Learn how to make a scoby with simple steps. Use it to brew your own healthful and delicious kombucha at home. Homemade kombucha costs a fraction of store-bought brands and tastes even better.
116 oz.bottle of plain, raw, unpasteurized kombucha
Instructions
Make sweet tea
Bring 1 cup filtered water or purified bottled water to a boil and stir in 1 TB organic raw sugar to dissolve. Add 1 TB loose leaf black tea or two tea bags. Remove from heat and let steep until lukewarm or cooler.
Combine sweet tea and kombucha
Pour 1 16 oz. bottle of plain, raw, unpasteurized kombucha into a wide-mouth jar that holds at least 3 cups.
Add cooled tea to kombucha and cover jar with a cut square of breathable white cloth. Secure cloth with a rubber band.
Grow SCOBY
Tuck the jar into a dark cupboard. A warm location 70-85 degrees is best. Check as often as you like, but avoid jostling or moving the jar. After several days you should see a jelly-like film growing on top of the tea.
Once the SCOBY starts forming, it will gradually thicken and form a firm white disc on top of the tea mixture.
If no film has formed in two weeks, or the mixture smells bad or has mold, toss it out and make a new batch.
When your SCOBY is ¼ inch to ½ inch thick it is ready to brew kombucha. Climate can cause significant variations, but typically a scoby is ready in 10 days to 3 weeks time.
Store SCOBY
Don't refrigerate or freeze SCOBYs. Instead, store them in a SCOBY hotel, as described in the recipe notes below.
Notes
How To Make A SCOBY TipsEquipmentUse clean equipment with no traces of cleaners, mold, or bacteria.Use a tight-weave cotton cloth that breathes but keeps small insects out.IngredientsUse bottled spring water or filtered water without chlorine or additives.Use unflavored black tea that is not decaffeinated.Use plain, unflavored kombucha starter liquid.Make sure your kombucha is raw with live bacteria and not pasteurized.ProcessCool tea and sugar mixture to lukewarm or less before combining with kombucha.Temperatures below 60 degrees and above 90 degrees will slow or destroy SCOBYs.Store jar in a dark cupboard away from light.Check as often as you like, but avoid jostling or moving the jar while SCOBY grows.Scoby is ready when it's ¼ an inch thick, but it's fine to let it grow thicker if you like.StoringDon't refrigerate or freeze SCOBYs.Instead, store them in a SCOBY hotel, as described in this post.Scoby Hotel
Remove shaggy strings, tea residue, and yeast strands from SCOBYs. You can trim edges or rinse in non-chlorinated water if desired.
Then brew tea with 1 cup of water, 1 TB of black tea, and 1 TB of raw sugar. (Double amount for larger hotels.) Cool until lukewarm or less. Mix with an equal amount of plain, raw kombucha.
Pour the mixture into a wide-mouthed jar. Gently slide SCOBYs into the jar. Cover with a plain cotton cloth and a rubber band. Store in a dark cupboard in a cool location, but at least 60 degrees.