When do you add sweeteners?

[Guest guest]

If you want to use mostly sugar, but partially other sweeteners like honey,

maple syrup, or grape juice, do you add the other sweeteners at the same time as

the sugar (before the water boils), or do you add the other sweeteners after the

sugared tea cools down? If you add them later, do you add them right away

during the initial week of fermentation, or when you put the fermented KT in the

refrigerator?

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[Guest guest]

>If you want to use mostly sugar, but partially other sweeteners like

>honey, maple syrup, or grape juice, do you add the other sweeteners at the

>same time as the sugar (before the water boils), or do you add the other

>sweeteners after the sugared tea cools down? If you add them later, do

>you add them right away during the initial week of fermentation, or when

>you put the fermented KT in the refrigerator?

You want the replacement sugars to be in place when your fermentation

starts, but when exactly you add those sugars is up to you. I use two

different liquid sugars, and I brew my tea with a small amount of water (2

cups), then strain the still-hot tea into an oversize measuring cup

containing my measure of sweeteners, mix those together in the measuring

cup, then pour it into my vessel, which has the bulk of my water already

measured and waiting. (This instantly cools the tea/sugar mix, at which

point I add the SCOBY and pour over the starter liquid, allowing gravity to

mix.) It takes me an hour to decant, bottle, and restart two 2-gal

vessels. It used to take much longer but I've gotten into a good rhythm

and efficiency.

If you use liquid sugars, you need to remove an equal amount of your bulk

water, because unlike dry sugars, the liquid ones displace liquid so you

have to accommodate that by decreasing your water bulk. So since I use one

cup of liquid sugar per gallon, I decrease my overall water bulk by 1 cup.

--V

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