You want a brewed kombucha tea that has just enough sweetness to balance out the organic acids produced by the SCOBY (the Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast) but you don’t want it to be too sweet. Unless you’re going to be doing a second fermentation, in which case you need to leave some sugar…

Each time you make a batch of kombucha, the SCOBY spawns a new colony. This colony forms at the top of the liquid in the container, and since your SCOBY is already floating at the top, the new colony will usually settle on top of the older SCOBY and create a new layer. That’s why…

First, let’s define “bottle.” When it comes down to it, simply putting a tight lid on your brewing container (after removing the SCOBY, of course) could be seen as “bottling” your kombucha, even though you’re not using any other containers. Many people do just that, especially if they’re brewing small single batches in quart-sized jars…

They’re both sweet-sour slightly bubbly drinks. They’re both full of probiotics. And they’re both made by using strange-looking blobs of yeast and bacteria to ferment sugary liquid. So what’s the difference between kombucha and water kefir? Different Colonies . . . The kombucha SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast) is made up of millions…

A healthy SCOBY mother is a very fertile creature. Every time you use a SCOBY mother to make a container of kombucha tea, a new baby SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast) will be born. If you brew two batches of kombucha tea every month, that means you’ll end up with two dozen new…

Kombucha is fermented sweet tea created by the action of the microorganisms in the kombucha SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast). This liquid is full of nutrients: organic acids, probiotics, vitamin C and vitamin B-complex, trace minerals, and even a bit of fiber. There’s a little bit of sweetness, and maybe more than a…

The kombucha SCOBY (the Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast) is a collection of living organisms that work together to process the nutrients in sweetened tea and create a fermented liquid full of probiotics and vitamins. Because the colony is alive, the appearance of the colony will change slightly over time. In addition, every colony…

A kombucha SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast) likes a bit of heat. The microorganisms in the culture reproduce quickly and thrive at a steady temperature of between 75F and 80F, which is warmer than room temperature. However, even at room temperature (65F-75F) the SCOBY will still be happy, so you don’t have to…

The probiotics and organic acids in kombucha tea are created when the microorganisms in the culture process the ingredients in a mixture of sweet tea and starter liquid. This culture, called a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast), works best when it’s at room temperature, or between 65F and 80F. When the environment is too hot,…

How long does a SCOBY live? In theory, it can live forever. That’s because the microorganisms in the symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeasts (the SCOBY) mostly reproduce by splitting into two, making identical copies of themselves. As the SCOBY thickens and adds layers, it’s “cloning” itself, and – theoretically – with a steady supply…