Kombucha from scratch...

[Moezart]

Hello everyone... I tried kombucha many times when I lived abroad and I really loved it.... Now that I am back home... I MISS IT and I can't find it anywhere!!! I looked up how to make it and it seems that I need either a scoby from someone or I have to have a bottle of kombucha from which I could start my own scoby... Well I don't have either!!! So is there a way to make a scoby and to make Kombucha from scratch... Meaning without a handed-down scoby or a bottle of Kombucha!!! I am sure there is a way, otherwise how was the very first Kombucha was made thousands of years ago?
Thank you guys!

 

[NGD]

Not sure where you are from. For some reason my phone won’t allow me to view profiles ATM. However I know some people have had luck ordering a scoby online.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I think your best bet is to find someone with a SCOBY either locally or someone or a company that can mail it, or ordering a suitable bottle of kombucha online.

I bet there are ways to make it from scratch similar to how spontaneous starters are made for wild beer. I'm not sure how the result would compare.
I have a suspicion that the solid mass it forms really isn't necessary, but instead provides an easy method of repitching large amounts of the relevant yeast and bacteria.
I don't drink or make kombucha.

 

[NGD]

@RPh_Guy this would indeed be the best way. The scoby will grow to cover the top of the sweet tea mixture. You strain the fermented tea leaving the scoby with just enough liquid to keep it covered.

I just finished growing my first two scobys. It was quite easy using a bit of existing plain kombucha. Took about 4 weeks to grown them.

 

[RPh_Guy]

The scoby doesn't do anything besides provide the microbes to repitch, right?

 

[NGD]

The scoby doesn't do anything besides provide the microbes to repitch, right?

I’m a newbie still so take this with a grain of salt. This is essentially correct however the scoby is the microbial colony your repitching. Its apparently a pellicle containing several types of yeast and bacteria that form an organic “life raft”. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0740002013001846

Otherwise you decant off the scoby and enjoy. Once I find a recipe I enjoy enough I’m going to do a 2gal batch and try force carbing..although I’m a little nervous getting those bugs into one of my kegs.

 

[Sadu]

The scoby doesn't do anything besides provide the microbes to repitch, right?

Yeah I'm pretty sure that's correct. I'm only 3 batches into Kombucha making so that grain of salt applies here too.

The starter liquid (from previous batch or a bottle of kombucha) is important because that contains microbes, but also lowers the pH of your brew which makes it more hostile to other bad bacteria. The scoby brings more microbes to the brew but I don't think it's essential if you get the microbes from the starter tea.

 

[NGD]

The scoby brings more microbes to the brew but I don't think it's essential if you get the microbes from the starter tea.

It isnt. This is exactly how I built up my scobys which are now fairly thick. The largest one went from some slime in a bottle to about 1 1/2in in 4 weeks.