Dangers of home-brew kombucha??

[k8sl8]

I mentioned to my non-raw, but interested, sister that I had a SCOBY and was starting the process of making kombucha. She wasn't familiar with it and did an internet search and came up with horror stories about "brew gone bad". Many assorted health risks were cronicled as well.

I figure, I follow the directions, keep things clean... and I should be fine? Any thoughts??

[HikerGirl]

I've been making Kombucha at home for a few years now - we go through a couple of gallons a week in our house and have never had a problem. I think you're right... follow directions, keep it clean and you'll be fine!

If you need help with any of it, shoot me a message and I can send you the directions on how we do it. Good luck!!

[Raw Angel Mom]

I've been making Kombucha at home for a few years now - we go through a couple of gallons a week in our house and have never had a problem. I think you're right... follow directions, keep it clean and you'll be fine!

If you need help with any of it, shoot me a message and I can send you the directions on how we do it. Good luck!!

I started my first batch this past Friday. I bought the kit to make it at home. I have a question about the mother and the baby Kumbucha. Do we use only the baby for the next batch or we can make two batch and use the mother again?

Thank you!

[Mikey_H]

I know it's probably been brought up before, but I've been meaning to start brewing myself. I have a few websites I've been given where I can buy cultures. But while this is up, what in your opinions is the best site to purchase from?

[Lady Green Jeans]

I too am interested in brewing it at home. The HFS has been mostly out of my favorite flavors more often than it has been stocked. Would love some directions and sources for purchasing a scoby.

[HikerGirl]

I started my first batch this past Friday. I bought the kit to make it at home. I have a question about the mother and the baby Kumbucha. Do we use only the baby for the next batch or we can make two batch and use the mother again?

Thank you!

You can definitely keep using your mother! When we first started we did one batch at a time using the mother & created 3-4 babies to use. Then when we decided to do two batches at once, we did one with the mother and 1 with all 3-4 of the babies, which sort of formed into one big scoby. Then it was like we had 2 mothers and we went from there!

It will work with just one baby in the second batch, but it might take awhile for it to turn into Kombucha. We go through it quickly so we have large containers with large scobys and it takes about a week or a week and a half to finish brewing.

Hope this helps!

[HikerGirl]

I know it's probably been brought up before, but I've been meaning to start brewing myself. I have a few websites I've been given where I can buy cultures. But while this is up, what in your opinions is the best site to purchase from?

We got ours from Nick's Natural Nook a long time ago - it was great, with helpful instructions.

http://stores.ebay.com/Nicks-Natural-Nook/Organic-Milk-Kefir-Grains-/_i.html?_fsub=18640103&_sid=51196452

[Raw Angel Mom]

You can definitely keep using your mother! When we first started we did one batch at a time using the mother & created 3-4 babies to use. Then when we decided to do two batches at once, we did one with the mother and 1 with all 3-4 of the babies, which sort of formed into one big scoby. Then it was like we had 2 mothers and we went from there!

It will work with just one baby in the second batch, but it might take awhile for it to turn into Kombucha. We go through it quickly so we have large containers with large scobys and it takes about a week or a week and a half to finish brewing.

Hope this helps!

((((Thank you))))) I will use the mother and baby on my next. It is day 7, i believe i had to wait for a total of 10 days. I am nervous, i hope it will work. I am very excited about it.

They say not to use organic tea because it cans lead to mold, it just doesn't make sense to me.

[HikerGirl]

((((Thank you))))) I will use the mother and baby on my next. It is day 7, i believe i had to wait for a total of 10 days. I am nervous, i hope it will work. I am very excited about it.

They say not to use organic tea because it cans lead to mold, it just doesn't make sense to me.

You're welcome!! I always use plain white sugar and simple black tea. The scoby eats up the sugar and I've never had a problem with taste or mold from the tea. How many days you wait depends a lot on temperature - the warmer it is, the quicker the process. In the summer, I have batches ready in as little as 5 days, but it really depends. 7-10 is definitely the average. You can always taste the tea along the way to know when it's done. When it tastes less like tea and more like kombucha, you should be good to remove the scoby and flavor it, if you like.

[Maria75]

How much i need to drink for a day????

[HikerGirl]

How much i need to drink for a day????

There's no rule for it - just drink whatever makes you feel good. Start with a little at a time and see how you feel. We drink a big glass with lunch and dinner - I love it!

[cbowden]

Just started my first batch of Kombucha! I'm so excited. My favorite store bought Kombucha is GT's because it is so fizzy. We've got a local company brewing it but their's isn't fizzy at all......

Crossing my fingers that all goes well. Good luck to everyone else that is just now starting out on this journey. And thanks to those of you veterans for all the advice.

Ciao for now!

[cbowden]

Convinced my brother to give Kombucha a try. He bought GT's Guava Goddess, tasted it and said it was like having Pop Rocks going off in your mouth!

Pop Rocks. Do they still make those? Too funny but pretty accurate.

My Kombucha is now on it's second full day. Being here in Colorado I have a feeling I'll have to let it brew for the full ten days cuz we don't keep it 70 here in the house. Low 60's is more like it.

Any advice on how to get it as fizzy as GT's?

Any particular flavors that ya'll have found to work well? Will definitely try the ginger. And have some ripening Mango.

Used 5 black tea bags......should be strong.....only 1 cup of sugar as I don't really like sweet things......

How's everyone elses coming along?

[k8sl8]

Does anyone do the continuous brewing option? Sounds like it would work for me...

I'm on day 4 and it's been warm... we'll see.

[Mothergoose]

Anyone have a recipe or protocol for this kombucha? I did this a long time ago and forgot how to brew it.

[k8sl8]

just do a search for brewing kombucha tea and a variety of options will come up - some selling the mother... others just blogs and info. Pick what works best for you.

[fastfreedom]

mmmmm Guava Goddess. :drool: And I can't see it right now, nor recall who has the guava as their picture. But it makes my mouth salivate everytime I see it.

To get fizzy kombucha. Don't let your kombucha brew as long. If there's still a little sugar in the brew when you bottle it up then it'll continue to consume the sugar in the bottles and create the fizz. You can also add a little sugar or fruit when you bottle it up to create some fizz.

I haven't bottled up a new batch in a long time. But I still have the original mother along with all the babies in the same jar. I do a continuous brew. I have a 2 gal container, or maybe it's 2.5 gal...., but anyway, I typically put in a gallon and a half. Then I'll pour off a gallon of the brew, bottle it up, and then add back 1 gallon of sweet tea. Also it seems that every batch finishes a little quicker that the last cus the scoby's in there just keep stacking up. I never take em out. Or at least I haven't so far.

Also to avoid molds and such. Always leave a bit of the last batch in the brewing container with the scoby's. And if you get a scoby and it doesn't have much of the kombucha with it then you can use white distilled vinegar in your first batch to allow everything to get working and avoid molds.

Also I've successfully created fermented foods using kombucha. Something like 4 tbs of kombucha per quart jar of vegetables to ferment. Then add a little water if the veggies aren't fully covered with liquid. I was making my kombucha kinda vinegary too I should mention just in case that's necessary.

Lastly. You can grow a GT scoby by using the plain flavor. It just takes a bit of time. I adbandoned it cus it was taking so long. I truly think it would take 30 days or so to brew a batch though. But first you would need to take the time to allow the scoby to grow to a decent size.

[Raw Angel Mom]

I will have to try again, my batch didn't work, there were mold on top and the mother went straight down the bottom.

I think my mistake was that i added maple sirup right of way. Or i didn't have a good started.

Oh well, i will give it a try again.

Earl grey tea is a black tea, i used that maybe this wasn't the right tea.

[fastfreedom]

Any flavoring you're gonna add needs to be added after the batch has brewed for it's 7-10 days or how ever long you brew it. And you only add the flavoring/fruit to what you're gonna store your finished kombucha in. You don't wanna add the fruit/flavor to the batch with the scoby's in it, only to the kombucha that has been poured off and is gonna be bottled.

Hope that made sense?

With earl gray tea you may wanna do a search for it + kombucha. I know that some teas aren't supposed to be used cus it messes up the batch. Something about the oils perhaps? Two simple teas to stick with are just the regular green tea and black tea.

[Nippers]

I used to do kombucha, but I started just using tea and water kefir because it is so much faster and easier, and I know taste is subjective, but I like the taste of water kefir better than kombucha.

I've also heard that water kefir has more beneficial bacteria than kombucha, but that's just what I've heard.

[sport]

Anyone have a recipe or protocol for this kombucha? I did this a long time ago and forgot how to brew it.
They will send you the instructions when you buy your scoby. I am a recent convert. On my 4th or 5th batch and loving it.

[Cruditas]

Y'all have me excited about making Kombucha! I bought a bottle from Vitamin World. It is a 33 oz bottle with a big chunk of stuff floating in the bottom. Do you think that this could be used to make a starter scoby?