Kombucha SCOBY - Fermented Drinks Part 2

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My friend also sent me a SCOBY so I can begin making Kombucha Tea again.

This one looks like it may have been in hibernation a bit long, the front side is mostly good.





The back side is a bit aged.





Here is the bag is shipped in, containing a bit of the tea with it. This feeds the SCOBY while in transit and serves as the starter for the new tea.





I pour it into a half-gallon jar. Again, I'm only going to make a little bit to get this going again. We have a small amount of SCOBY in this case, so I won't ask much from it.





This gives it the right PH for growth. A SCOBY does the same thing for tea that Kefir grains do for milk. Exchange the sugar for probiotics. Plus, this one tastes even better!





Spring water would have been better, but I did not have any, so I'm using tap; one quart.





Bring it to a boil and remove from heat.





Add in 1/3 cup of sugar.





Stir to dissolve.





And add tea bags. For this small batch, four is plenty.





Let cool to room temperature.





The shape of your SCOBY depends on the shape of the top of the container it grew in. This one was in a gallon jar. I simply fold it and drop it into my half-gallon jar. The new SCOBY that forms will be the size of this jar.









Add in your cooled, sweetened tea to the starter and the SCOBY



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Put a thin covering over it, such as this napkin, held on with a rubber band. It must breathe, but keep out bugs and bacteria.





And tuck it out of the way somewhere in a darker place. The cabinet will do fine again. Don't move it. If you do, the delicate film that is the beginning of the new SCOBY will be disturbed and it will have to start over.





This must ferment for about a week or so.

Maybe I will too... yawn....

~Faith

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