Brewing a Mother Scoby: Kombucha Step 1

Making a scoby from scratch.

But first, the ooey-gooey scoby. This big blob of zoogleal is a miracle worker that you will learn to cherish and possibly start whispering motivational brew-speeches to. Scoby is an acronym for symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast, and you’ll get to know her on a very personal level. Your scoby is what turns the tea into the effervescent, carbonated liquid we all know and love, kombucha. To break it down, she works by digesting the sugar from the tea mixture and creating vitamins, enzymes, amino acids and probiotics.

YOU'LL NEED:

≈ 1 gallon size glass jar

≈ cheese cloth or paper towels

≈ rubber band

INGREDIENTS

≈ 8 cups filtered water

≈ 1/2 cup of organic

≈ 4 bags of organic black tea or 1 tablespoon of loose leaf tea

≈ 1 cup store-bought kombucha - unflavored only

DIRECTIONS

1. BRING WATER TO A BOIL IN A LARGE STOCK POT.

2. ADD SUGAR, STIR TO HELP IS DISSOLVE

3. ADD IN TEA BAGS (I ALWAYS REMOVE THE PAPER LABELS ON THE ENDS IF THEY HAVE)

4. POUR THE TEA MIXTURE INTO THE GALLON JAR, THEN POUR IN 1 CUP OF KOMBUCHA AND STIR.

5. BRING WATER TO A BOIL IN A LARGE STOCK POT.

6. COVER THE JAR WITH A WOVEN CLOTH - THIS CAN BE A PAPER TOWEL OR CHEESE CLOTH, SECURE IT WITH A RUBBER BAND AROUND THE TOP.

* Let this sit for 2-4 weeks in a warm location. You will see a scoby start to form!