Culturing your own SCOBY for Kombucha page

[CJ4400]

Question for those that cultured their own scoby...


Are you supposed to start off with 1 cup of tea and 12oz of raw store bought kombucha to culture your initial scoby?


OR


Can you start with 1 *gallon* of tea and start making kombucha right off the bat?


I'm venturing into this and am excited to start. It'd be great to hear what worked for you guys.

[Diana Renata]

I bought my first scoby online and it was surprisingly small (about 3 inches wide), but I learned that all it takes to get a scoby from a store-bought kombucha is to let the bottle sit for a while at room temperature, and before you know it you'll have a scoby. I got a very nice one from my mom's unwanted "mango" flavored kombucha. She's not a fan. LOL


Even a small scoby like that will make a gallon of kombucha. Just make a gallon of tea, add a cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of white vinegar, and your scoby.


Now that I've started the process, I just take one of my scobys out of a finished gallon, and a cup of finished kombucha, and add it to the fresh gallon of sweetened tea.

[Geoff]

I cultured my SCOBY off of 32 oz of tea and a bottle of commercial kombucha. From there I stepped it up to a full gallon.

[Sherissima]

I remember my mum maintaining a scoby. I tried it a few times (didn't really like it that much) but it tasted sweetish and a bit acidic.


So what actually happens to all the sugar in kombucha? Is it converted into something? Otherwise, drinking it would not be very Primal, would it?

[musajen]

The scoby feeds on the sugar and consumes most of it.

[Diana Renata]

Yup, the scoby eats the sugar. Just like when you make wine, the bacteria eats the sugars and excrete alcohol. With kombucha it's very little alcohol, and lots of various acids.

[CJ4400]

Thanks for the replies!


So, should I just let the store bought Kombucha sit out until I see the scoby growing? OR should I go ahead and brew a gallon of tea and let 'er rip?


Also, for the sugar can I use organic raw sugar (from sugar cane)?


And can I use raw apple cider vinegar? Is vinegar even needed? I didn't see that listed as an ingredient for some of the sites I've been visiting.

[Geoff]

I would stay away from organic raw vinegar - don't want to cross-contaminate the kombucha culture with the vinegar culture. I use the vinegar to clean my jar between brewings. I have had good results using organic raw sugar.

[Diana Renata]

Let the store bought kombucha sit until you have a scoby. Maybe add some sugar to give it something to grow with, but even if you don't, a scoby will grow.


I just use plain white sugar. *shrug* It's cheap, works well, and the bacteria don't seem to be complaining- lol.


Nope, no raw vinegar. Go with plain white distilled.


If you have kombucha to start with, you don't need the vinegar. I had to have vinegar to start initially because I bought my first scoby. The purpose of the vinegar/kombucha is to make the sweetened tea an acidic environment for the scoby.

[CJ4400]

Ok, I'm going to start off with adding 32oz raw Kombucha, 1 cup sweetened tea and let it sit out for a few weeks and hope for the best. THEN I will go for the gallon kombucha making. Does this sound about right??


Geoff- did you just pour the 32oz of raw kombucha into a bigger container and let it sit until a scoby formed? You didn't add anything else?


I can't wait. I've been buying Kombucha everyday and it's been getting pricey. Time to make my own! You guys rock.