You got this!

Great question. You have some options– 1. Put a call out to your local friends that might make this already, or post it on Facebook. People that make kombucha on a regular basis usually have a whole jar full of SCOBIES. They multiply after a while. Starter tea is simply some of the kombucha from your previous batch, if you get a SCOBY from a friend, they probably can give you some starter tea too. Or, you can use some store-bought kombucha for the starter. 2. You can order a kit that includes a SCOBY and starter tea from Amazon. Here is a link to one I found (I am an affiliate of Amazon, but not of this brand) https://amzn.to/3CgET2o. 3. You can make your own SCOBY and starter tea. This is going to be more time consuming, it can take one to four weeks for the SCOBY to grow. If you want to go with route #3, reach back out to me and I’ll tell you how to do it.

Thank you for taking the time to leave your comment! I love making kombucha and there are so many ways to customize it. Different teas, flavors, etc. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I love the flavors you mentioned, ginger especially is one of my favorites. I’ve always wanted to do a rootbeer, but I haven’t yet. How did your rootbeer turn out?

There are a lot of recipes for root beer but it’s basically sarsaparilla, sassafras, wintergreen and vanilla but you can also use rootbeer extract.

The possibilities are endless, and I love your suggestions! Thanks for sharing your tips with us. What do you use for rootbeer?

Hi! I’d recommend 2 cups of starter tea if you’re making the gallon batch. 🙂

That is so strange! A bottle can explode, and it usually has something to do with the temperature of the room being too warm, then the yeast becomes too active and eating the sugar too fast, which produces a lot of CO2. But I understand in your case one did and one didn’t. I’m sorry I’m not much help, but if you figure it out, please stop back and let me know.

Hugs,

Lynn

Oh good! Let me know how it goes.

I’m a fan for sure! I find people either love it or hate it. But making it from scratch you have a a lot of options. The second fermentation adds more bubbles, but if you let it go a few days extra, you’ll get even more carbonation. We still try new flavors too. I’m sure you’ll like it, but if you don’t love it the first time, don’t get discouraged. It just needs tweaking for your taste.

First of all, I haven’t heard it referred to as “ghost scoby”, so I’m not 100 percent sure on what you mean by that, but as far as the mold goes, are you sure it is mold?

People often think it’s mold when there is a new scoby growing on top. It’s cloudy and looks weird. If it’s actually mold, you can leave it and it will look green and powdery, like bread mold. Touch it, if it transfers it’s powdery spores to your finger, then it’s mold, if it’s not on your finger, then it’s probably not mold.

Other causes– not THOROUGHLY cleaning/sterilizing your jars/utensils/bowls, etc. Not covering your scoby jar properly. Don’t use cheesecloth but something with a finer weave like fabric. Or, storing or fermenting your tea in a cupboard where mold is present in it. Like is there onions or something else that got moldy and possibly it somehow got into your tea.

I hope that helps you trouble shoot a little bit. I know I’ve thought before that I was getting mold on a scoby, but it was just a new one growing on top, it seemed discolored when it was a baby size, but grew to look normal.

As long as our scobies are still good, we use them and they are fine. We keep them in a jar with some tea on them and they just multiply. We call it the scoby hotel. 🙂

I’ve never made my own Scoby, but here’s a great article that tells you how.
https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-your-own-kombucha-scoby-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-202596

We do one cup of the previous brew and the whole scoby until it becomes too big, because it will grow. When it’s too large, we just split it and either store it or you can start another brew. As for the sediment, it’s really optional. 🙂 Enjoy!!

Metal can damage the scoby, that’s why you should brew and bottle with a top that is rubber or plastic. As long as there is no metal on the inside of your kombucha jar. We usually brew in a large jar with a coffee filter rubberbanded around the top, and then use the bottles with the rubber stops for the 2nd brew. I hope that helps!

Yes, we do put the lids on. We’ve never had a top blow off, but we do open them slowly. We’ve had a couple spill over, so we just do it in the sink.

I totally get it Sheeva, that was me. What I’ve learned over time, is you really can’t mess it up. 🙂