Fruit flies and kombucha

Hello all! New to the forum and new to kombucha brewing, but I've been having some success up until now with this recent hiccup;

In the last day as we were ready to bottle, we noticed some fruit flies in the jar and a few larvae crawling on the scoby. While slightly grossed out, we bottled the kombucha anyway which seemed to be untouched beneath the scoby.

So far everything I've read online suggests that I scrap the entire batch, but I don't have the heart to do it unless I'm sure there's a chance the tea itself could be contaminated.

My gut says the thick scoby protected the tea beneath and that the tea itself is safe to drink. What do you guys think?

I'd err on the side of caution and throw it out. Kombucha is cheap and easy to replace. Your health is not.

It may be okay to drink it, but I don't see why you would take the risk over a few cents worth of tea and sugar. Make another batch and treat it as a learning experience.

Do you not cover your kombucha jar? I put a cloth or double-layered paper towel over the top and secure it with a rubber band. Keeps the nasties out.

We did it with cheese cloth - a rookie mistake we'll not make again.

You're probably right. No sense in wondering what kind of bad bacteria might be floating in it. Thanks for the reply!