So that first batch didn't taste too hot. It was really, really sweet and I am certain one week wasn't enough to get it kickin'. I ended up dumping most of it and got discouraged. But I had so many scobys, I wasn't going to give it up entirely, so I brewed two batches with green tea, plopped the scobys in and left them to sit for two weeks. That was not intentional, but time got away from me.
I finally had the time to bottle up what was there. The big Anchor jar tasted like vinegar. YUCK! the Skinny jar was FANTASTIC. It was sealed by the scoby and developed a ton of fizz. If I could have, I would have bottled it and sold it, but I only had enough to drink and share with a friend who was suffers withdrawals since the Kombucha ban.
My daughter's fifth grade class sells pickles every year for a fundraiser, so today I snagged three jars and have tea cooling and ready to mix. I got tow more batches going, but screwed up the tea amount. I think I only put half the amount of green tea, so who knows what will happen with those.
My new three batches are two black tea and one green. I have to disturb the currently brewing batch to get at the scobys, cause I stacked them. Don't think that is best, but operating on low fumes, I could not figure out where to store the extras so they wouldn't dry out.
So, I'm going to dig out three scobys and hope for the best. I think the key last time was a long sit, but maybe not two weeks. I'll try 10 days and see how she goes.
Stay tuned and thanks for the friends I've gathered doing this. I haven't been actively promoting this blog, but I like tracking my progress and anyone along for the ride works for me.
Happy brewing!
11 comments:
we also have 4x5liter jars and one 30liter pot. the 5liter always turn out great while the 30liter turned sour. but i believe we made the mistake to wait too long. maybe 30liter does not take longer then 5liter - maybe even the contrary since the surface (and therefore the culture) is larger. i guess the trick is to start to taste it every day starting on day 4 or 5. further it depends also if i use a lot of starter tea which off course goes faster then with less starter.
anyway, you got a nice blog here and thanks for sharing your experience. Roberto from Chiang Mai
Hi,
I am looking for a Kombucha mother, as I lost mine to a fruit fly invasion. Do you know where I can get a new one to start with? Or would you like to trade? I am new to Austin and still unsure of where to find these types of things. Thanks for any help!
Natalie
www.sodatooth.com
I enjoyed reading these posts! Your enthusiasm is very familiar. I love brewing K tea and just discovered brewing in the oven with the light on. At 80 degrees it's brewing up a storm in there! Are you still making Kombucha?
Howdy!
I have a jar full of scobys, but I have not brewed since I did 5 gallons at once. Too much for my fridge and for me.
Just works better to love one, maybe two gallons at a time.
Probably will get back to it after my kiddo is out of school and things slow down a bit.
Natalie, happy to share. I'll reach out via your web address.
Hi... I've been brewing kombucha tea for the past 8 months and I absolutely love it! I use a two gallon tea jar and my scoby is about 8" in diameter. I've split it up twice to share with family and friends. The last time was about 3 months ago when I gave one of my sisters a scoby. When taking it apart, it tore a hole in my mother scoby as well as the one that I gave to my sister. I've made several batches since then and it seemed to be doing okay. I did notice a translucent film on it and thought that it was mold but later realized that it was a new layer growing. The batch that I'm brewing now is not fizzing... only half of my scoby is floating. I don't know what to do... I've become addicted to my tea and have been out of it for the past several days. Does anyone know what I should do?... or has my mushroom become contaminated somehow and do I need to start over?
Thanks so much!
Peace & light
Rhea
Would you be willing to part with a scoby or two? You'd think I could find more people giving them away since a new one is produced with every batch of tea, but I haven't been able to find any. E-mail me if you're willing!
bethany.crawford44@gmail.com
Don't feel bad.... I had to dump a 2- five gal. Carboys of 'not-so-rockin' commercial kombucha because it just wasn't 'there' for lack of a better word... but that's the nature of the raw unpasteurized, fermentation beast! But the really great batches that make your customers go 'WHOA!' make it all worth it! ;)
thanks for the blog. brand new to this. brewing my first batch today.
Help I'm doing my first batch got a scoby and mine looks great but two weeks and no fizz what am I doing wrong?
You might want to try a fresh batch. Maybe add some extra starter T. A newculture might need a few runs in order to get active. It's kind of like waking up from sleep. It just needs a couple runs to get active
Wonderful blog! Thank you! I have been making kombucha off and on for 3 years and have experimented with many different teas and vinegars to achieve some very lovely flavors (and some pretty horrible ones too!). It is like a mini kitchen adventure!
Post a Comment