This year on the Spring Equinox I received a vital and content kombucha SCOBY from my dear friend and conspiratorial comRAde Daniel Vitalis. SCOBY is an acronym for Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast. It is clinically known as a zoogleal mat. A few years before I had received another SCOBY from some other folks but unfortunately due to being sweetened with honey from her inception she died and I walked away from homemade kombucha for a while. Now nearly 2 months later with multiple batches under my belt and Baby Mamas off to new homes, I am feeling ready to share what I have learned and how to make a very kind and loving Kombucha brew.


First off there are a few basic rules with Kombucha that are important to follow...

1. Always use a variety of real tea (aka camellia sinensis) Black, Green, White or Oolong are all acceptable. Herbals teas often have constituents which can mutate or kill the SCOBY, therefore never use an herbal infusion to make your batch. Herbs can be added later to fermented kombucha once it has been poured off from the SCOBY and decanted.
   


2. Always use a form of cane sugar. Honey is unacceptable as its antimicrobial properties will kill and/or mutate the SCOBY. Agave & Maple syrup do not work nearly as well and tend to be too "gummy" for the batch.
   


3. ALWAYS keep it really clean! Cleanliness is next to Godliness when it comes to fermentation in general. WASH YOUR HANDS!!!! (HOWEVER RINSE WELL TOO! SCOBYs hate antibacterial soap because even trace amounts will kill them)
   


4. Always use a container with a wide mouth. SCOBYs like room to spread out and grow the more surface area they have in relation to the height of the liquid the happier they are, tall thin containers are not good choices

PREPARATION
I like to start this process in the evening a few hours before bedtime so the brew can cool enough to be safe for the SCOBY.

• Unless you already have one, either online or at your local ConsuMART buy a 2 gallon glass jar. Kombucha is happiest in glass, it is easiest to sterilize and it will not leach anything like plastic, metal or ceramic vessels will.
  


• Wash the new container throughly with hot soapy water, rinse and swirl a 10% bleach solution through it, rinse very well with boiling water and let dry completely, check to confirm there is no trace of bleach odor left.
  


• Clear a corner in your kitchen that out of direct sunlight where your colony can grow undisturbed.
  
  


• With VERY clean hands (using non latex gloves is not a bad idea) put your SCOBY and starter kombucha liquid (1 pint or so) into the clean jar an cover with a clean tea towel and secure with a big rubber band. The SCOBY should lay flat with the creamy smooth side up.
  


• Fill a large pot (I use a 16 quart stock pot as I make 2 batches at a time) with filtered water and put on flame to boil.
  


• To heating water add about 1 cup of Organic Cane Sugar for 6 quarts of water and bring to a boil. A few comments about sugar: you may find that most recipes call for way more sugar than I am suggesting sometimes even as much as 1 cup of sugar for 1 mere half liter of liquid. Daniel noted that he had found that his SCOBYs were quite content on far less tea and sugar than recipes called for. I think she likes to work for it a bit and just like a child with too much sugar Kombucha's personality is way more wired and over the top when she has too much of it, whereas the batches I have been making have a very kind and gentle quality to them and I find I can drink 6-8 ounces without feeling like I am ready to go postal.
  Personally I like using organic turbinado the most I have also used organic sucanat as well, however I find the batch tends to appear somewhat cloudier than it does with the turbinado. Avoid any sugars that have been herbally prepared as something about it caused my Kombucha's Mama's Mama (her grandmama) to die within 3 days of using that kind of sugar.
  
  


• Bring your sugar water solution to a rolling boil, turn off flame and let come off the boil then add your tea. For white and green teas let it cool a little longer, for black tea add your tea as soon as you take it off the flame. If using bags just tie them all together and steep I generally use 8-10 teabags for the 6 quart batch. For loose tea I use about 4-6 heaping teaspoons per 6 quarts. You have two options with loose tea, ideally you will put the loose tea into the pot, and let it expand and infuse through the whole area and then when the brew is to your liking pour it off through a strainer to cool overnight in another closed container, or for a simpler approach (the one I more often use) put the tea it into a large strainer that you can submerge into the hot liquid, so that it still has room to expand, but the tea will not get loose into the batch. Timing varies depending on the kind of tea you use: for white tea steep it for 2-3 minutes, green tea between 2-5 minutes, and black tea 3-5 minutes (longer if you wish) A few comments about tea: Personally I prefer the gentleness of the white teas the most, followed by green tea. I do not tend to use black teas at all as I think the higher caffeine levels and tannins make for a more aggressive brew. I have especially enjoyed using Silver Rain White Tea as well as Haiku Teas particularly the Kukicha Twig Tea.
  
  


• At desired strength of brew: remove tea (bags or loose); cover pot and leave to cool overnight.
  


• In the morning, uncover your waiting SCOBY & kombucha starter liquid and gently pour your cooled tea solution into the jar. Recover with your tea towel secured with a large rubber band (or a few smaller ones linked together to form one large one). Put back into its shaded corner and leave to ferment for the next week or so.
  
  
  
  


• After a week has past you can check your kombucha to see if it is fermented to your liking, I use a very clean pyrex measuring cup with a handle and ladle out a little tea to taste for maturation.
  A mature batch WILL have a new SCOBY which has formed on the surface of the brew. She will be cream colored and glossy on the top and about between at least half to one centimeter thick (when I used honey in the previous incarnation, the SCOBY would get monsterously thick and if I stood near it I would start to wheeze from the spores in the air). If your SCOBY has not formed yet, patience young grasshopper, it is not ready.
  
  
  


• When the brew has matured the way you want it to be, remove the towel and using that very clean pyrex cup with a handle draw off your batch and pour into waiting clean bottles or jars cap and refrigerate. Leave the SCOBY and about 1 pint for the next batch to start.
  

  The bottled batch will keep out of the fridge and will continue to ferment more. The longer it ferments the less sweet it becomes and more vinegary the flavor. It will also become more carbonated with time. I like using 1 quart glass juice bottles as they are easy to acquire as well as clean and the wider mouth makes adding herbs very easy too.
  
  

  
  


• If you desire this is the time to add flavors and medicinal herbs to your bottled brew. I especially like to add lime juice to my brew right after I have bottled it. I find it rounds and mellows the flavor and adds a refreshing "kick" to the mix. I have found that the juice of between a half or whole lime per quart is perfect, or 1-2 keylimes per quart.
  

  SOME OTHER HERBAL OPTIONS MIGHT INCLUDE (to name but a few)...
  

  
  
  
  
  • Schisandra Berry aka Wu Wei Zi 2 T per quart steeped at least a day, the longer the better.
    
  
  
  • Fresh Ginger Root 2T grated.
    
  
  
  • Organic Vanilla Bean cut into 1/4 -1/2 inch chunks
    
  
  
  • fresh herbs from the garden
    
  
  
  • fresh dandelion flowers picked from your unsprayed lawn I think that these cold fermenting infusions have a special synergy, as the herbs not only infuse into the brew but also interact with the alchemical process of fermentation thus drawing out aspects of the herbs and roots that might not be as available otherwise. You can follow your intuition about what your body needs specifically and infuse brews custom made for you.
    
    
  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  


• At this point you can either separate your newly formed SCOBY from your older mother and start an additional batch, or leave them together. When you do separate them, remember to be very very careful to keep everything clean (I use a clean pirex pie plate to hold the SCOBY while I am separating them and preparing everything) and WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE YOU TOUCH YOUR SCOBY! Once you've made a batch or two you'll have at least 1 additional SCOBY to share. SCOBYs travel well in 1 quart mason jars topped off with fermented kombucha brew (about 2-3 cups) leave enough head room for the SCOBY to breathe and remember to burp the lid if you are going to keep it in the jar for more than a day. Extra SCOBYs can be: shared; composted; blended and used as a face mask and/or used for other fermentation experiments.
  

NOW with your batch bottled and infusing, and your SCOBYs waiting in their jars it is time to start the process all over again.
You will develop a rhythm that will work for you. I find that I like to make batches every 10 days or so and usually do them on alternating Mondays and Thursdays. Well tended kombucha SCOBYs will remain content and in stasis for a good while if left undisturbed, so if a weekly or biweekly rhythm is too frequent, then you could shift to every 3 weeks or even monthly and even time it with the new or full moons.
This post may make this seem like a complicated process, but in reality it is quite simple and easy, as long as everything remains CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN you will find the effort insignificant for the amazing rewards ongoing batches of home-brewed Kombucha will give you.
Here are a few more useful Kombucha Links
Kombucha Balancing Act
Original Kombucha on Yahoo Groups
World Wide Kombucha Exchange
Kombucha Tribe
Kombucha Center