OK Kombucha

Anyone used the starters from OK? I had one and it seemed to take quite a while to get going (tasted at 2 weeks and it was still quite sweet) and then it molded . I'm wondering about it, I know that I didn't keep it as warm as it recommended (they recommended 80-85 and mine was 74-75). Is the temp the reason I had problems? Or do you think that maybe I had a bad starter? I was good on sanitizing everything prior. I'm up for trying it again but I'm interested in what you guys think.

I always ferment my kombucha in the 70-77°F range (room temp, it fluctuates), and it seems to work fine. I don't see whay the temps you had it at would hurt anything.

Could be a bad starter. You didn't sanitize the starter and kill all the bacteria by chance, did you?

Do you have access to a store that sells unflavored commercial bottles of kombucha? You can just dump one of those in a jug of sweet tea, in lieu of a "starter" and probably save a few bucks.

ryanelsn said:

Anyone used the starters from OK? I had one and it seemed to take quite a while to get going (tasted at 2 weeks and it was still quite sweet) and then it molded . I'm wondering about it, I know that I didn't keep it as warm as it recommended (they recommended 80-85 and mine was 74-75). Is the temp the reason I had problems? Or do you think that maybe I had a bad starter? I was good on sanitizing everything prior. I'm up for trying it again but I'm interested in what you guys think.

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My MIL used them twice for kombucha starters/scobies/etc. The first time she produced one small batch over a long time using the temp range recommended - 80+F. It worked out so-so. She started a new batch that eventually just fizzled out and she dumped it. Scoby development was always weak and slimy.

She bought another starter from them and this time the batch just took a really long time to do anything (i.e. it was going nowhere); granted, she had moved to room temperature after seeing my process. A couple weeks later, I ended up sending her with a scoby and KT from me that she added to her OK ferment and it finished up after doing this.

She has since just been maintaining the cultures I sent her with; fermenting at room temperature; and the only problem is that the batches finish up really quickly (i.e. wait too long and it's pretty sour)

My starter began with a bottle of High Country Kombucha (commercial stuff). I used the bottom half of a bottle and all the dregs, and two cups of sweet black tea. It took a couple weeks for the scoby to fully form and for the KT to finish to my liking. I then used this ~3cups KT and scoby and added it directly to 1 gallon sweet tea. This next batch only takes 1-3 weeks depending on how sour you like your KT. As the batches progress, the time to finished KT gets shorter and shorter. I'm now brewing stuff that's fairly tart at 1 week!! Scobies also form in a matter of a couple days and they'll eventually get really thick (1" or more even).

Here's why I decided to use the High Country as my starter culture
View attachment uploadfromtaptalk1442938080989.jpg

The local stores have some GT's, no originals all flavored, I might just try to start something from them. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of places that have kombucha around here. I really wish someone would write up an article that could get stickied about making a SCOBY. I know I've read a few things that say that you can't make one from a commercial bottle and some people have said you can.

From what I've gathered, GT/Synergy kombucha is not a good source for creating your own scoby/starter since the 2010 recall. I would look at other brands that do not use a proprietary culture like GT does now. Smaller companies might provide better results.

ryanelsn said:

The local stores have some GT's, no originals all flavored, I might just try to start something from them. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of places that have kombucha around here. I really wish someone would write up an article that could get stickied about making a SCOBY. I know I've read a few things that say that you can't make one from a commercial bottle and some people have said you can.

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You can absolutely make a scoby from a commercial bottle of kombucha. That's how I made both of mine. Unflavored booch is preferrable, but as long as the bacteria and yeast are still alive and active, it will work.

Ingredients:
- 1 gallon water, divided in two 1/2 gallon portions
- 1 cup sugar
- 8 single-serve black tea bags (unflavored, no Earl Grey etc)
- 1 16oz bottle of kombucha, preferrably unflavored

1) Bring 1/2 gallon water to boil. Reserve the other 1/2 gallon in the fridge.
2) Dissolve sugar in boiling water, stirring well.
3) Remove from heat, and steep tea bags in sugar water 5-10 minutes.
4) Remove tea bags and allow tea to cool. Add 1/2 gallon chilled water to speed up cooling and dilute.
5) Transfer tea to a clean fermenter, such as a large glass jar.
6) When tea is at room temperature (70-80°F) pour in bottle of kombucha, making sure to get all the dregs.
7) Cover with a clean cloth and store in a dark 70-80°F space, such as a closet (I keep mine at the top of my pantry).

Check back on it weekly. May take up to 4 weeks to develop a nice thick SCOBY, but you don't have to wait that long to use it (even a thin scoby will do), and the tea can be resused as starter tea for the next batch.

Edit: I don't know about GT or Synergy in particular, as I've never bought those brands. I know others have reported using GT's successfully.

stpug said:

From what I've gathered, GT/Synergy kombucha is not a good source for creating your own scoby/starter since the 2010 recall. I would look at other brands that do not use a proprietary culture like GT does now. Smaller companies might provide better results.

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I used GT. Took about 4 full weeks but produced a beautiful 1/4" thick scoby. I'm on my 20th (or so) batch right now and have scoby's taking over my brewshop.

BierMuncher said:

I used GT. Took about 4 full weeks but produced a beautiful 1/4" thick scoby. I'm on my 20th (or so) batch right now and have scoby's taking over my brewshop.

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I stand corrected. This is good news and thanks for the updated info on using GT for scoby starting. Cheers!

Anyone tried this as a starter? Kind of hard to find. Got it at a health food store. I like the taste of their stuff. Might as well go with what i like... right? LIVE out of Austin Tex.