Was about to start growing a SCOBY and read this ... Any one know if it's true and shouldnt wast my time starting one with a store bout bottle of Kombucha?
Why cant I grow a kombucha scoby from a store-bought bottle anymore?
You may or may not remember the great kombucha recall of 2010. Kombucha was pulled off store shelves across the U.S. because it had been feared that some brands were too alcoholic to be sold as a regular beverage.
Most major brands reformulated their kombucha, then put it back on store shelves promising that it would no longer be possible for their kombucha to contain too much alcohol.
Whatever they did, I think they made it virtually impossible to grow a kombucha scoby from a store-bought bottle of kombucha anymore.
Some companies, like Daves GT, have even started adding a supplement called GBI-30 to their Enlightened (AKA kombucha for those under 21) bottled booch. GBI-30 is a patented pro-biotic that is non-native to the Kombucha culture.
I dont know precisely why they added this to their formula, or how it prevents the growth of alcohol, but it doesnt make sense to include GBI-30 in your homemade kombucha scoby. Its not part of the normal fermentation process for kombucha, so I can imagine that it is also somehow interfering with our ability to grow a fresh kombucha scoby from the bottled brew
Why cant I grow a kombucha scoby from a store-bought bottle anymore?
You may or may not remember the great kombucha recall of 2010. Kombucha was pulled off store shelves across the U.S. because it had been feared that some brands were too alcoholic to be sold as a regular beverage.
Most major brands reformulated their kombucha, then put it back on store shelves promising that it would no longer be possible for their kombucha to contain too much alcohol.
Whatever they did, I think they made it virtually impossible to grow a kombucha scoby from a store-bought bottle of kombucha anymore.
Some companies, like Daves GT, have even started adding a supplement called GBI-30 to their Enlightened (AKA kombucha for those under 21) bottled booch. GBI-30 is a patented pro-biotic that is non-native to the Kombucha culture.
I dont know precisely why they added this to their formula, or how it prevents the growth of alcohol, but it doesnt make sense to include GBI-30 in your homemade kombucha scoby. Its not part of the normal fermentation process for kombucha, so I can imagine that it is also somehow interfering with our ability to grow a fresh kombucha scoby from the bottled brew