A buddy from my brew club gave me a Kombucha starter/culture/mother/jar-of-goop??? and I'm looking to get started. Am rather surprised not to see a thread stickied for newbies like almost any other part of the forum.
I gather all I need to do is brew up a half gallon of tea, add a little sugar (guy that gave me the culture recommended half-cup per quart) and throw the starter in. Or do I need to do a starter and grow a proper "scoby" first?
Guess I'm looking for a proper "getting started" guide, or at least a little advice on how to proceed.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Ok if you do not have a Scoby(looks like a slimy pancake) you should grow one first. If you are growing a Scoby, i have found that Molasses works the fastest to grow out a Scoby, but the taste of drinking it is not all that great unless you REALLY like molasses. But there is nothing wrong with growing your scoby with molasses and then changing the sugar source when you brew it for drinking. If you have a gallon jug (i use a sun tea jug with a spout on it) i would go with one gallon.
Stay away from Herbal teas as a general rule, they have oils which can cause problems. You will want to use Green,Black,White, or Orange Pekoe tea or a blend of them. There are two Herbal tea that are safe to use one is Yerba Mate, If you like it that is, to me, it alone tastes like liquid grass. The other is Rooibos red but Rooibos red MUST be blended with a green,black,white or orange pekoe as it does not contain caffeine which the bacteria use.
Your friend is right on the money as far as the amount of sugar goes. That would be 2 cups in a gallon. Brew the tea strong, using double the amount of tea that you would for drinking, remember the taste will change as it ferments.
This is my personal method for making the Kombucha i drink. I use bulk tea that is loose leaf, i use a standard home coffee maker to brew my tea(works great, mine is a small 4 cup coffee maker so that is what my recipe is based on) I use a blend of teas. Use standard coffee filter paper with the tea Here is My recipe:
10 teaspoons loose Yerba Mate Tea, brew 2 pots with this.
10 teaspoons loose Rooibos Red Tea,brew 2 pots with this.
5 teaspoons loose Gunpowder green Tea,brew 2 pots with this.
4 Tea bags Great Value Iced tea blend(its a black tea and orange pekoe blend) brew 2 pots with this.
(i normally drink 1 cup of each of these hot which leaves me just enough room in a 1 gallon sun tea jug to add my starter tea and Scoby.)
I use a non-standard Sugar blend which is 5 oz Dextrose(sold as Priming sugar in home brew supply shops) and 3oz Sugar in the raw. I do this because All Glucose(Dextrose is pure Glucose or corn sugar)will produce almost all gluconic acids with very little acetic acid. I want my Kombucha to be much higher in gluconic acid than acetic acid(acetic acid is the same acid in vinegar).
Of course you can just use 2 cups plain white table sugar if you like, or honey,or brown sugar, etc.
But to make it simple on you here is an easy starter recipe:
8 green tea bags (Pure green tea not the flavored stuff)
8 Ice tea blend tea bags
2 cups sugar
Brew 1 gallon of tea using the 16 tea bags, add 2 cups sugar, cool to room temp, add your starter mix or Scoby wait 7-10 days, Bottle and sweeten to taste, chill and drink. Remember you will have to make more tea to put your scoby in every time you bottle. Also Save about 1 cup of your Kombucha that is finished and add it to your fresh tea with your Scoby.
If you have any questions at all feel free to ask!
