an issue. and I can't seem to get clarity.

>

> I've been brewing for about 3-½ months, and I'm careful to

> follow " standard " procedure as far as brewing vessel (glass),

> time, temperature. I use 3 green and 2 black teas and organic sugar. I

> don't add any herbs or other additives to the brew. I use filtered

> water from our well. I don't wash the brewing containers with soap.

> I usually rinse between brews with white vinegar. I make sure the

> tea-sugar-water is cool or room temperature before adding scoby and

> starter.

>

> My brews are delicious. They are light and fizzy. I know fermentation is

> happening because they don't end up as they started; they don't

> taste like sweet tea. People who taste the KT say it tastes like cider

> (or like vinegar for my more sour brews).

>

> So my question(s):

>

> Why do my scobys not reproduce? In all the cycles and brews I've

> done (I have 3 1-gallon jars going at a time), I've only had about 3

> new scobys produced. The ones produced have been thin or holey. Now no

> new scobys are being made, brew after brew. It's as though the scoby

> can manage just one baby and then no more. This even happens when I take

> just some finished KT and let it go, covered, in a small jar to see if I

> can make more scobys. It'll make a thin scoby, one time (if that),

> and not again. They scoby will eventually sink, usually, but no new one

> will form. I let my brews go about 10 days on average, but not less than

> 7.

>

> I've had scobys from 2 different sources perform in this same

> manner. One scoby came from an at-home local brewer, the other from a

> respected vendor.

>

> OK, I know, if the KT is good, why worry about the scoby? Well, because

> I know this isn't how it's supposed to be. Because the

> Kombucha-balance website says the following about this problem: " NO

> SCOBY Not much you can do in this situation. There has to be at least

> some surface formation to recover. If you see at least the beginning of

> a clear film on the surface then refer to the section below titled

> " Increasing the Ratio of Acetobacter to Yeast Populations " . If there

> isn't then you need to get a new culture and starter from someone. "

> And because one of the reasons I started this is that I wanted to have

> great detoxifying and health-enhancing results so that I could then

> share them and the scobys with family and friends. I'm having

> neither those results nor scobys to share. So I'm wondering,

> wouldn't that indicate that, in spite of the lovely taste, something

> is wrong here? Despite its taste, maybe the KT isn't quite right,

> since it's not behaving in the way we expect KT to behave. Some of

> you get scobys forming in the fridge and in all kinds of unintended

> ways. And since the scobys I use have been from different sources, it

> seems the problem must be with something I'm doing. I just don't

> know what. And believe me, I've read and tried to figure it out.

>

> Any ideas?

>

> Thanks for reading such a long post.

>

> --Kathleen

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Byldzje and EveryOne,

In order for a Kombucha Colony (SCOBY) to form it must not be moved.

It evidently requires peace and quiet to do it's building project:-))

The vibration of the refrigerator can be enough movement to keep the

Kombucha Colony from forming.

Some folks have taken their Kombucha with them when traveling by car

and although a SCOBY doesn't form they still get good KT.

Peace, Love and Harmony,

Bev

KOMBUCHA MANNA DROPS: Safe, Convenient, Effective and Easy to use.

Great for travel, work, and everyday along with your KT:-))

http://KMI.mannainternational.com

MANNA GREEN AND WHITE TEA EXTRACT -

Liquid Drops of Green & White Teas.

http://GTE.mannainternational.com

100% Certified Organic Ingredients and packaged in glass only!

>

> Hi,

> I've heard of someone who put his brews on top of the fridge.

Because of the

> constant trembling of the fridge the brews were also constantly

moving a bit

> and he didn't get new Scoby's.

>

> Byldzje

>

>

> 2006/9/6, kawtch :

> >

> >

> > Hi everyone.

> >

> > I have an issue. and I can't seem to get clarity.

> >

> > I've been brewing for about 3-½ months, and I'm careful to

> > follow " standard " procedure as far as brewing vessel (glass),

> > time, temperature. I use 3 green and 2 black teas and organic sugar. I

> > don't add any herbs or other additives to the brew. I use filtered

> > water from our well. I don't wash the brewing containers with soap.

> > I usually rinse between brews with white vinegar. I make sure the

> > tea-sugar-water is cool or room temperature before adding scoby and

> > starter.

> >

> > My brews are delicious. They are light and fizzy. I know

fermentation is

> > happening because they don't end up as they started; they don't

> > taste like sweet tea. People who taste the KT say it tastes like cider

> > (or like vinegar for my more sour brews).

> >

> > So my question(s):

> >

> > Why do my scobys not reproduce? In all the cycles and brews I've

> > done (I have 3 1-gallon jars going at a time), I've only had about 3

> > new scobys produced. The ones produced have been thin or holey. Now no

> > new scobys are being made, brew after brew. It's as though the scoby

> > can manage just one baby and then no more. This even happens when

I take

> > just some finished KT and let it go, covered, in a small jar to

see if I

> > can make more scobys. It'll make a thin scoby, one time (if that),

> > and not again. They scoby will eventually sink, usually, but no

new one

> > will form. I let my brews go about 10 days on average, but not

less than

> > 7.

> >

> > I've had scobys from 2 different sources perform in this same

> > manner. One scoby came from an at-home local brewer, the other from a

> > respected vendor.

> >

> > OK, I know, if the KT is good, why worry about the scoby? Well,

because

> > I know this isn't how it's supposed to be. Because the

> > Kombucha-balance website says the following about this problem: " NO

> > SCOBY Not much you can do in this situation. There has to be at least

> > some surface formation to recover. If you see at least the

beginning of

> > a clear film on the surface then refer to the section below titled

> > " Increasing the Ratio of Acetobacter to Yeast Populations " . If there

> > isn't then you need to get a new culture and starter from someone. "

> > And because one of the reasons I started this is that I wanted to have

> > great detoxifying and health-enhancing results so that I could then

> > share them and the scobys with family and friends. I'm having

> > neither those results nor scobys to share. So I'm wondering,

> > wouldn't that indicate that, in spite of the lovely taste, something

> > is wrong here? Despite its taste, maybe the KT isn't quite right,

> > since it's not behaving in the way we expect KT to behave. Some of

> > you get scobys forming in the fridge and in all kinds of unintended

> > ways. And since the scobys I use have been from different sources, it

> > seems the problem must be with something I'm doing. I just don't

> > know what. And believe me, I've read and tried to figure it out.

> >

> > Any ideas?

> >

> > Thanks for reading such a long post.

> >

> > --Kathleen

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

I would like to try this, know has the pastry flour but needs the

sugar.

Audrey

<snippet>

I have had is with caster sugar

> > that is used for cakes and stuff, it is much lighter than normal

sugar

> > and I found the drink isn't to vinegary when brewed this way so

you

> > dont have to dilute it according to taste

>