Ingredients:
- SCOBY ‘mother’ (from a reputable source, such as established website or your friend) + ‘starter’ kombucha
- Black tea
- White sugar
- Glass jar with wide lid (and second glass jar for fresh infusion, preferably of the same size)
- Cheese cloth or paper towel and rubber band
Directions:
- Boil water to fill ¾ of your main jar; transfer to spare jar
- Add white cane sugar, preferably raw and organic (1 tsp per cup of water)
- Infuse with black tea (1 tsp per cup of water)
- Set aside and let cool
- Fill your main jar with ¼ kombucha starter liquid and mother SCOBY
- Add the cooled sweet brewed tea
- Cover with cheese cloth or paper towel and secure with rubberband
- Check for taste, fizz and sourness after 1-4 weeks days
- When the taste is to your liking, strain liquid from the SCOBY
- Wash SCOBY and the jar
- Save ¼ liquid – this will become your new starter kombucha; the rest is to enjoy, refrigerate for later, or to do a second fermentation with
- Start the process over again, and repeat every 7-10 days, depending on your taste preference
- New growth of the SCOBY will rise to the top layer, which will appear milky and smooth, and take the shape of the container. Eventually the bottom layers of the SCOBY will start to slough off, so you may peel away the old layers and either use it as a new starter (or share with friends), discard/compost it, or find other creative uses for it (some people use it as canvas!)
P.S. If unable to change kombucha in a timely manner (in the case of going away, etc.), keep a concentrated solution of the starter kombucha with SCOBY in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
