Recent content by CHERYLinND

Certain molds are more powdery than fuzzy. The green color is a clue. There is only 1 known bacteria that produces a green pigment, and that is not what it looks like. Yeast does not produce that type of colony. You might get lucky and not have a harmful effect from drinking...

I think they are used as scrubbers to remove scale during cleaning, not left in the water during heating. I think leaving it in there would invite contamination and more buildup of scale on the descaler itself. That said, I stand corrected... It does appear there are products intended to be...

I'm not a legal expert, but my guess is that as long as you're not using the name, it's just another ingredient in your product. "CherCher's Kombucha" vs "CherCher's Lipton Tea Kombucha."

I pulled off the SCOBY after 1 week and dropped in a few squashed strawberries and blueberries. After another week, it had an amazing flavor.

I think of it as a vinegary-apple cidery flavor.

My only input is that I don't steep nearly that long. I think the tea gets too bitter-tasting. I use that number of tea bags, but steep it until it has a nice flavor for drinking.

That looks suspicious enough that I'd consider scrapping that batch. Hopefully you have some KT or another SCOBY to start right up again.

I'd leave it alone for a week or so, until you see a more solid-looking, white SCOBY forming. It takes awhile, especially when starting fresh.

The problem with the variation that I see in my different batches is that there is no way to know which one is "right." Also, I don't know that my SCOBYs have truly changed, I was just speculating that the neglect I heap upon them may cause changes. Sometimes, the brew tastes like it has a...

I started a SCOBY from a bottle of KTs original raw Kombucha. The KT I get from that SCOBY is milder and tastes a little watered down, even several generations later, than the stuff I'm getting from the two inherited SCOBYs I use. I think that lends credence to the discussions of evolution...

From the actual scientific articles I can find on fluoride, you'd have to be a heavy consumer, like more than 4 or 5 cups a day, to have a problem with the possible elevated fluoride.

If you use a small-necked bottle, you won't be able to remove your SCOBY once it reaches any significant thickness.

I heard about making 'leather' from SCOBYs, so I made this cup! I put a paper towel, then plastic wrap over the bottom of a beaker, then rinsed a SCOBY and pressed it over the beaker. I let it dry and then added another, for a total of 3 SCOBYs in thickness. It's pretty funny feeling...

Pasteurizing doesn't kill all of the microbes, just a lot of them. It lowers the bacterial count, increasing shelf life. It also destroys potential pathogens. You still maintain populaitions of microbes. This is why pasteurized milk still eventually spoils.

I am curious for more details on your experiments. How do you do an orange or lemon rind batch, specifically? The same for celery and mint? Do you brew it like tea and then go about the normal process? What amounts have you used? This sounds like a fun experiment. I currently have a...