Re: kombucha and essential oils

[Guest guest]

> We diffuse essential oils in our house all the time to purify the air.

> Will these essential oils effect the kombucha as it brews? Just

> wondering. Didn't want to kill my mushroom.

>

Dear :

It is best to keep your brewing jar in a quiet cabinet or closet or

someplace " out of the way " where the temp is constant and there is

little activity. I keep mine in a relatively unused kitchen cabinet

with the door closed. It stays roughly 70' most of the time. This

keeps them undisturbed and " comfy " . I have never heard of anything in

the air effecting a culture, but the closed cabinet will help at any

rate in keeping your jar/SCOBY more or less " on it's own " . If you

enjoy the air in your house, your SCOBY will too.

Regards, -A. J.

[Guest guest]

Thank you for the info.

> > We diffuse essential oils in our house all the time to purify the

air.

> > Will these essential oils effect the kombucha as it brews? Just

> > wondering. Didn't want to kill my mushroom.

> >

>

> Dear :

>

> It is best to keep your brewing jar in a quiet cabinet or closet or

> someplace " out of the way " where the temp is constant and there is

> little activity. I keep mine in a relatively unused kitchen cabinet

> with the door closed. It stays roughly 70' most of the time. This

> keeps them undisturbed and " comfy " . I have never heard of anything

in

> the air effecting a culture, but the closed cabinet will help at any

> rate in keeping your jar/SCOBY more or less " on it's own " . If you

> enjoy the air in your house, your SCOBY will too.

>

> Regards, -A. J.

>

[Guest guest]

>

> > We diffuse essential oils in our house all the time to purify the air.

> > Will these essential oils effect the kombucha as it brews? Just

> > wondering. Didn't want to kill my mushroom.

> >

>

>Dear :

>

>It is best to keep your brewing jar in a quiet cabinet or closet or

>someplace " out of the way " where the temp is constant and there is

>little activity. I keep mine in a relatively unused kitchen cabinet

>with the door closed. It stays roughly 70' most of the time. This

>keeps them undisturbed and " comfy " .

hrmm... this is stated often, yet my brews were never happy in my house

until I moved them to the kitchen counter where they are in the center of

the " action " ... so I really don't think this is a true rule. It may well

be true for some people and some brews, but certainly not all.

>I have never heard of anything in

>the air effecting a culture, but the closed cabinet will help at any

>rate in keeping your jar/SCOBY more or less " on it's own " . If you

>enjoy the air in your house, your SCOBY will too.

There used to be a woman on this list who swore that her HEPA airfilter

inhibited SCOBY development in her house, so she moved her brews to a room

with a closed door, which worked for her. That's just one report, though,

and no one else has ever reported a similar experience.

I recently got a friend started and she is brewing in her laundry room. I

told her I thought this would be fine unless she used a lot of chlorine

bleach, which causes chlorine gas to be released and I believe would affect

the SCOBY/culture.

On the other hand, we use incense and various herbal smokes here and none

of it has ever been a negative influence. So, I doubt that the essential

oils will have a negative effect. If, however, you experience long brewing

times even though your brewing temps are above 68-70 degrees F (that is to

say, nice and warm), especially if combined with minimal SCOBY

development, you might need to consider the essential oils as a potential

source of the problem.

Any problem that you experienced would likely show up over a long period of

time, as the culture is very strong and will put up a good fight, so you'll

need to watch over a period of months.

Please let us know what you find, as this is an important piece of information.

--V

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

--A.J. Muste