We are talking about a quart because you will get your mushroom in the mail with 4 or 6 or 8 ounces of starter. Starter is actually kombucha tea. You need some kombucha tea to make more kombucha tea. What you receive with your mushroom as starter will play an intricate part of your first batch of brew. Later; when you have more starter you can brew more tea, if you want to brew a half gallon (2 quarts or 64 ounces) just double all the numbers and if you want to brew a gallon (4 quarts or 128 ounces) fourblize the numbers or multiply the numbers by four. The purpose of the starter is to prevent mold, a healthy scoby with even the smallest percentage of starter will not grow mold, mold is not a common occurance if you use starter.  

There is a method where you don’t have to use kombucha tea as starter and it may come in handy to know. You can use distilled white vinegar. A tablespoon; or better yet, a tablespoon and a half per quart of distilled vinegar, white, apple, cider or white wine vinegar can take the place of kombucha tea as a starter if it is necessary, maybe you forgot and drank all you starter or you dropped the jar and the starter is on the floor. You can use this alternative method. It will make the fermentation process take longer but it will keep the culture safe from getting mold. Remember the vinegar must be distilled not live, brewed or fermented. his recipe .

O.K.; so, you got your mushroom and your starter in the mail, what next? Well; we are going to do our water thing and start heating a lot more than 32 ounces. When we get our natural spring water rear to a boil or when we have boiled our tap water for 10 minutes we are going to measure or estimate 32 ounces in our stainless steel pot by removing the excess heated water down to 32 ounces (I forgot to mention, don’t use aluminum use only stainless steel to heat your water) So; we have 32 ounces in the pot by whatever method we got there. Now; we are going to operate on the 10% rule, everything is going to be based upon 10% because that will work and it’s easy to remember, we will also deviate from the rule but don’t worry about that now. We are going to put in 2 tea bags or a tablespoons of loose black, green or oolong tea into the 32 ounces we have heated, if we are using boiling tap water wait for the water to stop boiling.

Now we have our 32 ounces of water brewing our tablespoon of loose tea or 2 teabags of tea. After about 5 or 10 minutes of that we now add about 3.2 ounces of sugar. We don’t want to put the sugar in when the water is too hot because it might caramelize and yet we don’t want to put the sugar in when it is too cool because it won’t dissolve (you figure it out) After 20 minutes stir and remove the teabags. Take out of the mixture 10% which is 3.2 ounces and then take out another 5% which is about an ounce and a half and wait till the mixture is room temperature. When the mixture of tea and sugar is at room temperature add the same amount of starter tea to equal what you took out before when the new tea with sugar was still hot or you can put in a little more. You need to put in 10 to 15% starter tea to the ratio of new tea and sugar in order to create a ph level in the final mixture that will prevent mold. The amount you use is up to you and when you have more experience you can play with that figure between 10 and 15%

In this recipe I have suggested 15% you can adjust that amount after you have been doing this for a while. Now we put the mushroom in this final mixture. It does not matter if the mushroom appears to be upside down. It does not matter if the mushroom is too small or too large for the container you are planning to combine the mushroom and mixture in. What does matter is that the mushroom will be in a container that has enough room so the mixture can more than cover the mushroom and then there must also be room enough so that when you cover the container with a coffee filter, or a cloth, or nylon stocking, no part of the covering can droop down and touch the new mixture that will ferment for the next week or 2. Air plays an important part in the fermentation process so don’t stack or cover the brewing containers but be sure to see that they get air. It is also at this point where you will be touching your kombucha mushroom, wash your hands very well, rinse them very well and use plastic gloves if you can

Everything is in order now and we are brewing. Keep the mixture in its glass container with its porous top that allow in air and keeps out bugs and other things that we don’t want in our fermenting mixture. Keep it in a warm quiet place ideally where the temperature is 78 to 82 degrees. If you are serious about brewing kombucha you will buy a heating pad system and monitor the temperature. In a few days a jelly like membrane will start to spread on the top of the mixture. The mother mushroom may be attached right underneath the membrane or it could be separated on the bottom or even standing on its side. The membrane will grow and solidify, it may be bumpy and uneven, and it may appear to have different shades or colors or black spots. This is normal. Many people get upset when they see a sort of blue hue and they think mold but this is usually not mold, (we will talk about mold a little further down the page). Sometimes the new mushroom will blow up with air like a balloon and this is actually a good sign.

When I sell a scoby I am going to send a very pretty mushroom because that is what is expected but a pretty mushroom means nothing, that mushroom that is blowing up like a balloon is doing so because there is a lot of carbon dioxide going on in the mixture which is a good sign of a good fermentation but the mushroom may not be pretty. The carbon dioxide may make the mushroom uneven or may even create a hole or holes, those are not bad things. Under the new mushroom and the mother or between them may be black stringy things, those are spent yeast products and they are not bad things either.

In about 6 days take a drinking straw; put your index finger over the hole on one side and put the other side in the mixture without disturbing the mushroom too much. Draw out a couple of inches of the mixture and taste it. If you like the way it tastes the brewing process is done; otherwise, do the same process every other day until you do like the taste; with a little experience you will find your own method and time to test the brew. Remember this, every time you disturb your new mushroom by getting some tea on its top, it will stop growing and a new mushroom will begin on top of it. There is nothing wrong with this at all.

If you see clearly defined tiny concentric circles like what you might find on an old piece of bread that is mold, don’t worry so much about it, it won’t kill you even if you drank it’ but the mixture, if it does have mold, will not be fermented and will taste sweet even after many days brewing. That is mold, throw it away. But is really hard to get mold if you use any starter at all... I tried to grow mold and I couldn't do it... if your kombucha scoby is strong it will make the ph level of your solution acidic all by itself just about and that is enough to discourage mold...

I wash my utensils in the dishwasher with no soap; I use plastic gloves when touching the mushrooms. I splash some white vinegar on the utensils and in the jars, I actually spray it on from a spray bottle. I have never had mold and my kombucha is beautiful. Oh; I forgot to mention about the sugar. Once again; believe it or not kombucha prefer plain white sugar and I have also read this in more than one place. If you want to buy fancy expensive alternatives to white sugar you may but you are just waisting you money. That is how I understand it.

To Store Kombucha

simply brew it with the same ingredients as above the only difference will be you will want a container that is much wider than the mushroom, if the container is not very wide the mushroom may kinda grab hold of the containers edges and hold on and as the liquid is absorbed and evaporates. The mushroom will stay in the same place holding on to the container while the mixture sinks below it leaving the mushroom suspended above the mixture holding on to the sides of the container which we don't want. If the container is very wide the mushroom will stay in the liquid mixture and you can leave it there for about 3 or 4 weeks as long as the mixture and mushroom are in contact and the mushroom is not sitting on the bottom of the container with no mixture. Get the picture? If not email me. Oh and keep a top on it so it doesn't get air... this will make the bacteria and yeast sleepy and inactive

The thing about sugar

You may not want to believe it but white sugar is best for brewing kombucha. White sugar is the simplest sugar and breaks down the easiest. It is the easiest and fastest sugar for kombucha to digest and kombucha does best when it is fed white sugar. At the end of 5 to 10 days of brewing 80% percent of this white sugar will be changed into into healthy acids and digestive enzymes. It is still not recommended for sufferers of Candida to drink kombucha at this point. A14 day (at least) brew is necessary for Candida sufferers and at that point Kombucha is like a medicine because it is not going to taste so good and there is still a small percentage of sugar left in the mix. So although it sounds wrong black tea and white sugar do kombucha best

Finally, these directions will help you to a fine brew with many healthful benefits. I may have left things out and you are certainly welcome to email me at the contact me with any questions or to tell me how wrong I am. I really welcome the communication, bring the world;

I have met such nice people from all over the world by answering questions about kombucha and kefir. To make your kombucha very happy play reggae music songs of praise of the most high Ja Ras Tafari. Trust in the kings name My kombucha are raised in a satvic kitchen. Om Namah Shivaya

What the heck is a continuous brewing system?

Get a big jar of a 1/2 gallon and up... get some kombucha scobys.... start your brewing... When you have your brew the way you like it start drinking it but... replace the kombuca tea you take out with new fresh sweet tea.... you don't have to replace the tea every time you take some out but don't let the mix get to low... remember to replace what you take out before you mix gets to low so as to keep the ph level at a good place to ward of any bacteria that might like to get in your mix ...if you have a good strong tea in there you will never have to worry about that.... ... you don't need a spigot jar you can just ladle the tea out of any jar and that is it... you can keep the continuous brew going for the rest of you life... enjoy!