n00b here! helloworld!

longtime health-nut/weirdo here. finally broke the piggy bank to pickup a harsch fermenting crock pot for making sauerkraut/kimchi/etc and along the way i started reading about other fermented foods and i've also decided to jump in the world of kefir and kombucha. i ordered a kombucha scoby from ebay (as well as my milk kefir grains) and am impatiently awaiting their arrival. i plan to make a quart-size batch of kombucha immediately following the scobys delivery and then eventually split the mother/baby scobys up into a few additional batches to 'provide my fix'.

i'm new to all of this, but after the initial fermentation, im looking to bottle up with some extra goodies and then let sit for a 2nd fermentation to provide more fizz before being refrigerated. the additional flavors and 2nd fizz are mainly in hopes to entice my wife and 2yo son to participate in the consumption of my supadupa health elixir

anyways, i dont know much about bottles but from some googling it appears that using the Grolsch/flip-top/ezcap bottles in the color amber are the best way to go. is this a decent deal?
http://www.amazon.com/500-Amber-Flip-Cap-Bottles-pack/dp/B002Y2951C/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I299Z1NL7TJR1Q&colid=KNKZ07R8INH

i checked craigslist and found a couple ads (with little to no information) and have emailed but am honestly not sure if they included the tops, or if they're amber/clear/green, or any of that jazz.

here's the ebay auction where i ordered my scoby/kefir-grains from:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Kombucha-Mushroom-Kefir-Grains-GET-BOTH-ORGANIC-/400230150001?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d2f936f71

so Hi All!

Well I know nothing about the mushrooms but the bottles are way too expensive. See: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/case-of-12-16-oz-ez-cap-beer-bottles-amber.html

The Amazon bottles were actually $29.50 with 2-day shipping when I posted the link. Now they're like $45 plus $20 shipping. Blah.

I found 4 packs of Grolsch beer locally with the swing top bottles for $7. If I can't find a great deal on Craigslist or the like for a bunch of bottles, I'll start suffering through a few of those as its still cheaper than buying bottles online.

btw, I got my kombucha scoby and dairy kefir grains on saturday and started up my first batches of each... [pictured in front of my 1st batch of sauerkraut in my harsch pot]



i will say im a little freaked out about buying both of them off ebay. they both smelled pretty awful when i opened the packaging too. we'll see how they turn out though; supposedly it takes a few batches to get the kefir grains going good and then im waiting for the kombucha; be it 5 days or 14 days or whatever...

Food is one of those things I just can't bring myself to buy though the mail/online, but I guess if it was dry or canned or something I could see it. Otherwise if it's not at the local market it's not on my mind. Looks a whole lot better than the kraut in the stores though, best of luck!

This is what got me into homebrewing, fermenting cabbage,kefir,kombucha. I just use my bottle capper and used 16 oz pint beer bottles. I usually use dried fruit/or a small amout of fruit juice.Then cap them check one after 5 days,but usually keep them till 7 before refrigerating.
Sounds like you should just get a bigger jar, get a gallon or two depending how much you drink it. I rotate usually ferment about1.5- 2 wks bottle one week usually getting 6 pints. I ordered my scoby on line and have been making kombucha about a year.
I recommend ginger to bottle with along with your favorite fruit.I like the spicy kick ginger gives and makes it even better for you.