Scoby one-kenobi - kombucha brew day

[wmfd]

For a recent birthday, some friends bought me a kilner drinks jar:


So I got thinking and decided to give kombucha a go. Following the instructions that came with my scoby, I put 8 teabags and 170g of sugar in 2 litres of boiling water:


After half an hour of steeping, fished out the tea bags and then left it to cool for a few hours.

I'd bought a mis-shapen scoby online, they're cheaper (and really does the shape matter?!). Once the tea was cool, it was into the kilner jar for the cold tea mixture and the scoby:



So now it is sat in the utility room, covered in an old tea towel. After 5 days I'll try it:



I do hope I like kombucha .....

[wmfd]

Next step, it is bottled!

At last a use for my clear, screw top, bottles.



I've tried it and it is quite sharp. I hope it's an acquired taste

Especially as I've topped up the 'fermenter' .....

[bryanferry]

Love this. You can always add a 1/5 to a 3rd of a bottle of your fruit juice of choice to keep the fermented goodness but more of a soda taste.

Adding some hibiscus flowers and lemon juice has been my go to of late.

[wmfd]

Thanks Bryan, that's a good idea, as whilst it's a nice drink it can be a bit raw, especially when young (more than a bit of sulphur).

How do you use the hibiscus, is that dried flowers, syrup or an infusion of some sort?

[bryanferry]

I had overbought hibiscus flowers when making a saison so thought i'd use them up. Just enough to cover the bottom of the bottle with whatever juice is in the house at the time.
When I'm particularly lazy I dont even bottle the batch. Just sticking down the lid on and dispensing from the tap. Even the basic wilko beverage dispenser seals enough to give it some fizz.

Forgive the high level of hipster but this video has some interesting ideas on what to throw in.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/8SOPeZWkc1k[/youtube]

Found if you keep making it the scoby chunks up quite a bit and that sulphur taste you mention disappears (that or ive conditioned myself not to taste it )

[wmfd]

Thanks, I’ve taken to mixing it with orange juice as I drink it - very nice. I will try bottling with juice too - a chance to be creative working out what’s good. I’ve upped my brew length to 3 litres now, so enough to experiment.

The sulphur does seem to disappear after a couple of days in the fridge, would be good if it wasn’t there, but at least I know it passes.

My dispenser doesn’t seem to hold pressure at all, not sure if I need to fiddle with the seal.

I’m off to find hibiscus flowers!

[orlando]

Interesting thread, didn't know about it. I started in the autumn of last year, as I had a poor year for apples so was not going to have apple juice to drink with breakfast. Plus, I had got very interested in the Zoe studies and their approach to gut health and how important fermented "food" was to promoting the micro biome. I started with a SCOBY from a fellow brewer and a 4 litre jar, that make 6 x 500ml bottles (Grolsch style). I only drink about a 1/3rd of a bottle a day so it lasts me 18 days. I usually start another batch straight away, I like it a little more tart so works perfectly. I've found six tea bags in a litre of boiling water and 200g of sugar, steeped for 20 minutes, strained into the 4 litre jar and cold water made up to 4 litres, usually drops the temperature to circa 24c. It's then kept at circa 24 until done. I grate a lemon and mix it with the juice and split it between 2 bottles. I make ginger "ice cubes" and split one of these between two, I keep two plain and add a raisin to each to encourage a little more fermentation to get a fizz. Back into the brew fridge at 24 for a week or so. It does mean I have to use a tea strainer for the last 1/3rd, after refrigerating until needed, but the cold usually settles everything at the bottom. The method makes it such a simple thing to produce a tasty drink with almost no effort.

If you're wondering about my maths being wrong i.e. 4 litre batch but only making 3 litres to drink???? It's because I find there is just enough left to provide the SCOBY with something to "rest" in and provide a starter for the next batch.

[IPA]

How well does it work in hornet traps?
We are plagued by them in summer

[orlando]

How well does it work in hornet traps?
We are plagued by them in summer

Well, you have proper summers, we don't, so I wouldn't know. What's a Hornet?

[guypettigrew]

How well does it work in hornet traps?
We are plagued by them in summer

Well, you have proper summers, we don't, so I wouldn't know. What's a Hornet?

It's like a Cornet. only it's tuned to a much higher frequency!

Guy

[orlando]

How well does it work in hornet traps?
We are plagued by them in summer

Well, you have proper summers, we don't, so I wouldn't know. What's a Hornet?

It's like a Cornet. only it's tuned to a much higher frequency!

Guy

Love a Cornet me, can't stand those horrible cone things you get ice cream in these days.