kombucha*breed your own SCOBY

 i am sure you have heard all about kombucha and the wonderful and many benefits of drinking fermented tea. we have gone back and forth between brewing our own and buying bottled kombucha for the past year and a half. but when we are drinking it regularly it gets pretty spendy to purchase it. so i am currently back to brewing!

here is a quick and easy tutorial to get you started - the first thing you will need is a SCOBY {symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast} tasty, huh?this is also referred to as "the mother" or "mushroom". this is what you will need to ferment your tea. you can order them from online sources or inherit one from a friend as they reproduce and make scoby babies.

or, you can make your very own like this ::

 

you will need a bottle of raw, unflavored kombucha, a glass container (i used a quart size ball jar) and sweetened tea.

1. brew 1 cup of black tea (make sure it is not decaffeinated) and sweeten it by stirring in a couple tablespoons of sugar. let it cool to room temperature then pour it into your container. add the bottled kombucha to the tea and cover your jar with a clean tea towel or cloth secured with a rubber band. this will allow it to breathe while protecting it from insects and contaminants. 

now place your jar of liquid somewhere out of the way and let it work it's magic.

{10 days in - the scoby is approx 1/8 inch thick}

several days later a film will begin to form on the surface of the liquid. that is the scoby forming! this seems to happen faster in warmer weather, sometimes in just a couple days.

{20 days in - the scoby is 1/4 inch thick and ready to start brewing}

 

your new scoby will look like a small leather-y pancake. you will use the same scoby each time you brew and new layers will form with every batch so before you know it you will have babies to pass along to all your friends!

now on to brewing...

brewing tutorial can be found here!

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next week i will post brewing and bottling instructions so check back in a couple days!