Kombucha, the effervescent and tangy health drink made from fermenting sweetened tea, is my family’s favorite beverage. We drink about 2 gallons of the stuff per week.
To make kombucha (see my instructions for how to do that here), you only need two things:
1) Sweetened tea, and 2) a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast), AKA “mother,” or “mushroom.”
Coming by kombucha mothers is easy if you’ve got friends making this “immortal health elixir.” Kombucha mother colonies periodically reproduce, so people brewing it have a constant supply of scobies to give away.
But what if you’re a lone wolf, daring to make kombucha on your own? Where are you supposed to get a good SCOBY?
The most reputable online stores can charge anywhere from $15-$35 per kombucha mother.
YIKES!
So, I thought I’d show you how to grow your own for about $3.50.
The Players
- 1 bottle of Organic, Raw Kombucha
- 1 glass jar
- 1 kitchen towel
- 1 cup of room temperature sweetened tea
NOTES:
- You can buy the kombucha at just about any health food store. I get mine from the health food aisle of my local HEB — a large chain grocery store local to my area. If you can’t find it near you, you can buy a bottle of the stuff online. Make sure it’s organic, raw, and unflavored with juice. You just want the plain, original beverage.
- The sweetened tea can be as simple as a cup of black tea, sweetened with a tablespoon of sugar.
The How-To
Pour the bottle of kombucha and sweetened tea into a glass jar. Cover it with a towel so it can breathe but be protected from insects and other contaminants. Let it sit.
THE END.
It’s really very easy, isn’t it?
With time, a new SCOBY will start to form on top of the liquid. It will appear first as a thin film, then slowly fill in and thicken up.
Once it’s about 1/4 inch thick, it’s ready to go. You can let it sit longer and get even thicker, but that’s really not necessary. This SCOBY is about 1/3 inch thick and took me about 3 weeks to grow. In the summer, I can grow it in half that time.
If you still hesitate to grow your own, or would like the assurance of starting with a proven culture, check out my Resources Page for kombucha starter culture listings.
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Wow! Great post! I had no idea you could do this. I don’t know why I didn’t think it was possible, but that is actually pretty easy.
Laura
Laura — Thanks for commenting! And, yes, it IS pretty easy, isn’t it? And way cheaper than the alternative.
OOH! Thanks! I actually have my first batch brewing right now and I am sitting here wondering when it will be done (I started it about 8 or 9 days ago). Glad to know about the thickness factoring in. My kids and I also love kombucha and right now we drink a gallon a week…but that will soon change now that I am making my own! Love your site!
good to know! I’ve been making it for ages, but the mothers I have keep getting almost-frozen in the fridge as my fridge is very tempermental, and I think that’s almost killed them as it’s started taking AGES to do a batch. i put them in there when I’m taking a break from making the stuff. my boys LOVE it thank God, that and raw milk. makes me happy
. will make a fresh one this way and start over, thanks!!
bethany
Kelly — The thickness doesn’t factor in to the completion of a kombucha brew, just the readiness of the mother to be used in making one.
In the summer, I brew my kombucha for 5 days, then transfer it to jars with a little fruit juice in it and brew for another 2. 7 days from start to finish, and I’m done! In the winter, I usually let it go for 9 or 10 days. Again, I’m in Texas! So, someplace cooler with a cooler room temperature will take even longer. I’ll let you in on a secret — It’s really just “done” whenever it tastes done to you, whenever you like it’s combination of tart and mildly sweet flavors.
Bethany — My boys love it too. You can also use this as a way to “spruce up” your mother: Make a batch like normal, but mix in a bottle of organic raw kombucha to the sweetened tea before putting your mother in. It’ll help give your mother a kick start.
since we can no longer buy organic kombucha here at the H.E.B. in Kingwood, Texas do you live near enough for me toget some starter from you?
Wow, I had no idea. I’ve been really wanting to try my hand at making Kombachu, but obtaining a scoby was daunting. This way I don’t mind trying it. Thanks so much for posting this.
Would you mind posting a follow up, of exactly what to do once you have the Scoby ready?
Thanks so much!
Sarah
Sarah
I am so sick of buying it, I will definetly be trying this soon! Thanks so much for the tip
Erica
Wonderful post, Kristin! I’m so glad you confirmed something I’d be suspecting for a while…I noticed the same thing when I leave a bottle of kombucha out for a “secondary ferment”, it will often grow a SCOBY on top within a few days (albiet, a rather thin one!)
We LOVE kombucha; we go through about a gallon a week as well. I’ve been enjoying it blended with frozen raspberries and freshly grated ginger (about 1 TBS per 16 oz). So good!
Carrie aka Thrifty Oreganic
I used to make this stuff. I LOVED it, especially when it was first ready to drink–seemed almost carbonated. Mmmm.
I never could tell that I felt better drinking it, but I really enjoyed growing it. It led to my interest in making my own vinegar which was also a lot of fun, and tasty too!
Genie
OH OK!! I am going to go slip a straw into it and taste it. Well, its been brewing 10 days today and I am in Michigan (high temp today was 14) so might take me a bit longer!! HA! Thanks for the info!
I have some beautiful mothers making babies, but when I bottled the brew for the second level of fermentation I was surprised to see a little scoby forming in each bottle. It’s cool stuff, I think. Brewing is fun.
Jenny
How strongly do you brew your tea for the komucha?
What types of fruit juice are good to add for the second brewing process?
Great post!!!
Can you please increase your font size
Imara — I’ll be posting a tutorial on brewing Kombucha real soon, so stay tuned!
Jonathan — How’s it now? I’d been meaning to do this for a while, but your comment made me get off my butt and JUST DO IT. Thanks!
I’m going to start on this tonight. Do you need to do anything with it while your waiting for the SCOBY to form? Or do you just do your initial mix and let it rest?
Also, could you use green tea or does it have to be black? I bought a small box of both because I wasn’t sure when I was in the store tonight. I just want to have all my ducks in a row before I get going on this little project. Thanks!
Erica
Erica — Just make sure it’s covered with a dish towel (I use a rubber band to secure the towel) and let it sit. You can use green tea or black tea or any combination of real teas so long as they’re sweetened.
I’ve read different sites arguing for the different nutritional value you get in a kombucha brew made from green tea vs. black tea. They’ve left me with the distinct impression that either tea is okay.
Great, that doesn’t sound to difficult at all. Kombucha brewing kind of scares me (don’t ask me why haha) so this is a big step for me!
Erica
So glad to find your site. I knew you could make a scoby from scratch but couldn’t remember where I found the info.
I was wondering if the bottle of organic Kombucha should be room temp as well as the sweet tea. I am starting one today.
Sabrina
Sabrina — Glad you’re here, too. You’re right, room temperature is best.
Wow this is perfect timing for me since I was trying to grow a culture but I didn’t have the sweet black tea in the Kombucha – How it’s not too late to add it. The kombucha has been sitting for a week. Do you think I can add the tea now or should I start over with a few bottle of kombucha?
Robin
P.S. Great site and very helpful real food info!
Robin
This is cool. I didn’t know a person could do this. I live in New Hampshire, our house is always under 68 degrees, usually hovering around 63, will I still be able to grow my own SKOBY, or do I need to add some extra warmth?
Hi Julie,
You can still grow your own scoby, but it will take significantly longer. They don’t recommend using electric warmers, so you’ll want to find the most naturally warm place in your home and put it there. Usually it’s up high somewhere near a heater or fireplace.
Cheers,
KristenM
Hi Robin — If a film has already started forming over the top, then you may not want to disturb the film (which isthe growing scoby). If you don’t see anything yet, then add the sweetened tea. It’ll provide food for the growing mother.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Ok so I don’t have a film growing near the top but in one corner at the top I have something white growing. Do you think that’s it?
Also it’s very cold here. It snowed the other day. I put it on the counter in my pantry, this morning I moved it to a lower shelf so it wouldn’t be disturbed, but thought I should put it on a high shelf in the dinning room where our pellet stove is. What do you think? Should I move it or just leave it alone? Have I already moved it too much?
Sabrina
Hi Sabrina — It sounds like that might be it. I wouldn’t be afraid of moving it, and the scoby will definitely like the warmer temperatures. Shoot for as close to 76F as you can get it.
Kristen, what size jar do you start with? this will hopefully be my last question!
Julie — Good question! Use a jar that’s the same diameter or slightly smaller than the diameter of the container you’ll be brewing your kombucha in. You can use any size jar, but doing this will make transferring the mother significantly easier.
Hi Kristen,
We found a place that is warmer than the rest of the house and it seems too be helping the SCOBY-it’s about 1/16 of an inch thick. One week and counting…
How does a person store a SCOBY if it is not going to be used right away?
Julie — YAY for the growing SCOBY. If you’re not going to use it right away, you’ll want to store it in the refrigerator in a glass bowl covered with at least 1/2 cup of the liquid you grew it in. This will make it go dormant.
Hi
thank you for this
I just have a couple questions
1. can honey be used as a sweetener
2. can herbal teas be used?
3. is this similar to the idea of lacto fermented veggies, but a drink instead.
4. does this process result in an alcohol content?
thanks in advance
Lanam — Oh this is a can of worms! I’ll answer the easy ones first.
3 — Yes, very similar.
4 — Minimal alcohol (less than 1%) results. Most of the sugar is consumed and turned into beneficial acids, not alcohol.
Now, for the harder ones.
1 — I’ll say no. Some people have initial success with honey, but honey is an anti-microbial agent so with time it will kill off and weaken the bacteria in your colony.
2 — Yes, but the best health benefits (most beneficial acids and enzymes) come from using plain black tea. If you do choose to use herbal, perhaps blend it with black tea and keep the ratio of herbal to black teas low (say 1:4).
A friend of mine just gave me an old gallon-sized pickle jar that I’m sterilizing. Now I’m ready to make my mother. So excited! My question is light. Can the tea be in the light or does it need a dark space? Also, should I make my mother in the gallon jar or in one of my quart jars? Does it matter?
Thanks!
Spinner
Spinner — You should keep it out of direct sunlight. It doesn’t need to be cavernously dark, but it really shouldn’t be where the sun shines. It doesn’t matter where you grow your mother, so long as it’s in a jar that’s smaller in diameter than the one you’ll be growing it in. (Even THAT doesn’t matter, but it sure does make it easier!)
What type of container do you store your finished product in? Mason Jars? Or do you buy glass containers that have lids? If you buy something, could you give us a website or company that you buy them from? Thanks for all your knowledge! We are very grateful!
Marnita– Are you talking about what we store finished a finished SCOBY in if we don’t use it immediately? If that’s the case, then we store it in glass food storage containers in the refrigerator with about 1/2 cup of its liquid. If you’re talking about what we store our finished kombucha tea in, well I address that in my how to brew kombucha tea post. We re-use 32 oz glass yogurt jars, but anything glass will work.
Kristen, just thought I’d update you to let you know that my SCOBY has grown! Today I’m going to start a batch of Kombucha. I’m excited! Thanks so much for your inspiration!
Erica
Erica — That’s great news! Congratulations.
Thanks for the excellent article, and the very detailed responses to post questions. This is one of the best articles I’ve read on making Kombucha.
I do have some questions though. PS – I’ve never done this before. I’m going to get some glass containers today and start making my first batch later this evening. I’m SO excited! $3.50+ for a bottle at whole foods (my HEB doesn’t carry it here in Austin) is killing me.
Question 1) So if every time I brew a batch of Kombucha, I’m going to get another mother. Is this correct? What do you do will all the extra mothers that grow? Or, do I just keep using the mother I grow from scratch over and over again?
Question 2) I hear often about “mother” and “baby”. As I understand it, the baby can sometimes grow on the mother. How does this happen, and which should I use for my next batch – the mother and/or the baby? Or both?
Question 3) I prefer my drinks with a little more carbonation than less. What can I do during my brewing process to ensure I get more carbonation?
Thank you very much for your time and help.
Kristen,
I was reading more of your web site and I found the links to “Kombucha the Balancing Act”, and your article on “How to Brew Kombucha
Hi,
I just began the “grow a Scoby from scratch”. Just curious, if it take 3 weeks to produce a Scoby for brewing Kombucha, will there be enough sugar in the tea to keep it fed for that long?
When I remove the Scoby to make the first batch of Kombucha, should I add any of the liquid it was conceived in?
Many Thanks
Hi Sudhira — Yes, there’s plenty of sugar. Your goal isn’t to make kombucha tea, it’s to grow a strong, well-balanced SCOBY, and those are two different things. Too much sugar and the yeast will multiply like crazy and crowd out the bacteria. Perhaps the biggest problem with brewing your own kombucha tea is that with time, your SCOBY will evolve to favor the yeast. The bacteria help keep them in check and produce all those beneficial acids that make kombucha so good for you. If they get crowded out by yeast, you’ll eventually witness your SCOBY’s death as it becomes weaker and weaker with each successive brew of kombucha tea.
So, you’ll want to create a SCOBY with a very strong colony of bacteria at first, and that means less sugar and just letting it sit for a loooong time.
Sudhira — To answer your second question (sorry I missed it), YES. I give directions for how to brew kombucha tea elsewhere on this site, and having that starter liquid is essential!
Thank you so much Kristin. I will be patient with the SCOBY production. Sure hope I can grow a proper “Mother”. Will I be able to tell if the yeast has over run the bacteria?
When I open the pantry the is a yeasty fragrance, but it has only been 6 days.
Thanks for the link to your post. I checked my batch and it’s actually starting to form, it’s been sitting around for a month however. Hope it’s still ok.
SHEENA — The cooler your locale, the longer it will take to grow. So, I wouldn’t worry too much at this point since it’s still Winter in most places. Now that it’s obviously growing, though, you might watch it more closely for progress. If another month passes and it’s the same as it is now, THEN I would worry that you weren’t growing it properly and start from scratch.
A couple of things that could slow the growth of your SCOBY that most people don’t think about:
~Not using a glass container.
~Using antibacterial soap to clean the container the scoby’s growing in.
I didn’t see this in any of the comments, but I am wondering what you sweeten your black tea with and how much of the sweetener do you add to the tea?
tribal talk
tribal talk — Good catch! That’s b/c I covered it pretty well in the How to Brew Kombucha post. I use refined table sugar b/c it’s a fast-burning fuel (don’t worry, the end result has almost no sugar at all since the yeast will eat it all!). Whenever I’ve experimented with natural sweeteners like sucanat or honey, I’ve been displeased with the result. It takes significantly longer to grow the SCOBY, and the resultant batches of kombucha tea also have a very “off” taste to me. Plus, the anti-microbial properties of honey (it’s a natural antibiotic) aren’t very conducive to growing bacteria!
I just started my second brew and I used loose tea (pure ceylon) this time around instead of tea bags. I think I may have use too much because my tea is black instead of amber colored. Is it bad to use too much tea? I don’t want to drop my SCOBY in if too much tea will kill it. Halp!
Thank you, for this post! I was wondering, do you include what looks like the “baby scoby” from the bottle of Kombucha or do you remove it before starting this process and just leave the “strands” of culture? This is so exciting!!
eyelassh — I think it’ll be fine. You can make kombucha with any kind of tea so long as it’s a true tea. I don’t think a strong tea will hurt the SCOBY. Keeping tea & sugar, bacteria & yeast in balance is tricky. But when I say that, I’m talking about the effects across multiple batches and brews. If your tea is too strong one time, it probably won’t be next time. So, the balance will go on. If you’re really worried about the tea being too strong just add water.
Viktorious — Yes, use the whole bottle. The “strands” are actually dead yeast cells, so they’re less important than that “baby scoby.”
This is FANTASTIC! Thank you for this tutorial! I have been wanting to make water kefir, thinking that it would wean my husband off of sodas, but have had the hardest time trying to find water kefir grains . . . when I first heard about kombucha I thought it would be almost as hard to get a scoby (plus the whole mushroom/fungus thing threw me off. I don’t know why since I was willing and able to look for kefir grains!
Now that I’ve heard more and more about kombucha I’ve been wanting to try it (and planned on bringing a bottle or two of GT’s with me to the hospital for my upcoming birth!) and will definitely have to pick up a bottle of the plain to get this going!
Funny thing is that we’re currently living at my in-laws for a few months. She already thinks I’m a crazy food nut, what with my two sourdough starters and my constantly leaving grains and flours out to soak overnight and my steaming kale to make green smoothies (she and I have different views on foods, to say the least) – she will think I’ve gone off my rocker when I ask her to not disturb my bottle of kombucha that I want to leave out for the next three weeks!
My mother-in-law might just not understand my need to mother the mother.
Maybe I’ll have to save this post for when we move into our own place again . . . we’ll see!
Thank you again!
Best,
Sarah
PS – I am so making ginger juice. I hate garlic presses for garlic, I’d much rather use a knife, but for ginger juice? I may have found a new favorite kitchen tool.
Sarah
I started mine (using your method) many weeks ago, and it’s FINALLY starting get a thin film! I blame the ongoing cold weather. Nevertheless, it’s looking more and more unlikely that I’ll have to buy the mail order SCOBY! Thanks again!
Stacey
This too cool! I’ve been needing to replace my mother, but feeling too cheap to buy one. I can get a bottle of organic raw Kombucha for $2.43, I think I can afford that!
Thank you so much for this post!
Gena
This is a great article, I am so excited to try it! In the ’90s my aunt in Europe was making this ‘mushroom’ sour-sweet liquid I enjoyed drinking when I visited her in my teens. Shed used to keep it on the top of the fridge in a gallon jar glass container the top of which was covered with a think cloth and the rubber band was used to keep the cloth attached on the opening. When I drank it she would pour the liquid right from the jar thru the cloth into a glass for me to drink. We also had it in my family in Europe but it was a long time ago and I don’t remember the details, I think I didn’t have a chance to drink it as my older brother would always drink the whole jar before anybody in the family could get their hands on this brew.
I recently purchased 2 bottles of Raw Organic Kombucha, I looked at the bottle and it has algae and vitamins added. I wonder if kombucha makes any vitamins while it’s brewing?
I will try making my own kombucha now with Organic Cane sugar since I have read this great article on this website.
I was also wondering if anyone tried making this brew with Distilled water, since tap water contains chloride and fluoride + other unwanted chemicals?
Thank you for awsome article!
I have a few questions about Kombucha. According to wikipedia it contains usnic and oxalic acids. Usnic acid has been linked to liver damage. Is the quantity of usnic acid in a batch of Kombucha enough to induce hepatic damage? I know each batch of Kombucha can differ because of the culture being used so this would vary.
Oxalic acid is linked to inhibited absorption in the gut of calcium. Is this a problem for having Kombucha with meals?
Thanks, Mel
Anyone have any tips of where to get a good size jar; I have no clue where to look. And can you use the same jar to grow the SCOBY and then to brew a batch?
Thanks!!
I have brewed a couple batches of kambucha. Being a home-brewer I have been pleased with the simplicity of the process — beer takes much more work. So this isn’t really a question…just a comment. My wife brewed the one-gallon batch using a “mother” scoby from a class she attended. It was so yummy that I decided to brew a 10 gallon batch and put it on tap! After filling my two brew buckets (which won’t be used for beer again because of the bacteria) I had some extra sweet tea. However I had already chopped the mother in half for the two big buckets – so for the remaining gallon or so of sweet tea, I just poured the leftover “mother’s home” (kambucha liquid) into the gallon of sweet tea – and it formed a new beautiful scoby. Bottom line is that I can personally validate that a new scoby will form even if you don’t start with a mother. At some point, I will probably try a batch using some store bought kambucha – and I have no doubt that it will work. After reading this page of comments, I am pleased to learn that my scoby will not die in the fridge, but rather it will just go dormant.
Best to you all,
Stein
I just bought a 2 1/2 gal. ceramic crock with a tap to start some continuous brew (siphoning off half to bottle and adding more sweet tea with the mother to start a new brew, it then takes half the time to brew the next batch). It is also easier to bottle with the tap. To bottle it I am using my old GT kombucha bottles. They are the size I need for the days dose of kombucha and the caps are very study. I can just grab one out of the fridge in the morning.
I also started a scoby on July 9th with GTs Kombucha and the mother is about a 1/4 inch thick now. I wasn’t sure if it was doing what is was supposed to until I read the posts.
I have had lyme disease three times. I was very sick and couldn’t get back to my old self until I started drinking Kombucha. I feel much better when I drink it. I has made a BIG difference in my life and how I feel. I LOVE IT. Thanks for the site and everyone’s comments.
I would love to hear about how people use different things to flavor theirs.
Hi! Thanks so much for this – I’m pretty much going to keep this page open for the next 3 weeks while I grow my first SCOBY! I have a feeling we’re all going to love this – especially with the fruit juice to flavor it. I have my bottle of Raw Organic Kombucha I just bought last night and I’m getting ready to set it up. We keep our house around 77-78 (we’re in FL) and so I should have no trouble brewing. I used to do this about 14 years ago, although back then it was called “Manchurian Mushroom Tea” – my husband loved it. I didn’t because it gave me headaches (which I NOW know were detox symptoms…)
.-= Cardamom
I found this site while I was searching for some information about kombucha. Immediately I start browing my own scoby. It took me one weeks to start seeing something on the top. Today is the second week of my scoby sitting on the top the counter. I want to think that the fine white film summing in there is my growing Fernando (I baptized it with this name ha ha ha).
Ok my Kombucha (not using a scoby but from a bottle of GTs) fermented about a month, I bottled it and it sat for 5 days but I am not getting any fizz. I like it better without the fizz but what am I doing wrong? Someone please advise.
Sally, I got a lead free ceramic crock with a tap from foryourwater.com. I haven’t gotten it yet so don’t know how much I will like it but it looks like it will be just want I need.
this is a question for anyone==i’m on my third batch of kombucha tea and it seems to taste like vinegar; and it smell vinegary too. i think it’s supposed to taste a little like vinegar, but mine tastes a little too much like vinegar. my first starter batch was delicious and then vinegar. i’m brewing at about 80 degrees in my house and for 5 days. the mother is healthy and multiplying well… what’s my problem??? help please
Hi, I started trying to grow my SCOBY – in a quart mason jar, with the bottle of raw organic tea and the sweetened tea for starter. It’s been about 2 weeks and there’s nothing on top. The tea smells right and isn’t spoiling, and there’s sediment on the bottom of the jar. The temp is a pretty steady 76-77 degrees. Help? Do I just need to be more patient?
.-= Cardamom
for the past 3 weeks i have started 4 scobys using a bottle of GTs raw but none of them are doing anything. our house is cold i’m mentioning since people seem to. low 70’s. i used assam tea for some and darjeeling for others. i never measured the sugar, just put in a lot. probably about than a cup a gallon. there’s a few specks on top of a couple of them. in my 2nd oldest one started 12/12, there’s a golfball sized scoby glob that floats, a spot on top, but that’s it. in my newest there’s a layer i think at the bottom. last, i have an unfinished bottle of GTs raw from 12/22 that sits with a loosened cap and all that’s going on in there is a pea-sized floating glob. i’m journaling everything, but not much to write since everything seems dormant but they all smell nice & kombucha-ie. should i give them ea a month of time before i inspect or just abort or what. help?
See me smile! According to what I have read here, I must have used too much sugar (I was told to use 1 cup/gallon) and my SCOBY looks like it died, much to my distress! I am filled with glee to think I can begin again without massive hassle.
Up until this happened, I have used a glass spigot sun tea jar to successfully brew several batches of kombucha. When it is done, I just pop it in the fridge and dispense from there. In the meantime, I have another batch brewing so I don’t run out.
I was given a starter with Constant Comment and Roobios Chai tea bags included.
There were no real instructions other than to brew the tea, sweeten it, let it cool completely, add the SCOBY, cover it with a bandana, and let it sit for a week. I did all that and wa-la! When the kombucha was made (7 days in Texas), I added some mango juice and yum! Too good for words!
This last batch fell flat and I was so upset. It is clear the SCOBY are not alive and well.
I drink this every day to assist my health and am so happy to have found this information..
Thank you so much. I am headed to the store!
Nancy Grace — Just to be clear, these are instructions to grow a scoby, NOT to brew the kombucha tea. For the tea, you DO want to use 1 cup of sugar per gallon. Many things can kill your scoby, most commonly: using a sweetener like honey (which is antimicrobial), washing your containers in an antibacterial dish soap, using non-organic tea or sugar (pesticides can kill it), using plain tap water instead of distilled water (chlorine in the tap water can kill it), and more. Hope that helps!
Well, it looks like I need to start over. It’s been 4 weeks at a steady 77 degrees, and there’s nothing. The liquid has evaporated down about 1/2 inch. I’m trying to think if I used antibacterial soap to wash the jar, and I didn’t use organic black tea or organic sugar, nor did I think about distilled water. I have well water that goes through a softener – there’s no chlorine in it. Back to the drawing board!
.-= Cardamom
I am about four days into growing my SCOBY and all of a sudden, when I checked on it this morning, there were three little bugs in there!! I have my jar tightly covered with a cheesecloth, so I have no idea how the bugs got there, but they’re there! Two of them flew out when I opened the jar up, but one is stuck on the SCOBY. What do I do?! Is my SCOBY bad now or is it pretty tough and indestructible?
I’ve been making Kombucha for a year now. I’ve been over run by baby scoby’s.
What can I do with them besides giving them away? Someone told me to throw them in a blander and use it as a hair conditioner..any ideas?
Yippee! It’s growing. It’s been a little under a week, and there’s a thin film on top! THIS time I made sure I didn’t use antibacterial soap on the jar, and I used distilled water, organic green tea (the store I went to didn’t have black tea) and organic sugar. Grow, baby, GROW! Thanks so much for this.
.-= Cardamom
I actually had this same idea! I found a bottle of the Kombucha tea labeled “live culture” at Whole Foods Market in the cold section for $3.39. I took it home, put it in a large mason jar and added about 2 tablespoons of sugar. I let it sit, covered with a coffee filter and the mason jar ring for about 2 weeks and I have a healthy little zoogleal mat! (SCOBY)
one tip: to make sure it’s a healthy environment for your SCOBY and NOT mold, try to keep the pH between 2.3 and 3 (you can get pH strips at the same market usually). You can lower the pH by adding one or two drops of lemon juice but go slowly.
good luck!
Another way to make sure the environment is acidic enough is to simply keep more kombucha from each batch to use as a starter for the next batch. I keep roughly 20% of every batch I make to help the flavor be consistent between batches.
Thank you for the information on how to grow your own scoby and brew kombucha! I have a beautifully formed 1/3 scoby that I created using black tea, sugar, apple cider vinegar and raw kombucha. My question is whether or not I can drink the batch that I formed the original scoby in. Also, if a kombucha batch tastes too sour or too sweet after brewing how to you adjust that?
And finally, is this process harmful at all. For example, if the kombucha or scoby are incorrectly made can it cause any sickness?
Thanks for your time!
The only known instances of sickness from brewing kombucha came from VERY unsanitary conditions. If you keep yourself, your counters, your tools, and your glass jars relatively clean, you’ll be just fine. If the finished product tastes too sweet, it means you didn’t let it brew long enough. Let is sit for another day and retest. If it tastes too sour, it means you let it brew too long. It’s still perfectly safe to drink, but you might not enjoy it as much. Next time reduce your brewing time by a day and it should taste sweeter.
Also,
It looks as though my scoby has dropped from the top to the bottom. Is that ok?
Yep, that usually happens when there’s a difference in temperature between the scoby and the tea you’ve put it in. A new scoby will grow across the top and all will be well.
Thanks so much for this! I tried out this recipe using a mixture of green and white tea. I have a bunch of unconventional sweeteners lying around my kitchen, so I decided to have myself a science project and make a few test batches to start: organic raw agave syrup (total failure; no growth), organic turbinado raw cane sugar (also a failure, scoby never developed past the whispy stage), organic raw live honey (success!).
I was really surprised actually, because I know honey is antibacterial, and so I was sure it was going to just kill the kombucha. I figured I’d try anyway, just to satisfy my own scientific curiosity, and after two and a half weeks I had a nice 1/3 inch thick scoby and the resulting drink looked/tasted just like the store bought stuff!
Yeah, honey isn’t so bad. But if that’s all you use you will eventually weaken your culture over time. To really thrive, the yeast & bacteria both do better with a more refined sugar.
Well I’ve had mine going for almost 4 weeks. It did start forming a film by week 2, but steadily over the last 2 weeks the film looks like it is getting dry powdery reddish stuff on top. Because the color of the stuff is the same color as the yeast at the bottom of the raw kombucha I used and it still smelled good I thought it might be ok. I took it’s temperature and it’s holding steady between 72-76 degrees. Should I start over or wait longer? The only variable I can think of is that it might run out of food before it developed completely or I could have used too much sugar and the yeast is taking over. What do you think?
If the yeast is taking over, then just leaving it ought to solve the problem. Eventually, it will run out of sugar, and the bacteria will start re-gaining control. Balancing the yeast and bacteria can be tricky, but if you let the culture sit for a long time and get really thick it can help re-set the balance.
I’m not sure about the “red film.” Is that just the stringy, dead yeast that usually accumulates at the bottom of the kombucha culture? If you’re concerned, I’d start over or try to find another culture (ask your friends or buy a mother online from one of the companies listed on my Resources page).
Hope that helps!
Hey Kristen! I, uh, forgot about my SCOBY in the corner of the counter and its about 1/2 inch thick now….is that going to be a problem? (It looks like your picture). Also, in your Kombucha recipe you mention a store-bought ‘mother’ with 1/2 cup liquid. Do I use my ‘mother’ and 1/2 of the tea that I used to make it? And once I’ve made up the tea and transferred the ‘mother’ to the gallon jar, do I preserve any of the original liquid, or just keep 25% of the Kombucha that I’ll be putting into individual jars? (These questions might’ve been answered above but I didn’t have time to go through them all, obviously
Thanks!
1/2 inch thick will be awesome! That means it will take you a really long time to kill your culture! (LOL) Yes, I’d use your mother and 1/2 cup (or more) of the liquid that it grew in to start your batch of kombucha.
I’m afraid I don’t really understand the last part of your question. Are you talking about growing your own scoby (mother) or brewing kombucha using the double fermentation method?
Eh, Kristen. I’ll just make a batch and see if that clears up my question. I’ll be doing it today and am SOOO excited!!
I’ve been brewing my very first batch of kombucha for about 2 weeks or so from a bottle of GTs, and it doesn’t seem to be forming a film across the top of the jar. All i see is a tiny little blobby thing floating around in the corner that looks like a little jelly fish. Should I wait a little longer for it to grow? Or just take it out and start another batch and see if it grows from there? It somewhat resembles pictures I’ve seen on the internet, but its just a tiny little chunk that’s not really getting any bigger. Is this a bad thing?
Using this and you page on the double fermentation, I made kombucha that was better than I thought could exist. Thank you so much for the great tips.
hello. i’ve got several scobys growing on top of each other and the jar is sitting in a closet … all was cleaned thoroughly … can my scobys go bad or can i go ahead and distribute them … thankyou!
I am wondering if anyone knows how to make a scoby from the original bacteria cultures? Like specific yeasts and bacterias? I would like to be able to purchase 50lb bags of the culture and add it to a large batch of tea and sugar. Anyone know the names of cultures so I could find sources for them?
Great information here, thanks!
I started my own mother about a month ago. It is still very, very thin.
I live NE ..and it has been cold here..but a month-is this normal, is it ok? How long should I wait for it to get thick (: does it go bad after a certain point. And if it does, how do I turn it into vinegar?
Also, if the film does grow into a scoby, is this first batch ok to drink?
thanks a mil!
Hey there! I have had my scoby going for about 2 1/2 weeks now, I hope it’s looking right! Can you post a picture from above as to what this should look like? It smells fine but I just want to make sure I’m not growing a beautiful disc of death!
I’m growing my scoby with your directions, everything seemed to be going great, it was getting some thickness, like paper thin on one side and say 1/5th inch on the other… the other day I moved the jar and the scoby sank to the bottom of the jar. Will it continue to grow??? Is it done, do I need to start over? The reason I’m so concerned is I saw a site that said if you make your Kombucha and the mother is sunken, the “baby” will grow on top of the liquid. I’ve tried to get it to float again, and it wont… should I start over?
I also grew a scoby from a bottle of organic kombucha after asking everybody I knew for an orphan. The idea came from a bottle I found in the store that had a little scoby volunteer floating on top. I became nervous about my second batch because of the very dark color the mother had taken and a tail she was dragging. I put it aside to discard later and start all over. Well, didn’t I forget that jar at the back of my cupboard behind some seasonal stuff? This must be a year later that I found it with a seven inch scoby just as pretty and creamy as can be, the mother still proudly dragging her tail. After reading around the web for an hour or so looking at all the pictures I could find, it seems that I dissed that mother for picking up some tea stain and dregs. Sorry, Mama. So now I’m seeing if that overgrown child has enough going on to send up a grandchild for me. Even though I could see the rings, there wasn’t any peeling to be done on that solid ole mushroom. I did manage to slice off a nice shiny piece from the top and snag a little skinny piece from the bottom, which I have brewing now. For good measure I set some chunks up in some glasses. Sure be nice if one of them comes through for me, won’t it?
Yeah! Our scoby got mold and I had to throw it out. We originally got our scoby for free when we lived in a major metropolitan area. But now we live in the less populated midwest and I couldn’t find anyone to get one from. (other than paying $25 on craigslist – you’ve got to be kidding!!) We have been missing our kombucha. I never even thought about starting it from a purchased bottle – can you say duh?!?
I’m. so. happy!
Blessings,
Amy
Amy´s last blog post …You Know it’s Cold When…
Thanks for all the great info!! I started my scoby tonight. One quick question, my wife accidenentally grabed the ginger katalyst instead of the the raw. Will this be a show stopper? I went ahead and started it, but if I have to do it again, its no biggie. Thanks in advance.
Hi everyone,
I’m a newbie to this site. I am making my first attempt at making a scoby. I just made the mixture this past Friday afternoon and was wondering if I had done something wrong. It’s only Monday! Thanks for all the info. I’m looking forward to my first batch of kombucha!
Hello, Well I wish I would have saw this site before I started. I thought I had done my homework. I started to grow my own mother but I used 1 cup sugar and I also used 2 bottles of raw kombucha but one bottle had 5% juice already added to it. It has been a week and I see a film across the top but it is ugly. It is not pretty clear looking but a grayish purple bubbly mess with a clear coating mixed in. Do I need to start over? Why am I not suppose to start with juice mixed in? Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thank you, ThankYou! I thought that I should be able to develope my owen mother for a store baught. My question is – Can I use pure organic Maple syrup in place of sugar? I use it for my water kieffer and it works.
Blessings, Lisa
Love this simple idea of growing your own. I bit the bullet and bought mine.
My first one however, was given to me from an old friend but he has long since gone.
Hope many of your visitors take up this very simple to make beverage and have all the success they deserve.
I grew my own scoby using this method. It appears to be healthy and looks like your pictures. However, on one side of the bottom of the scoby there is a patch (about the size of a quarter) of dark colored stuff. Is this potentially mold or something harmful? Would mold typically grow on top only or could it also grow submerged on the bottom of the scoby?
Brian — Dark-colored is okay. It’s the texture of the dark spot that will tip you off. If it’s fuzzy, then it’s mold. If it’s stringy or like the rest of the scoby, then it’s just dead yeast.
My scoby, which is a baby, has several small uniformly dark but not (yet) fuzzy rings/circles growing on it. I’m worried that it’s mold. Also, the taste of the second batch I made (with the mother) was stronger and more vinegary than the first batch I made with the mother. I’m concerned; my temptation is to dump the whole thing and get a new scoby, but I’d love some advice.
Lorry — Fuzzy = Mold. So, yes, dump the whole thing and get a new mother.
Today is the day I grow my own mother. I hope she likes me
Wish me luck!
Thanks so much Kristen for these directions! And all the comments that raise so many good questions too. I’m learning much. I did Kombucha a long time ago and started it again recently with the bought ones at the health food store. I thought, “this is great stuff!” but it will cost to much to go on buying pre-made. I was delighted to find these instructions and am starting my own batch soon.
Tea questions: The only black tea I have on hand is darjeeling though, will that work? Is there any brand of black tea that for sure is free of any essential oils or other flavorings that might cause the batch to not work?
And can your instructions be used with plain green tea as well?
Mother or child SCOBY questions: I’m also wondering if its best to keep the baby when it grows and let go of the mother to keep things fresh and growing.
Sorry if I missed these answers in skimming the comments section…
Thanks again!
Niara — Yes, you can use green tea. I’ve heard that you shouldn’t make kombucha with Earl Grey black tea, but I’m not sure why. I have a friend who swears by making it with Earl Grey and has done so for years. Perhaps some of the beneficial health effects are reduced when using Earl Grey.
I generally keep the baby and let go of the mother.
Earl Grey contains an essential oil, bergamot I believe. Essential oils tend to be bactericidal in nature. If your friend is having success with it, my guess is that either it’s not real bergamot in the tea, or the tea’s old enough for most of the effects of the essential oil to have aged off.
If they’re anything like me, it’s probably the latter. You don’t want to know how old some of my tea bags are. >.<
hello, i too am a newbie. i tried my first brew, got back from vacation and my scoby was covered in mold
i am going to try again tomorrow, but have another short vacation coming up. my question is about storing the scoby. i know there are 2 options, 1 out of the fridge and 1 in the fridge when it will become dormant. i would like to store it outside of the fridge. do i just pour the starter tea on it and cover it with a paper towel? how long will it remain good and active, like that?
Does kombucha have to be refrigerated? I live in a small apt. and i only have a mini fridge.. Thank Kristen..
Yes, it must be refrigerated, otherwise the fermentation process continues. I’ve got instructions for how to brew Kombucha here:
http://www.foodrenegade.com/2009/02/06/how-to-brew-kombucha-double-fermentation-method/
I have two jars that I’m using to grow my own SCOBYs. (scobies?) One is a quart-sized glass jar which has one cup of sweet tea and a bottle of GT’s original kombucha as a starter. The other is a gallon-sized glass jar with a cup of sweet tea and a bottle of High Country original Kombucha as a starter.
I really like the taste of GT’s kombucha. I’ve never heard of High Country kombucha before, and to be honest I didn’t like the taste. It was a bit too sweet and didn’t have any carbonation – on the other hand I love the fizz and vinegary flavor of the GT. The bottle of GT kombucha not only had the flavor and fizz that I like, it also had a thin mini SCOBY floating just off the bottom. I was thinking this would yield better results – the High Country had no SCOBY floating, just some strands of what looked like dead yeast at the bottom.
To my surprise, four days after starting my brew, the High Country in the gallon jar is growing a healthy thick SCOBY (covering the entire surface), while the quart jar with the GT starter doesn’t look like it’s doing much. The thin mini-SCOBY that was on the bottom is floating on top and is a little bubbly but hasn’t grown in size, however there are some white ‘tentacles’ growing off the bottom. Meanwhile the other one is getting thick and looks healthy, covering the entire surface of the liquid. What could explain this? Do I just need to be more patient with the smaller jar?
It might have to do with how fresh and active the cultures were in the bottles you bought. GT is a popular brand, shipped across the country. So it’s likely you got a bottle of GT that was a bit older than the High Country, which was probably more local. The older it is, the less culture will be alive and kickin’ in it. It would also explain why GT has a more vinegary taste. The longer a culture ferments, the more acidic and vinegary it becomes. So, it’s likely that they ferment it longer to begin with, then package it and ship it farther, where it sits on shelves longer. By the time it gets to you, most of the culture of bacteria and yeast has lived its life and run out of new food to eat, so their numbers are dwindling.
That’s just a guess, but it makes sense to me.
Thanks for the help. I’m just glad that I decided to use two different brands, otherwise I would have thought that I was doing something wrong.
The High Country starter is on day 7, and it’s growing a ridiculously healthy SCOBY. It’s almost 1/4″ thick and it’s HUGE being about 8″ in diameter, which is much more than I would have expected after only seven days! I had to relieve the pressure of some big bubbles by massaging the SCOBY and getting the gas to the side of the container. I even sampled my brew and it’s delicious; though I first want to develop a thick healthy SCOBY before worrying about making my brew so I’m going to let it sit a few more days.
There’s a tiny bit of activity on my brew with the GT starter. Tonight (day 7) the mini-scoby that was in the bottle is still floating and bubbly, and there appears to be a very thin film forming on the surface of the liquid. It’s nothing like the other batch I have going however. This makes me wonder, if the bottle of GT didn’t have live healthy cultures, doesn’t that defeat much of the whole purpose of Kombucha? Or are there still benefits of drinking kombucha with significantly less living organisms? This was a surprise to me – as I said before, I really enjoy the taste of the GT products. very fizzy and just enough of the vinegary taste (which I love).
There are definitely probiotic benefits to kombucha, but there are others as well: all the vitamins and beneficial acids!
I’ve found that the level of fizz in a brew has a lot to do with how it’s bottled during the second ferment. If you bottle it w/plenty of room at the top, it develops significantly more fizz.
It sounds like it has *some* live critters in it, but there wasn’t enough of a critical mass to solidify right away. I bet if you leave it for longer, it’ll start looking better.
I’m on my first attempt, and I used a local kombucha that was also raw like GT’s. I wasn’t sure at first that it would do anything, it took a few days to kick in. But it’s thickening nicely now. Once they get started on that sugar they start growing fast. They just need to wake up and get going.
I was reading something about kombucha the other day stating that according to the actual research that’s been done, a lot of the claims about kombucha are unproven or groundless, BUT that the substances produced by the bacteria and yeast appear to aid the liver to perform more efficiently. So even if there weren’t enough critters to benefit your GI tract from good colonization, your liver would likely be happy.
Here’s a picture of my attempts to grow a mother from bottles of store-bought kombucha:
On the left is High Country original Kombucha, and on the right is GT’s original Kombucha, both mixed with 1c of sweet tea (8oz water, 1 Red Rose tea bag, 2tbsp white sugar).
Guess I can’t post images. Here’s the link instead.
Kirsten… I bought a SCOBY online and when i placed it into the sweetend tea it sank to the bottom, now its just floating suspended in the tea… Is this alright?
Thanks again for posting this. I finally got around to attempting it. At first it didn’t seem to be doing much, but I could tell the tea was starting to smell alcoholic so I didn’t worry much. Now it’s all across the surface of the tea. The SCOBY is still lumpy, some parts thicker than others, but I’m guessing it will fill in. It’s been less than a week since I started it, although it’s warm enough in the kitchen that my coconut oil is now liquid even with the central air running, so I guess that really sped things up.
I love kombucha, even the regular flavor with no juice added to it. This will be sooo much better than soda. Well, I guess it is soda, in a way. Just, a good kind.
Instructions worked great!
It took a month for my scoby to be ready but I have made 2 batches now.
Tastes great and thanks for the help!!
I’ve got two batches going, one in a large ceramic mixing bowl. I’m wondering if I can take the daughter that grows across the big bowl, cut it into pieces, and start several new, smaller jars of brew going.
Yes you can!
I bought a mother from a guy on craig’s list. Still nervous with his instructions I found your website. I started my tea on Friday and let it sit in the basement until today the mother seemed to double in size and I found a clear-whitist looking baby attached. I wanted to try the two tier brewing process and had some grape juice that my mother in law had canned frozed with out sugar or preservative. I followed your instructions but my tea tasted sweeter than what I tried Synergy/Whole Foods which tasted rather vinegary, is this normal? Should I have let the tea sit longer? Not sure if I should throw away what I have bottled or wait the additional 2 days and then sample it again? I would really appreciate some assistance, I want to enjoy the process and not be a nervous mess.
Tina, yes, just let the tea sit longer. The longer it sits, the more vinegary it will get. How long you let it sit depends a LOT on temperature. In the summer in Texas, my complete brewing process from start to drinking is 7 days (5 days plain and 2 days bottled with fruit juice). In the winter, it goes up to about 10. In Siberia, it’s not uncommon for them to take 25+ days to make a brew!
Thanks Kristen..I am not sure if I would have tried this had it not been for your website it really takes the anxiety off the brewing process. I was going to let you know that I found Quart size canning jars at Wal-Mart for about 10.00 and they now sell plastice lids for $2.36 for nine..so if someone is lucky enough to come across the jars at a thrift store or Flea market they could get new lids in plastic at Wal-mart. Thanks again I will let my second brew sit an extra few days before refrigeration and see it that takes some of the sugar out..
Thank you for the reply, but I just went ahead and dismembered the baby and doled her out to people on freecycle and still had plenty to put into jars in my own kitchen.
I loved writing that sentence.
For some reason, that batch in the giant bowl was the best ever.
Can you use herbal teas instead of the black or green tea to make the scoby (and the kombucha)? T/U!
No. Herbal tea will not grow a SCOBY, nor will it make real kombucha. Instead, you’ll have a vinegary-sweet kind of flavored water. The real benefits of kombucha come from many of the beneficial acids it contains, and those only come from the kombucha SCOBY interacting with the chemicals in REAL tea.
Kristen:
I let the tea set an additional day and my brew is still somewhat sweeter than what is bottled by Whole Foods. I really prefer the taste of mine since it is not so vinegary tasting. Does drinking it my way still have health benefits or are the benefits only derived that it gets vinegary. I let me Tea sit for (5) days and then (3) in the secondl bottling stage and then (2) days in the refrigertor.
When my son went to Antarctica in August, he left his cactus and his SCOBY in my care. I wasn’t sure I wanted fungus growing in my house so I kept the SCOBY in the refrigerator for several months. I started to toss it but then felt bad and gave it a cupa tea. Poor thing musta been starving because it began to grow and grow…
That brings me to my question- should I discard the old disks at the bottom of the jar? I read above that they lose their strength as they age and the oldest SCOBY in the jar is at least 10 months.
Nice and informative site, BTW.
Hi Kristen, thanks so much for building this site. I am growing a SCOBY right now according to your directions. I’m just worried because the surface of my SCOBY is quite bumpy and not smooth like the images you show. Is this OK? I’m on day 12- the thickness looks like it’s ready but I’m hesitant with the surface tecture. Any ideas?
Kristen, also, my SCOBY does not have fibers under it like your picture (or the images provided in a link). I have dark material stuck to the underside of the SCOBY- it looks like the stuff at the bottle of a store bought bottle of kombucha. Is this still safe to use as a mother for another batch? Thanks for your help!
I followed your instruction to make scoby and it is almost a week and I see a scoby forming. But I also noticed that there are lots of bubbles forming on the scoby. Is it still OK to use this scoby to make kombucha tea?
To answer Kelly’s question… A bumpy scoby is fine! Thats the beauty of growing a living thing, if forms differently each time. I have scobies that are thinner in one place and thicker in another place. There is nothing to worry about.
To address the dark stuff under your scoby, thats totally normal too. Your scoby is safe and if it bothers you just take it off when you make a new batch. I’ve done that in the past.
i am attempting to grow my own scoby but the only kombucha available in my healthfood store is Vibranz and it all has fruit juice added. will this work? i see in the instructions that it should be unflavored but this is all i have access to. please help.
I am so glad I found your site! I have bought kombucha by the case for years. I bought the last from my local organic market, not realizing that my back-up national chain had stopped selling it.
In desperation, I tried the replacement, but it was filled with sugar and disappointingly sweet. Your instructions were easy to follow, and I find my tea at least as good as the commercial brands. Thanks!