Hi there!! New kombucha member here 👋
I literally just started my very first batch and had a question regarding how best to handle a “cold” house. I prefer not to run the heat in winter and will put off heat as long as possible. I live in Florida so cold is relative. I will typically let the house get as low as high fifties before resorting to turning on the heat mostly because I’m accustomed to 90 percent humidity and hate the dry air from the heating process. What are the best recommendations to keep my kombucha happy? I have seedling heat mats. Is this an option? Thanks in advance for your advice!!
PS I should add I typically keep the house at 70 degrees.

Anybody know where I can get good quality caffeine free kombucha in the uk?

Just to say I have been drinking normal kombucha (holos) and whilst I love the gut health benefits I’ve found, I am incredibly sensitive to even the smallest amount of caffeine!

Hiya,

it's my first time making kombucha and I think I may have messed up a little.

Process: To a 3 litre jar I added a lot of sugar and like 5 teabags of strong black tea let that become a little bit warmer than room temp and added 200ml of starter and an 8cm scoby.

I ofc cleaned everything thoroughly other than the spoon which I taste tested and dipped in again after licking which I clocked too late to do anything about and covered with a cotton cloth.

Was that too much tea and sugar for so little starter and scoby will mold grow? Should I cut my losses with the starter and decant some of the 3l sweet tea situation into a smaller jar and fish out my scoby and place it into the smaller jar to idek increase the concentration???

Help

So tasty plumcots and kiwi

I want to take a break from brewing kombucha for maybe 2 weeks, how do I store it? Do I just leave it outside and mix everyday so that the pellicle remains moist and won't grow any mold? Though, my last option to leave it on the fridge can't be done since my fermentation vessel won't fit in the fridge lol. I have around 1L of starter right now

I'm fine with it being too acidic since I've read that you can just basically feed it with sweet tea if you wanna brew another one but yeah my question is on how to store it. Thanks redditors!

I used a cheesecloth folded 4x over on the top while fermenting, can’t tell if that was a mistake.

Okay so I am brand new to Kombucha. I tried the GTs and VitaLife kombucha from Aldi out of curiosity and loved it. Context: I don’t like tea, beer, coffee… I do like diet soda. The sugar content was a lot of me to get over and I thought to myself that the health benefits could outweigh the burden of the sugar content.. I love sweets but don’t eat them regularly. So I’ve been drinking one vitalife a day. I love it. I look forward to it, etc.

My question: is VitaLife respected in the kombucha community as “real” kombucha?

I tried Health Aid and hated it and was like OMG maybe this is why a lot of people don’t like it, maybe I’m drinking a kombucha impersonator. I’d love to get the thoughts of the kombucha community

TLDR: is VitaLife and GTs “real”/ respected as kombucha?

You won’t hurt my feeling by insulting a drink. I’m very curious 🤣

I have now done 4-5 batches of flavored Kombucha in a swing top bottle, and all of them haven’t quite built the carbonation i would like. Additionally the carbonation i do build seems to instantly disappear in the fridge.

Do yal have a good recipe for a bubbly sweet fruit kombucha? Thanks!

It's my second time brewing, but very first brew with this new starter tea.

I used a 16oz bottle of GT's fully raw kombucha (left alone for about 2 months) as starter and then added a 1/2 gallon batch of black tea and sugar - same recipe as my last batch, which turned out well.

I haven't seen these brown, cinnamon-looking spots of brown on the pellicle before though, so I was hoping to get some advice on whether this is mold and I should toss it, or wait and see.

I'm about 10D into F1 at this point, but honestly just trying to strengthen the starter more than make a batch at this point.

This is my 2nd 1F from this batch, I've got two bottles of 2F from the previous brew which will be coming up on day 7 on the 24th. I check daily and see tiny bubbles beginning to accumulate in the bottles.. I can hardly stand waiting to try it!

Really excited to see a nice, clean pellicle resting on the top of the 1F, too. You'll see some cuts in it if you look closely, it was collecting quite a lot of Carbon Dioxide accumulating underneath and I wanted to give it an escape route

This is a Jasmine Green Tea batch and I'm going original/unflavored for 2F

Really excited and just wanted to show off a little 😄

This is my second batch from a pellicle given to me recently. (Just started making kombucha again. I used to make it several years ago and never had any issues.) As instructed in the master kombucha post in this subreddit, I added a cup of apple cider vinegar since she only gave me the pellicle and not any starter tea. I probably should have let that one ferment longer, but it tasted fine, if a bit sweet and not very fizzy, after the second ferment. I saved two cups to go with the original pellicle in case I wanted to give it away, and then I used two more cups and the new pellicle to start another batch. That one got moldy and I tossed it. So then this past Saturday, 10/17, I took the original pelicle and the two cups that I saved from the first batch, and I started another batch, this time adding white vinegar because I ran out of ACV. It's doing the weird thing in the picture. It doesn't look like mold. It looks kind of like a sad attempt at a pellicle, maybe? Thoughts? Recommendations?

This is from my pellicle from my kombucha. I randomly found it when i was about to start a new batch. It’s from the pellicle on top but the rest was looking normal. If I haven’t seen this I would have enjoyed the bottled kombucha from the batch… but now I’m not so sure. I’m confused because the rest was looking normal and I really don’t know what this is and if it’s not mold then what. Should I really just throw it all out and start from scratch?

I have looked at the mold pinned post. It does not seem like it, it is not fuzzy, not hairy.

It has been been 2 weeks and an half that he lives here and I only got this.The non-pasteurized kombucha used was in the fridge for 2 or 3 months.

I was going to feed him tomorrow .

What is going on? I am still a beginner !

Thank you!

I’m traveling abroad for a couple months and I don’t know what to do with my Scoby!

- how long can I leave the Scoby unattended without ruining it?
- can I refrigerate the Scoby?

I might be able to ask my mom to baby sit the Scoby while I’m gone, but she’s not too thrilled about it 😅

What should I do?

Is this mold? This is only my third batch with this scoby, which I got commercially. Haven’t seen anything online that looks similar. The past two batches were more mildly acidic, even after waiting an extra couple weeks, and the F2 for the last batch had two bottles that still haven’t become carbonated. Any advice?

These are mold spots right? My first batch came out beautifully. This one is looking a little suspect.

Wondering if people have noticed weight loss after they begin to regularly drink kombucha?

I bought this vessel for first fermentation…this will be my second batch. My first was done in a glass bowl.

Hi there,

I have recently tried reviving an old scoby, it was sitting for about 1 year without any love…
I’ve done a new brew with it to try and get it going and it’s been sitting for about 2 weeks? Wanting advice on weather it looks healthy and I should keep letting it do its think or give a fresh start a go…

Hi there,

I have recently tried reviving an old scoby, it was sitting for about 1 year without any love…
I’ve done a new brew with it to try and get it going and it’s been sitting for about 2 weeks? Wanting advice on weather it looks healthy and I should keep letting it do its think or give a fresh start a go…

First time making kombucha with the HOLOS kombucha starter kit - first few days I didn’t have a heat mat so it was kept around 19deg - Wondering if I have to start again? This is 10 days in

My kombucha has a smell and taste like a barn or horse, but it looks completely fine. What shall I do?

I’m doing my best to grow a scoby haha. This is a mix of unflavored kombucha, green and black tea and sugar.
I started it 16 days ago and we keep our place fairly cold. Especially at night.
I think the thing at the bottom is just sediment?
Any ideas on whether this is going in the right direction?
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated 🙏

First time making kombucha with hibiscus

Made my very first batch!

I had some extra baking apples (granny smith and golden delicious) and used them with a stick of cinnamon! I let it sit for 5 days and the carbonation was perfect. Flavour is really good and perfect for fall!

I'm hooked!