We all love a fizzy soda, especially when it’s a natural, healthy soda like kombucha. So you buy a quality SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast), watch some Youtube instruction videos, and off you go! But then your SCOBY starts acting weird, turning into strange colors, floating in mysterious ways- what causes this disobedient behavior? We have some troubleshooting tips for you here!

Some tips to start with kombucha brewing

Kombucha requires a warm area, 20-30ºC, to culture properly. Water used for culturing should be free from contaminants. Kombucha requires real tea like black, green, white, pekoe, oolong, Darjeeling, etc. Using white sugar gives the most reliable results, whereas unrefined sugar or brown sugar, might be successful, but the kombucha and SCOBY may become very yeasty.

It is better not to start making the kombucha right away with separate teas. It first needs to recover a bit from the journey to its new home and having sat in a plastic bag for a while. So plain black tea is indeed the best idea. Once you’re on the road for a while, have a nice amount and possibly and second SCOBY, you can split it and start varying it a bit with that second  ‘play/experiment’ Kombucha.

Use a minimum of 10 % starter. Otherwise, the kombucha starter won’t be strong enough to ‘infect’ the tea and that opens the door to infections.  What is also important is not to leave too much air space above your kombucha. So don’t make 1 liter in a 5 l bottle.

What to watch for during kombucha fermentation

You can check if your Kombucha is culturing properly by testing the aroma and flavor: the liquid lightens in color and turns cloudy, A haze or baby SCOBY forms on top of the liquid, and the aroma and flavor are more vinegary and less sweet.

Kombucha SCOBY

The fact that a SCOBY sinks is not important, in fact, the SCOBY is not even needed to begin with. The liquid alone is enough. What does need to happen is for a new SCOBY to form on the surface. This usually starts with a cloudy white layer forming on top. This formation of a new culture is a sign that your batch of kombucha is fermenting properly.

Depending on a number of factors, the SCOBY may also float or sit sideways, all of which is quite normal and will not affect the brewing process. The SCOBY is quite resilient; they will work just fine even with holes or if they have been torn in half.

 

 

This SCOBY looks strange! But wait, don’t throw it out just yet!

Brown stringy particles are yeast particles and are harmless and are a natural byproduct of the fermentation process, and you can strain them out of the finished kombucha if desired.

If a jelly-type mass forms on top that means a new baby kombucha culture is forming. The kombucha remains full of living yeast and bacteria which continue to ferment slowly on their own and form a new baby culture. Such a baby culture may detach from the container opening, but this does not affect the fermentation process.

If mold develops, or the SCOBY turns black or has crawly things in it, you’d better discard the whole batch. The best is to buy a quality kombucha culture that is tested and guaranteed safe!

“In a world full of Cokes, you’re a kombucha“
– That Paleo B.

The second fermentation

Brewing flavored and fizzy kombucha is a two-step process where you start with an open container containing tea and sweetener.  The second, shorter period of fermentation takes place in a sealed bottle with brewed kombucha tea and flavorings. Fruits, herbs, and spices can damage the SCOBY so we prefer adding them during the second fermentation or F2.

Besides fruit, you can also brew kombucha with herbs and flowers for a quite unique taste! Possibilities from your own garden might include thyme, basil, rosemary, lavender, hyssop, lemon weed, lovage, mint, fennel, bergamot, sage, lemon balm, chamomile, red clover, oregano, yarrow, hibiscus, hops, or flowers like elderflower, rose, lavender (food grade!!!).

You can make it even more healthy by using medicinal herbs, such as turmeric, fennel, and thyme, or combine these with flowers, e.g. a marigold thyme kombucha. Or how about kombucha with “weeds”: daisies, dandelion, nettle, deadnettle… just give it a try!

Want to know more?

If you want to know more about the Kombucha, or just order it, please click the links below for the product on startercultures.eu