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Kombucha Makers Unite; Where to ask and be answered


kb0426

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in the 10 and 1/2 months i've been brewing i haven't tried flavoring my kombucha and am thinking of trying it on one of my next batches...so am skimming for ideas...if i could get plentiful, peaches, preferably organic, that peach ginger combination sounds great. i do love ginger...i suppose i'll have to see what fruits are a decent price in the grocery store and farmer's market.

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That's so funny...I never thought of not flavoring mine.  You've inspired me-I'm going to do one bottle with no flavoring.  I've never even tried a plain GT!

 

I'm also going to try to make something like gingerade.  I think I'll try it in a white batch so it's light.  Nothing but ginger.  Maybe a drop of lemon.

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I am happy to announce that my booch is back to being fuzzy!  Lizzard you are my hero! Second fermenting for a few extra days has definitely brought my fizzy back!

 

Now that coffee booch has me intrigued!  I am glad I started a new SCOBY a few days ago!

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I made one bottle of my last batch strawberry ginger and did it in a GT bottle (I was out of Grolsch bottles).  It was disgusting and had no fizz.  I dumped it.  I am hoping that the others are fizzy-I cut my 2nd ferment from 5 days to 4 to avoid explosions-I hope I didn't make a mistake.  (And I hope the strawberry/blueberry ones are better than plain strawberry!)  Has anyone ever tried to ferment again after they have refrigerated?  I'm thinking of trying this if the other bottles have no fizz-I definitely won't drink them that way.

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Hi Newbie here. I have been curious about Kombucha for awhile. I was at WF today and bought the GT Hibiscus Kombucha and I really liked it. My question is, do you have to use black tea? Can I use Hibiscus Tea? Also, I have the bottle I bought, it's about 3/4 full. Do you think I can use that to make my on SCOBY?

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Hi Newbie here. I have been curious about Kombucha for awhile. I was at WF today and bought the GT Hibiscus Kombucha and I really liked it. My question is, do you have to use black tea? Can I use Hibiscus Tea? Also, I have the bottle I bought, it's about 3/4 full. Do you think I can use that to make my on SCOBY?

While purists will tell you you must use black tea, it is possible to grow kombucha using several other varieties (oolong, white tea, green tea all come to mind), That said, a purely herbal tea like hibiscus will not work for the first fermentation. I would use one of those I mention above and then add hibiscus during a second ferment just like GTs does when they make their version.

 

For your starter, it will work best to use a plain, unflavored variety. Just enjoy the rest of the Hibiscus bottle and pick up a bottle of plain to start your new batch.

 

have fun!

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Checking in as a fellow kt brewer... I've been doing it several mos, and have a little experience to share. I may not be on here, much, but you can message me. I try to burp every other day, but lately I've gotten lazy and didn't burp at all, just put them in the fridge after a week. I was using wide-mouth glass jars for second ferment. The wide mouth seems to be less "explosive" and not as prone to explosions. Can't really tell that it's much more carbonated than usual, though. One thing I try not to do is burp the day or two before they go in the fridge, for that extra carbonation.

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i finally flavored some and had strawberry/ginger come out awesome, my kids even love it. i do my second ferment in the gt's bottles and burp them after 24 hours then again after another 24 hours, but i don't burp them the 3rd or 4th day..i just put them in the fridge after 4 days. tons of fizz.  

 

i have made coffee boocha and it was good, not awesome, but good, mine didn't get all that fizzy. i have been thinking of trying it again, though.

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Hi Newbie here. I have been curious about Kombucha for awhile. I was at WF today and bought the GT Hibiscus Kombucha and I really liked it. My question is, do you have to use black tea? Can I use Hibiscus Tea? Also, I have the bottle I bought, it's about 3/4 full. Do you think I can use that to make my on SCOBY?

i frequently make green tea kombucha and i love the taste, and it never fails to turn out excellent. i also second the buying a bottle of plain kombucha for starting a scoby.

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I ended up tossing the cherry vanilla...it was just too fermented tasting and sour. The second flavor I made was peach ginger with fresh grated ginger and local peaches I picked myself and it is AMAZING! Totally delicious! Next flavor will be strawberry mint with local strawberries from the farmers market and the mint I have growing outside :D

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i was hoping to making grape and/or grape ginger, but someone ate all of my grapes while i was out yesterday despite being told not to touch them, so i am trying cranberry ginger which may end up overly tart, but i'm hoping they'll be good, maybe not as good as the strawberry ginger that i made, but we'll see how it goes.

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Well, I don't know if this is kosher, but as I love a little ginger paired with any fruit or even alone, and I get tired of grating fresh ginger or running it through the food processor (ooh, stringy!), I've taken to buying the Reed's ginger candy to add to my kombucha for second ferment. I can run it through the food processor, and it will still have a nice texture without all the stringiness. It has only 2 ingredients, ginger and cane sugar (both organic)... Like I said, idk whether the sugar is "legal" for a second ferment... But omigosh, awesome kick! I am stuck on ginger. I have done ginger kombucha (awesome!), ginger-citrus, ginger-pear, ginger-berry... Even ginger-apple, which ended up tasting a bit like hard cider. Planning a ginger-blueberry, this go-round!

(Note that I am not currently on a strict W30, but I would like to hear feedback on the Reed's for a second ferment. I've also used ginger powder when I didn't care to mess with raw ginger, but I prefer the Reed's, to date... Effervescence!!)

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Suth_n..adding the candy during a W30 is not okay. The sugar has no SCOBY to eat it during the second ferment. However, have at it when not on a W30. Don't tell anyone, but I add a tsp of raw honey to my second ferment when NOT on a W30. Just between you and me. ;0)

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Ah, Thx for clarifying, Susan... So the experience, above, would be for while not on W30, I guess. It gets confusing, as kombucha is W30 legal, and by default, it is made with sugar. I was told, "no back sweetening," which I interpreted to mean, "don't add sweetener to completed product just before drinking," even though it is known that sugar is part of the fermentation. So I wasn't sure how far it extended... Only to first ferment? Into second ferment? Wasn't sure where the line was.

Good to know it is probably "kombucha legal", if not W30 legal, though.

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Yes the sugar in first ferment is for the SCOBY. Sugar in second ferment stays as sugar for the most part. There just isn't enough of the SCOBY in the second ferment to eat it. I would love to be proven wrong so if you get different info do let me know. We need a food scientist to do some testing. :D

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