I am so excited that my SCOBY is doing so well. Just look at her! Perhaps I should give her a name, what do you think?
I’m sure some of you might not get why I’m giddy about this blob like disc and others might not even know what a SCOBY is?
A brief refresher for those that don’t know… SCOBY is an acronym for Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast. This is a healthy bacteria. Our body needs beneficial bacteria to function properly. Yeast and bacteria are present during the fermentation of kombucha.When I fermented my kombucha to make a SCOBY it didn’t start as this round disc. Initially all I noticed were bubbles. A few days later I noticed a clear film forming on top of the kombucha. Since I already knew about this process, I wasn’t concerned since it would not be long before I had grown my own SCOBY at home!
This past weekend, I took all my SCOBYs (three) out of the three jars, rinsed them off, added a bit of sugar back to the tea mixture and placed them back into the jar. Correction, I placed them into two jars. The Kombucha that I had made with black tea wasn’t as thick as the SCOBY I made from kombucha only, so I thought I’d combine those two together.
Why did I add more sugar when I placed them back into the jars? The SCOBY eats the sugar so when your kombucha is finally finished it should be left with very little sugar. I say *should* because I did taste a store bought kombucha that was oh so nasty. Blech! They sweetened it with stevia and even though it was brewed it was way to sweet and overpowered with stevia.
In other news…
I believe my water kefir grains will be arriving some time this week. I’m really looking forward to receiving them. In an earlier post I linked to a video about water kefir, it’s history, benefits, and the process involved. I decided to link to another video that is mainly focused on how to make your own water kefir at home.
You SHOULD give her a name! I totally would! LOL 🙂
Your SCOBY looks awesome! I know what you mean about the storebought ones being overloaded with the stevia…oye!
Jennifer recently posted..Energizing Black Bean Dip & Happy Mail on a Monday
@Jennifer, I’ll have to think of an appropriate name. It’ll come to me eventually…
There was one storebought called LIVE that seemed to have a lot of stevia. Too much stevia is a very bad thing. It was nasty. In fact, others mentioned about it on the Facebook Kombucha forum that I frequent. I’m glad, I wasn’t the only one thinking it tasted awful. Until my kombucha is active, I’ll keep purchasing the GT brand. I like that a lot since it only has a hint of sweetness.
Aynaria recently posted..Fermenting Adventures: Look at my SCOBY!
@Opal,
Interesting! Thanks! Then I have heard of people buying one small bottle of store bought Kombucha and adding the tea and water, etc from there and growing one from that? Is that just because they don’t want to make their own Kombucha and/or start it from scratch!? 🙂
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HEY!!!! Just found this link and thought you might enjoy it! Shows a lot of things you are currently doing and into – fermenting, SCOBY, etc
http://www.sarahramsden.com/
I signed up for her newsletter 🙂
Jennifer recently posted..Energizing Black Bean Dip & Happy Mail on a Monday
Yes, things are a whole lot nicer if we make our own. I would not buy those preserved or fermented stuff made by the locals – not sure how clean they are…unless I know the people making well.
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@suituapui, That’s a big issue I have not trusting how clean the people are who are making the items. Also, I like knowing that I control the majority of the process when I make them myself.
Aynaria recently posted..Fermenting Adventures: Fermented Honey Garlic
Another link for you!
http://www.carrieonliving.com/2014/10/21/how-to-make-raw-milk-kefir/
Except she’s doing Milk Kefir Grains – but still interesting 🙂
Jennifer recently posted..Energizing Black Bean Dip & Happy Mail on a Monday
@Jennifer,
And another link…
http://yumuniverse.com/sugar-mama-kombucha-scoby-candy/?utm_source=YumUniverse+Friends&utm_campaign=13e4ceb6b8-Sugar+mamas&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ea2f2c6b4e-13e4ceb6b8-68948385
I wondered about different ideas for the left over mother(s)…
I know it’s beneficial but it still kind of freaks me out because it looks like deli sliced turkey LOL
Jennifer recently posted..Energizing Black Bean Dip & Happy Mail on a Monday
@Jennifer, But it’s not, If you think about it it’s no different (appearance wise) than eating fake meats. However it trumps those since it’s actually good for you. Many of the fake veggie options aren’t.
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@Opal,
True 🙂
Do you have plans on what you will do with the leftover mothers – anything edible? Other than making more SCOBY’s?
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@Jennifer, I plan on making some cowboy candy. I’ve never had it before, but apparently SCOBY is used. Eventually, I’d like to give away SCOBYs to those who are interested in making their own fermented kombucha.
Aynaria recently posted..Fermenting Adventures: Honey Garlic & Kombucha Tea
@Opal,
Oh….a SCOBY Giveaway!? Interesting!!!! I’d love to hear about the candy when you do it, too!
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@Jennifer, I’d like to do the same with water kefir grains. I haven’t noticed any growth yet, but I’ve only had them a few days and from what I read it can take a little while to adjust. I have read that some grains never reproduce, buy my research makes me think that has a lot to do with what their feeding their grains with and the location of their fermenting water kefit. Hopefully my water kefir grains will multiply. If so, I’ll be able to do that also.
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[…] Not too long ago I stumbled upon this Kombucha video. If you check out my site, you’ll find a few Kombucha videos. […]