Try, try again. Kombucha often rocks and sometimes it just doesn't

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!

Kombucha Tea Recipe

Here's the recipe I follow for Kombucha Tea:

1. Bring 3 Quarts of distilled water to a boil.

2. Add 1 cup of sugar (I use organic raw sugar) and boil 5 minutes.

3. Turn off heat and add 4 tsp black or green tea in bags, loose or tea ball to steep for 10-15 minutes

4. Remove (strain) tea and let it cool to room temperature. Tea must be cool or it will kill the live culture.

5. Float your SCOBY; shiny side up. Don't sweat it if it sinks, it will work fine.

6. Add about 10-15 percent old batch tea on top of the SCOBY if you have it or buy a bottle of KT. I usually use 10-12 oz.

7. Let it sit for 6-10 days covered with a cloth or paper towel cover between 70-80 F degrees.

8. Don't mess with it! A thin film will form on top and grow into a new baby SCOBY. Hopefully, some carbonation will form and bubbles will rise underneath the SCOBY. I have pictures of this in older posts.

Once brewed to taste...

1. Wash hands and then rinse with vinegar. Carefully remove the SCOBYs and put them in a glass container. Don't use metal utensils. Pour off about 10 -20 oz for starter tea for the next batch or two of tea (you have two SCOBYs now).

2. I bottle my kombucha in mason jars now days. I often add ginger, but I will add only shredded ginger juice and not the actual pieces like I used too. You can also add a little bit of fresh squeezed blueberry  or other fruit juice to the individual bottles for extra flavor and fizz.

3. I usually let them sit a week or so for a second fermentation and then stash them in the fridge. Enjoy!

There are links to lot's of other recipes on the side bar as well, but this is as basic as you get.