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Kombucha Makers Unite; Where to ask and be answered


kb0426

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So true Nadia. I need to remember to wrap it in a bit of wax paper though. I keep it in my smallest Pyrex dish and it sticks to the glass. I just thaw a bit to loosen it, but WAY too much trouble for this lazy girl. Plus..it grates so much better when frozen.

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Strawberry chocolate mint is a success! I have a potted chocolate mint plant (like regular mint only with a hint of chocolatey flavor) and simmered the leaves in some strained strawberry puree. It's delicious and super refreshing!

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Booch is back in my life. Just started the SCOBY from a bottle of GT today. I miss it. I vow to not freak out when I have too much booch and too many SCOBYs to handle. :)

 

Don't freak out if you have too much booch. I'm just a short drive up the I-5 and will gladly take some of your hands.  ;)

 

Glad to see you back on the booch wagon...I'm still stalling on the moving forward.  :rolleyes:

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Don't freak out if you have too much booch. I'm just a short drive up the I-5 and will gladly take some of your hands. ;)

Glad to see you back on the booch wagon...I'm still stalling on the moving forward. :rolleyes:

Oh that's right. When my SCOBYs get too much for me, I can send them to you. I am on my way to the airport. Going to England and Scotland for 2 weeks. We may skip Scotland and head for Greece. Your mission (should you accept it) is to find out how these people ship their SCOBYs.

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  • 1 month later...

Forgive me for not reading through all 1,000+ answers before asking, but I'm wondering whether anyone has tried to use pineapple or papaya in flavoring their booch, and whether the digestive enzymes seem to survive the fermentation process? I tried some enzyme pills that were compliant, but which gave me a raging headache. Was hoping I might be able to get the benefit without the reaction from whatever other ingredients in the pills. (I have never had trouble with pineapple or papaya, though it's been years since I've had papaya.)

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Forgive me for not reading through all 1,000+ answers before asking, but I'm wondering whether anyone has tried to use pineapple or papaya in flavoring their booch, and whether the digestive enzymes seem to survive the fermentation process? 

 I've done pineapple flavored, and it is yummy. I do find kombucha aids with digestion, but I'm not sure if that was enhanced with the pineapple vs. other flavors. I would give it a try and see if it is helpful to you.

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I've been making Kombucha for about 7 months now.  A few times let go to long so turned to vinegar.  My scoby rocks (it produces a baby every week it seems).  I'm just curious about your brewing times.  I pulled this latest batch earlier than I ever have (7 days) to see what I think but worried it will be too sweet (so too much sugar).   I live in the SE and it is warm and like I said my scoby is great (the Kombucha today was very fizzy!).

 

Thanks in advance :0

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I finally ended up tossing the SCOBY I got and never brewed with during the move. I bought a plain bottle of GTs yesterday to start my own. I have the book fermented so will follow her instructions. I do have a good place for brewing now so I really have no excuses left. Need to save money and I'm getting more fruit from my CSA than I can eat so I need something to flavor. Will some of you keep me accountable? Ask me about it?

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You have to do it, Bethany!  Once you get into a rhythm, it's easy.

 

Helen - this has worked for me since May:

Friday night - bottle flavored booch and refridgerate (I use mason jars and old store bought kombucha bottles - usually get 7 - one per day)

Saturday - brew tea and leave (covered) out to cool

Sunday - move unflavored booch (less 2 C) to flavoring jar(s), add flavoring.  Fill booch jar with 2 C of saved booch, scoby and brewed tea.  Return all to pantry.

Start over the next Friday.  So, 1st ferment is 7 days and 2nd flavoring ferment is 5 days.

 

The only week I had a problem was when we were at the cabin so I couldn't do the Friday process and it went a couple days too long in the flavoring stage.  It was a big vinegary, but I still drank it.

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Has anyone "downsized" their scoby?  Mine is in a 2 gallon jar, and is ENORMOUS.  He just keeps getting thicker and thicker.  He brews up 2 gallons in about 5 days now.  (It used to be 2 weeks.)  Last week I just had to "hotel" him for a week.  I couldn't fit anymore bottles in my outside refrigerator.  (I'm about 50 bottles deep now.)

 

I had a second scoby, but sent it to NY in a suitcase with my best friend so she could brew her own.  He survived just fine, if anyone has been wanting to try that.  He was in a zip lock in a tupperwear and she opened him up as soon as she got him out of her checked luggage.

 

I laugh at myself for thinking this was so complicated.  I have booch coming out of my ears now!

 

Oh-and regarding the burping...I haven't had anything explode in my fridge, but if I don't burp they will hit the ceiling when I go to drink them. 

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Mary - a month?  WOW!  You like it strong!  I didn't mind the couple extra days, but my son didn't like it that way.  I may have to change my process once it gets cold.  Brrrr!

 

I downsize my scoby.  I have 2 in the scoby hotel and so when the main one gets too big, I just peel off a layer or two and toss it (I know - horror!).  I probably should replace the scobys in the hotel next time just to keep them fresher. 

 

I don't burp them and I've never had anything eplode.  Knock on wood!

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:D no burping here: my containers for 2nd ferment are not that air tight. :D

 

I do peel off layers of scoby whenever they get particularly gnarly-looking. Those just go into the compost.

 

The month for the first ferment was last winter with colder weather and a smaller scoby. We will see how things change now that my scoby are a bit more robust  :) .

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I am a bit lazier in my process but so far so good.  I think the batch that went to vinegar went 20 days.  I usually just bottle mine with some berries and sometimes ginger in old GT bottles and let sit out another day or two and then refrigerate and drink the next week.  I strain them when I drink them.  I think this batch is a little sweet for me so plan to pull next batch after 10 days.  Thanks for the input!

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I am new to kombucha brewing and basically need someone to reassure me that I'm doing this right! I ordered a scoby from Kombucha Kamp and followed her instructions for my first batch. However, I'm confused about where to go from here! Tonight my batch has been brewing for 8 days, and tasted not very sweet, so I decided it was time. My mama scoby was floating at the bottom, and a little baby scoby was at the top. I vinegared my hands and took the baby out, put it in a glass pyrex dish, and covered it with raw kombucha, poured the rest of the booch into my bottles (which have ginger slices and hibiscus in them - my favorite GT so far!), put the mama scoby in the dish too and covered them both with raw booch. They are now in a cabinet, covered with a lid (plastic, but it isn't touching the tea or scoby).

 

So now I lid the flavored booch and let it sit for a day or two, burping maybe every morning and night, and put them in the fridge when they're done, right? And my scobys can stay in their hotel till I'm ready to attempt another batch?

 

Sorry for the hand-holding - I do wish someone would do (or link to) a step-by-step on how to transition from batch 1 to batch 2 and beyond! I'm scared I'll mess it up without clear instructions.

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Let the flavored booch sit at room temp for a while.  I do 5 days to get some fizz.  You'll want to test it and find what you like best.  The mama and baby can stay in the hotel until you're ready for them or you can leave the mama in the hotel as a backup and start a new batch with the baby.  It is scary at first!  But, once you get into a routine, it's so easy.

Read my post above (#1063) for my weekly schedule.  It keeps me in enough booch to have a bottle a day, which is perfect for me.   

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Thanks, pjena! The baby is pretty thin - so if I start a new batch, it will either take a lot longer with just the baby, or could I put them both in at once? I burped the bottles this morning - I'd rather not have them explode in my kitchen.

 

I'll definitely check out your post. I started reading from the beginning, but haven't made it through all 54 pages yet. :) I appreciate it!

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You can use both at once to make it go a little faster!  Mine usually are fused (though it's pefectly fine if mama hangs out at the bottom) so I usually just use the whole thing until it seems too big and then I peel off a layer or two.

 

My simple schedule is just 6 or 7 up from here.  There is a LOT of great information on the 54 pages, though.  :)

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Howdy fellow kombucha makers.  I started making kombucha again this past summer and totally love the stuff.  I'm wondering if anyone knows what the protocol for drinking it is.  Is it on-plan to drink anytime/anywhere or is it better to drink it with meals.  Please advise.

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