Should it burn my throat?

Silly question time.

I've only tasted one bottle of Kombucha from the store before I started to brew it, and that bottle was the gingerade flavor.

When I was tasting my "starter liquid" bottle (basically the kombucha that was left over after growing my first SCOBY), it tasted pretty good, but it burned my throat a little.

My brother said it felt like when he used to drink apple cider vinegar (which makes sense of course, considering this is sort of like vinegar).

I guess I'm wondering if that burning in the throat means it was too vinegary, or if that's what I should be shooting for.

Thanks!

the kombucha that was left over after growing my first SCOBY

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Yes, it is too strong to drink; it is a vinegar at this point. You probably was growing it for 30 or so days.
Drinkable kombucha requires about 2 weeks of brewing. It is not recommended to drink it after 25-30 (something about that) days of brewing (however you can use it as salad dressing=).
Read some online recipes (timing and proportions are important).
Good luck.

Thanks for the response, Gens!

Actually, this was at about 2 weeks of brewing. I think it worked really fast because it was like 90 degrees here when I brewed it. :rockin: But yeah, i sort of thought it was because I was growing my first SCOBY.

My new batch (1 gallon made with that first baby scoby) is only 5 days old and there's already a new scoby formed, and when I tested it with my PH paper it was around 3 or 4. It tasted pretty good, so I think maybe it's done...

I guess I should probably buy a flavorless bottle to taste so I have a better idea of what I'm shooting for.

Anyway, thanks again!

Yes at 90F it will get acidic very quickly. That might even have been hot enough for the yeasts to enter respiration. What I have found is that in the second ferment it is important to not let much air get at the KT. If much air gets at it, it seems to get vinegary very quickly. If left to 2F at too warm a temp for too long that will happen as well but it seems much more stable if there isn't much airspace in the container.