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jenmidge

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Posts posted by jenmidge

    Kombucha Makers Unite; Where to ask and be answered

    in Recipe Sharing

    Posted

    I have my first scoby hotel. Do I need to top it up with fresh sweet tea occasionally and if so, how often? I've read conflicting advice on different websites. Also, I made it with white K tea, will this contain enough tannins for long term storage or should I top up with black tea? It's kept in the back of a cupboard rather than fridge.

    My last batch had good fizz after first and second ferment but after sitting in the fridge for a week, seems to have gone flat. Has anyone else experienced this? I'm using flip top old K bottles which seem airtight. 

    Kombucha Makers Unite; Where to ask and be answered

    in Recipe Sharing

    Posted

    13 hours ago, ShannonM816 said:

    If it's definitely mold and not stray bits of tea or something, definitely toss it all.  You can read more about mold and see pics of what it looks like here, if you have any doubts.

    Thankyou. the link was very helpful. It is definitely mould but I now know the probable cause. I'm a bit frugal with my central heating and the brewing environment is therefore colder than recommended.  I thought this would just result in longer fermentation time until I read the info on the link. thanks again.

    Kombucha Makers Unite; Where to ask and be answered

    in Recipe Sharing

    Posted

    How NOT to brew Kombucha

    I bottled my second brew yesterday. I made a new lot of sweet tea with 4.5 litres water, 16 white tea bags (because I forget to buy more green tea) and 2 cups of sugar. I drained my 6.5 litre cb jar apart from 1 cup and topped up with the new tea. I didn't strain the tea when I poured it into my cb vessel and there were some strange little black bits which settled on top of my scoby. I fished out the top scoby with black bits and rinsed it under a tap then dumped it in a plastic tub, deciding not to use.

      I then decided to add more tea to the vessel so made another 1.5 litres of tea with 8 tea bags and 1 cup of sugar. It was at that point that I checked on-line for tea recipe and realized I could simply top up my new brew with filtered water as there was already enough tea and sugar. Topped it up to 6 litres and  went to bed thinking I'd just wasted a lot of expensive tea bags then remembered I had a 2.5 litre jar which I'd bought with my first Scobies and not used, so Jumped out of bed, rinsed jar with vinegar, poured in tea and 1 cup of ginger Kombucha from my first brew, topped up to 2 litres with water then added my dumped scoby.

    Checked this morning and it's not died yet.

    On a positive note, my second brew has good fizz already:)

    Oh and I didn't label my bottles so can't tell between the ginger lime and plain ginger.

     

    Kombucha Makers Unite; Where to ask and be answered

    in Recipe Sharing

    Posted

     

    9 hours ago, jmcbn said:

    You need to let it ferment a little longer to reduce the sweetness. The fizz will come.....

    Aye, I realise now that I was too impatient to bottle. 

    I'm curious to know if Kombucha still has the same caffeine content as the original tea. I gave up my daily latte last friday to commit to another W30 and considered myself to be caffeine free but perhaps not??

    Kombucha Makers Unite; Where to ask and be answered

    in Recipe Sharing

    Posted

    I'm not getting notifications of new posts either, hopefully this will be resolved soon.

    I decided to bottle before going away after all. I am brewing about 6 litres in a cb vessel with two large scobies.  My bottled batch has a very slight fizz and the taste is definitely drinkable so not bad for a first attempt I guess. I've wrapped my cb vessel in natural sheep wool insulation (it looks warm and cosy) for the second brew which now has the two original scobies plus the baby which is thickening up nicely.

    One improvement on the commercial stuff is the smell!! Mine doesn't have the parmesan cheese aroma of Love Kombucha which is a definite plus. :)

    Kombucha Makers Unite; Where to ask and be answered

    in Recipe Sharing

    Posted

    My kombucha is still not ready for bottling. Once it is ready, how quickly will it turn too vinegary to use? I'm going away this weekend and  wont be home to test it for two days. Right now, it is still tastes slightly like sweet tea and is barely fizzy. The only commercial kombucha I've tried is made from green tea (Love kombucha) and I've been waiting for my home brew to taste similar, but maybe it wont???  I've made mine from 2/3 white tea and 1/3 green. Today is day 15. It has been cold here and the temperature strip has consistently read 68 deg. A bit colder than recommended I know.

    Kombucha Makers Unite; Where to ask and be answered

    in Recipe Sharing

    Posted

    My scobies finally arrived in the post last week. I am using two large scobies with a 1.5 gallon cb container. Today is day four. The recipe that came with my scobies recommended tasting daily from day 3. I tried it this morning and it tasted like sweet tea mixed with vinegar. Is this normal? Store bought booch doesn't taste like vinegar at all. It looks okay, there is a film covering the top of the brew which I assume is a baby scoby (?). Also, when I come to bottling from my CB and adding more tea, do I leave the two original scobies and the new film in or remove one or both original scobies and just leave the filmy substance?

    Kombucha Makers Unite; Where to ask and be answered

    in Recipe Sharing

    Posted

    9 hours ago, Cathy125 said:

    For my gallon jug I used the starter tea that came with my Scooby plus 1/2 cup of distilled vinegar as I was not sure it was enough.  I've since read

    various schools of thought on the distilled vinegar but, have concluded it worked just fine especially since it produced a fine Scooby baby.

     

    Thanks for the info. I like the sound of my first Scoby baby.

    I've taken on board all advice and went shopping for a bigger brewing vessel after work tonight. I ended up buying a 1.5 gallon CB jar.  I hope my Scoby wont feel too overwhelmed as he is being delivered with a much smaller jar. (why he is male, I've no idea.:unsure:). I  just need him/it to arrive now so I can start brewing. I've read that I can't wash out the brewing jar with detergent so I've rinsed it out with vinegar and water. What about my bottles? I think I've probably already washed them out with detergent, does this matter?

    • Like 1

    Kombucha Makers Unite; Where to ask and be answered

    in Recipe Sharing

    Posted

    54 minutes ago, jmcbn said:

    Where did you get your starter kit from @jenmidge? I got mine from Happy Kombucha but have found for additonal bottles, brewing jars etc that they are cheaper on Amazon (& I've found a few Kilner ones at decent prices in T K Maxx every now & then). I started out with x2 2L jars and x4 bottles but have moved on to x2 5L continuous brew jars and I've about 20 bottles ranging in size from 250ml to 1L - and I find I need them all by the time I bottle, do a second ferment (F2), and then drink... I use the x2 2L jars as Hotels now.

    I ordered my starter kit from Happy Kombucha. We have a T K Maxx in town so I'll check it out. I've just had a quick look on Amazon and they have some lovely jars. Thanks for the tips. 

    Hey Casey, it's so great that I get to share my new obsession with you:):)

    • Like 1

    Kombucha Makers Unite; Where to ask and be answered

    in Recipe Sharing

    Posted

    I'm reading the posts above with a big smile on my face. So pleased to have fellow brewers to share the fun.  

    Cathy, did you just use the cup of tea that came with your Scoby as starter fluid for your first batch? I can't wait to start brewing. I want to try passion fruit cos I absolutely love the flavor. My starter kit only comes with a half gallon brewing vessel and it's now dawning on me that it wont be nearly big enough. I've always rationed my store bought kombucha cos it's so expensive and my nearest supply is an hour drive away.  I figured that I'd get 4 x 16oz bottles every 2 weeks and that would be okay to start but I wasn't counting on needing to save so much for the next batch or for Scoby hotels. I can't bare the thought of waiting 2 weeks for 2-3 bottles:( I'm going to have to get a bigger vessel!.

     

    Kombucha Makers Unite; Where to ask and be answered

    in Recipe Sharing

    Posted

    Hi

    I'm Jen. I'm hoping to resurrect this thread because I ordered my starter kit yesterday and it would be great to have others to share the fun with. I'm about halfway through reading all the posts from the start (it's taken HOURS!!) so most of the questions I had, have been answered already but no doubt when I start brewing I'll have even more questions. I wish I'd started reading from the beginning before I ordered my starter kit cos I'd have felt braver about growing my own SCOBY.

    I've cleared out part of a cupboard for my mother brew and now have a mason jar of water sitting in there so I can test the temp later. Can't wait to test out some of the flavors I've been reading about on this thread.

    • Like 2

    Help! Resources in the UK

    in Food, Drink and Condiments

    Posted

    British problem. I enjoy my tea..that's Yorkshire Tea. With milk. Other milk substitutes are just Wrong in tea.

    Hate coffee, dislike fruit teas. They are insipid and overpriced, I'd rather drink water.

    So what do other people drink? Oh lemon in black tea is OK once in a while, but will rot the enamel on your teeth if drunk by the gallon as I do my tea.

    Ideas, please.

     

     

    I so agree with you. I gave up my Yorkshire gold altogether as I couldn't stand it with almond milk. I never thought it would last but I have actually stopped missing it now. I drink peppermint blends mostly, or plain peppermint. I usually have at least 3 different teas in the cupboard. Pukka do a night time blend which is nice.

    • Like 1

    Help! Resources in the UK

    in Food, Drink and Condiments

    Posted

    Baby spinach - where do you buy yours? I gave up on Aldi as their's just wasn't 'baby' with thick stalks and large leaves. Now Sainsbury's are going the same way. I want nice little leaves with thin stalks. Any idea where I can get these?

    Waitrose still sell baby spinach leaves.

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