Local SCOBY source?

[MikeBiondo]

Morning all, and greetings from sunny Arizona...

I'm new to the forum (well, new, if you don't count the old HomeBrew Digest - any old-timers remember the early days of that ), and am gearing up to start my first batch of kombuchca.

Any Phoenix area booch'ers on the list? I am in search of a local SCOBY source to get myself started. I have already placed an online order, but with temps still in the 90s here, I am leary of it's health after being shipped in this heat.

So...anyone know of a local Phoenix commercial SCOBY source, or even better, anyone local who might have a overcrowded Hotel that needs thinning...

With thanks & appreciation...

Mike Biondo
Sun City West, AZ

 

[MikeBiondo]

Hello again from sunny Arizona...

Thought I would post a little update of my first Kombucha brew attempt. Not having been able to locate a local SCOBY source I decided to go with the quickest online delivery I could find. In my case that happen to Amazon with a 1-day delivery. I went with a SCOBY from The Kombucha Company. They advertise sending a 5" SCOBY & 16oz of strong Starter Tea.

In reading Amazon reviews of other vendors, many reviewers complained about receiving a very small SCOBYs. So, with chances of getting a larger SCOBY to start with, I decided to go with The Kombucha Company. They also include a 16oz of starter, where most others are only including 8 oz.

Happy to report the SCOBY and Starter arrived safe & sound. The SCOBY was double-bagged. The 16 oz. Starter bottled separately. The SCOBY was probably bigger than 5" in diameter, and almost 1/2" thick.

With everything in hand, into 4 cups of 200F water, steeped 6 black tea bags for 7 minutes, then added 3 green tea bags for the last 3 minutes. Removed tea bags, and dissolved 1 cup sugar. Added 10 cups of cold water. Dropped in the SCOBY, and poured the 16oz of starter on top. Covered the jar with a coffee filter, and put it bed at about 75F.

It's been almost a week now. The original SCOBY dropped to the bottom early on, but a new SCOBY started forming shortly after. The new SCOBY is currently a bit more than 1/4" thick. No visible yeast strands yet.

I'll give it a few more days, before tasting, pH, and Gravity readings.

So here's to a successful Kombucha: Batch #1

Mike Biondo
Sun City West, AZ