Growing a SCOBY

This task was super awesome. Making a culture like this grow so I could make my own Kombucha was very exciting. Yes, I have a life and am very busy, but it's the little things that make me happy. I've decided to keep track of this adventure because it does take some time since it is a multistage process and I wanted to have a record of the progression of things. I am making my Kombucha "Organically", all ingredients are certified organic (whatever that means, since regulations change fairly regularly on these definitions). Do not use anything that is plastic in this process.


Ingredients/Tools:

• 1 bottle of GT's Original Kombucha (I purchased this from Whole Foods)

• 1 cup of brewed organic tea (I used one bag of black English Breakfast and one bag of green tea. I read that the best teas are black, green and oolong)

•  2-3 tablespoons of organic sugar

• 1 quart size glass mason jar

• 1 cover and rubber band (not cheese cloth, something with a thicker weave/higher thread count to keep buggies out)

• 1 fish tank thermometer 

Directions:
Take one cup of boiling water, and add the tea bags and sugar. Let this tea come to room temperature.
 

Add the tea to the mason jar and pour in the "commercial" Kombucha.

(You can see the small SCOBY in the bottom of the bottle)

Let this sit in an area where the temperature stays between 70 and 80 degrees (Some places said on top of the refrigerator, but I found that this area was too cold, not that much heat is produced by my refrigerator.). This will need to sit for a minimum of one week and up to three weeks undisturbed, depending on the temperature.

 


Mine was ready after about 12 days. The SCOBY was at least 1/4 of an inch thick before I transferred it to my continuous brewing container. I checked him about twice a day with a flashlight to watch the growth. I thought it was cool watching it take over the top of the container.