And it Lives! Kombucha Baby + Kombucha Workshops

The tentative schedule for the 2009 Boston Skillshare is now up! My workshop "Home-Brewing Kombucha" will be on Sunday, April 19th from 3:45 - 5:15 pm. Keith Person's workshop "Kombucha and More" is scheduled for Saturday, April 18th from 3:45 - 5:15 pm. And Olivia Caffrey and Evan Rooney will discuss brewing beer in their workshop "Home-Brew-it-Yourself" on Saturday, April 18th from 2:05 - 3:35 pm.

There are many other great workshops scheduled as well, as listed here. There is a $3-$10 sliding scale donation, but this includes attending an unlimited number of workshops for the whole weekend, and a free vegan breakfast and lunch for skillshare attendees! The 2009 Boston Skillshare will be located at the MIT Strata Center (32 Vassar St., Cambridge, MA) April 18th & 19th, from 10 am - 7 pm.

I forgot to post this the other week, but the SCOBY that I grew made her first baby! What a cutie! A little on the thin side (she's on the right), but still healthy and cream colored! (Yes, I can become very attached to my mushrooms. :) )

Kombucha Mushrooms Come in All Shapes, Sizes, and Colors!

According to Happy Herbalist, a cream colored, 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick baby is normal and healthy. Thin cultures may be attributed to cold brewing temperatures (2) and other factors (3). (One would ideally brew between 75-85°F at a constant temperature). During the winter, it may help to add more starter tea (~15-20%, vs. the usual 10%) to help kick start the fermentation process (2).

Remember- don't discriminate! Even incompletely formed mushrooms can be perfectly good to use! In the past, I've had kombucha mushrooms with huge holes in them still ferment the tea well and create very healthy babies.

Mushrooms on the thin side may not be as strong as thick ones. In this case, you might want to team up a thin mushroom with another SCOBY, or hopefully your thin SCOBY can grow a thicker baby so you'll be all set.

When brewing at home, it is common for SCOBYs of uneven thickness or varying shades to form, due to low or varying temperatures, and sometimes due to inconsistent environments and brewing cycles. So if this happens to you, don't worry! It's perfectly normal!

The size of your kombucha mushroom will depend on the size and shape of your brewing container. Your SCOBY does not have to lie perfectly near the surface as it ferments- I've placed larger mushrooms inside smaller brewing containers, and they fermented the tea without a problem!

Additionally, although Kombucha mushrooms start out cream colored, they darken over time (4), which could happen due to staining by the tea (5).

And eventually, SCOBYs age, stop creating babies, and lose their ability to ferment the tea, and you will need to continue brewing with another mushroom. While some say that SCOBYs last for 8 batches, others say that they last for 3-4 months (5).

Thus, the life of a kombucha mushroom will differ on a case-by-case basis and probably depends on many factors. But because a new SCOBY forms with each batch, this usually is not a concern anyways! Once you obtain a mushroom and start brewing, you're usually worried about having too many mushrooms, than not enough of them. When you're at that point, it's time to start recruiting some fellow brewers! :)

*Note- all of the mushrooms in the photos within this post are healthy and good to brew with!

Kombucha Heaven + Kombucha Workshops

As I've already described in a previous post, I love the Harvest Co-Op in Cambridge for their good prices and overwhelming variety of kombucha tea! If you have never had kombucha, you should come here to try it! Chances are if you don't like one flavor/brand, you'll like another! (And I apologize for the glare in the photo :P).

Also, look for me at the 2009 Boston Skillshare! My workshop Home-Brewing Kombucha will include a power point presentation on KT, a brewing demonstration, a small tasting, and a few SCOBY donations. The exact time and date are still TBD, however.

The Boston Skillshare, to take place on April 18th and 19th at MIT, is an annual FREE weekend event for people to share and learn practical skills! Although the dates are drawing near, they may still be looking for workshop facilitators, so look at their site and contact them ASAP if you think you have a skill you'd like to share! And if you can't make it to my KT workshop, Keith Person will be leading a workshop, Kombucha and More, as well! (Date and time, also still TBD).

Meanwhile, check out Tea Quest for some other adventures on tea and kombucha tea!

Happy Friday!

The Final Days of Growing Your Own Kombucha Mother, Exp. 1

My first DIY SCOBY experiment has now come to an endend! Although from the side it looked like two cultures had actually grown, it was just one. Because the top layer was younger than the bottom layer, the top layer had a lighter, cream color, compared to the darker brown color of the bottom layer. The edges (but not the center) of the SCOBY separated a bit. However, the two layers were pretty cemented together, and they seemed all cozy and comfortable right next to each other, so I guess together as one they were meant to be.

The kombucha tea itself was definitely way over-fermented! It tasted like kombucha tea all right, but it was so acidic that you would not want to drink more than sip (taste-wise and health-wise!) The pH of the tea was around 1-2. I used some as strong starter tea, and I also mixed some regular kombucha tea with the over-fermented KT (so the pH wasn't as low), so I could store some extra SCOBYs that I want to give away in the fridge.

This experiment was much more successful than I expected, and it was wonderful to see the kombucha culture develop day by day! 

FIN - Days 13-20 - Grow Your Own Kombucha Mother (Exp. 1)

SCOBY formation is finally complete!!! Unfortunately, New England weather (and also the consistency of the heating in my apartment) is extremely variable, so temperatures during this process actually ranged from as low as ~20°C (68°F) to ~24.5°C (76.1°F). Ideally, the temperature would have been constant throughout. Look for my post tomorrow for some overall comments on this endeavor! :)

Day 20







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Day 19







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Day 18








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Day 17






It's looking like two SCOBYs to me!





Day 16








Are there TWO mothers forming?







Day 15






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Day 14

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Day 13

Days 11 & 12 - Grow Your Own Kombucha Mother (Exp. 1)

Day 12

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Day 11

Storing Your Kombucha Culture

If you want to keep a back up culture safely away, if you're going on vacation, or if you just need a break from brewing, you have several options.

• One method is to brew a batch like you normally would, and then leave the SCOBY in the tea, with a breathable cover. Over time the tea may become over-fermented and very acidic, but you can use this as your starter tea. (Happy Herbalist also lists several other uses for extra kombucha). Depending on how long you are storing the mushrooms for, you should occasionally add sweet tea to the container, as the liquid evaporates over time. This method is ideal for the health of the cultures.


• Refrigerate your kombucha mushroom in a glass jar with some unflavored kombucha tea. Or kick-start the brewing process for several days to get the pH down, and refrigerate the mushroom in its brewing container. This method can be used if you are storing your mushrooms for more than a few months.
  -This will make your kombucha culture dormant. It won't be completely inactive, but the SCOBY will be active at a very slow rate, and it can keep this way for months.
  -I recommend keeping the lid loosely covered so that CO2 doesn't build up and so the top doesn't pop off.
  -Consider giving the SCOBY some fresh air/oxygen by opening the lid every now and then. If the kombucha has become/smells really acidic and the SCOBY has been in the fridge for awhile, I sometimes add a little sweet tea to the kombucha (sweet tea ratio: 1 quart water:1 tsp (4 g) loose-leaf tea:1/4 cup (50 g) sugar) to give the yeasts something to feed on.
  -However: when you start brewing again, you need to remember that the TEMPERATURES NEED TO BE THE SAME for the sweet tea and the SCOBY, because hot temperatures can kill the mushroom. The easiest way to do this is to let your hot sweet tea solution cool down overnight to room temperature, while letting the culture that used to be in the fridge warm up overnight to room temperature.
  -When you start brewing again, it may also take a few cycles for your SCOBY to kick back into full gear.


• It's not recommended to freeze your kombucha culture but it is possible:-It is recommended to use the "fast-freeze" setting of your freezer so the SCOBY will be frozen ASAP. If your culture is frozen too slowly, crystals may form which may damage the culture's cells. See more information here.


• If something unfortunate happens and you need a new culture- try asking a friend for a new mushroom, try growing your own, or try any of these other options.

Sources:

• A video w/ tips!
• http://www.organic-kombucha.com/kombucha_cultures.html
• http://www.sulis-health.co.uk/kombucha/faq.shtml
• Moi