I’m going to be honest: this how-to could probably be written as a tweet rather than a blog post. It’s REALLY, REALLY easy. Anyone with access to kombucha and a f00d-safe container can do it, but here are a few tips that will help you make the most of this process.
Use the best kombucha you can find – If you only have access to grocery store kombucha, that’s probably okay (more on that next week), but kombucha from a friend who brews at home, or, barring that, kombucha from a small, local fermentation company is much, much better than the mass produced stuff in my experience.
Let it breathe – Kombucha is an aerobic ferment, which simply means that it needs to be exposed to the air if you want fermentation to work properly. This doesn’t mean leaving it open for whatever dust and buggies happen to be floating around at your place. It does mean using a fine weave cloth of some kind as a cover, and leaving your vessel relatively empty to allow for maximum airflow. Coffee filters, paper towels, cloth napkins and tightly woven cheesecloth or muslin are all good options.
Keep it cozy – Kombucha fermentation works best on the warmer end of the room temperature spectrum. My booch goes gangbusters in the summer, so I always search for the warmest spot in my home in the winter, both for brewing and for growing a SCOBY. Anything in the low 80 degrees F range will work out nicely. Don’t worry if it’s not that warm chez vous. Do try to keep it above 68 degrees though. In my experience when it hits 65ish and below, things get really sluggish in there, which is okay, but sometimes frustrating.
Don’t go shaking your jar – If your response to reading that was “I couldn’t if I tried,” then we should maybe be friends. Not the point, though. Your best bet is just to let your jar sit, undisturbed while the SCOBY is forming. When your SCOBY is just a new, thin film, you could definitely break it apart with a good shake. Then you’d have to wait for a new thin layer to form and repeating the process could start to get boring.
Grow it grand (or not) – Your SCOBY will grow to the diameter and shape of your container (and yes, you can can grow gigando SCOBYs in gigando containers), so choose an appropriate vessel. If you’re going to be using it for large, multi-gallon batches of continuous brew, you may want to use a glass or ceramic soup or mixing bowl as your container. If you’re going to be brewing a quart (1 L) or 1/5 gallon (2 L) at a time, using a quart jar and a cup of booch will do the trick nicely.
Now for the how-to!
Growing a Kombucha Tea SCOBY
- Start with a cup of the best quality kombucha* you can find and a food-grade, non-metallic vessel. If you have access to restaurant grade stainless steel, that’s fine to use. I used a quart-sized mason jar for this post.
- Pour 1 cup of finished kombucha into the jar, and then cover the jar with a coffee filter, piece of muslin or other fine cheese cloth, cloth napkin, double layer of paper towel, etc, and attach it to the jar with a rubber band or string. If you’re using a wider vessel, you should use more than 1 cup of booch. Shoot for about 2 inches of liquid in the bottom of the container.
- Move the jar to a warm spot away from direct sunlight where it won’t need to be moved for 1 to 2 weeks.
- Check in every few days. By day 4, you should see at least a thin, translucent film forming on the top of the liquid. By day 7, you’ll have an actual, small SCOBY. I like to wait until the SCOBY is about 1/2 inch thick before using it to make kombucha, but you might never get a SCOBY that thick with store-bought kombucha, so wait until at least day 11 or 12 if the SCOBY isn’t getting much thicker (again, that will only be an issue with store-bought booch).
- Once you have a nice lil SCOBY, you’re ready to make kombucha! Easy as pie!
*If you’re using grocery store kombucha, add 2 teaspoons of cane sugar per cup and stir to dissolve. This will still not give you the same quality of SCOBY as home-brew, but according to GT’s Customer Relations Supervisor, it’s the best way to grow a SCOBY from their booch. More on this topic next week.
Lisa G. says
When you refer to grocery store kombucha, would the health food store stuff be in that category? I’ve gotten some at the health food store – would that be better than the supermarket brands? I’m wondering if I should still put sugar in any store-bought kombucha. (I am very psyched, and will try this when it gets a little warmer!)
Amanda says
Hi Lisa,
I don’t know. Unless it’s a small local brand, then the same thing would definitely apply. Smaller brands can control their time to market better, so they don’t need to worry about alcohol content, whereas brands that are more widely distributed definitely do. I would add the sugar anyway. It’s not going to hurt anything and it could help. (PS-Don’t worry, the sugar is for the SCOBY in this case, not for you :-))
Lisa G. says
Thank you!
Jordyn says
Hi! When you say “cane sugar” do you mean the raw, unbleached kind from a bulk store? Or, would plain old white sugar work ok?
Amanda says
“Table sugar” would probably be a more clear term than the one I used. Good luck!
Villainesse says
“Cane” actually might be important, as gmo beets are being more and more used for ‘table sugar’.
Mila says
I use white sugar and it’s great. I’ve been making my own for over a year. Game changer!
Emily says
I am on day 9 with store bought kombucha (G&Ts). I did add the sugar and my house is on the cold side 65-67 degrees. It has been slow going, but is definetely working. My day 9 looks more like the day 3 pics above. Hoping in another week or so, it will be much thicker!
Amanda says
Hey Emily,
The store-bought may never thicken as much as you’d like it too, but I would recommend proceeding after another week. Just make sure to make a small batch of booch the first time, and to add the whole of that batch to your subsequent, larger batch. Eventually you’ll have healthier SCOBYs!
Emily says
Thanks for all the advice. After Food in Jars linked to this post I went right out and bought kombucha to grow my own SCOBY. I have been wanting to make kombucha for a long time but didn’t want to pay a lot of money for a mail-order SCOBY and I don’t know anybody local. It’s kind of exciting watching the progress everyday!
Lisa G. says
I feel the same way! I was going to wait for warmer weather, but I ended up getting some kombucha today – couldn’t wait. 🙂 Your above comments are helpful to me, too.
Marisa says
Good ol’ Elton-that’ll be stuck in my head for days now!
Thanks for all the kombucha tips and posts. I finally have a healthy SCOBY, and I’m determined to keep it alive. I’m currently brewing my third batch. I put both SCOBYs in because I didn’t know if the older or newer would be healthier/stronger, and I was hoping for a the-more-the-merrier sort of effect.
Emily says
Hi Amanda!
I just wanted to thank you for sharing your blogging experiences with me and everyone else at the Eating Words event this past weekend. The event was so much fun, and your comments were really insightful at the bloggers breakout session. I’m looking forward to catching you at one of your future workshops! In the meantime, I’m trying to figure out which one of your fermentation recipes I want to try first! Leaning towards your kimchi recipe first:)
Tara says
Hi
Love this thread.
Does the kombucha that I start with to grow my first scoby need to be unflavoured? I found a great small organic Brewer but bought lemon and roots flavoured and no plain.
Thanks
Amanda says
I wouldn’t worry at all about using the flavored kind from a small, local producer for your first batch. Moving forward, do use plain tea though to give your SCOBY the best odds of success!
Deb Beer says
I just split my scoby yesterday and started two new batches but my scoby’s are not floating to the top….I am very careful to be very clean including hands, glass jars and utensils…any ideas?
Amanda says
You’re okay! They don’t usually make their way right back to the top. The new layer will begin forming soon, and that can actually keep the old layers “buried” in the liquid. It’s nothing to worry about!
If you don’t see a thin new layer of SCOBY after a week, that MAYBE could indicate that your brew is dead, but even then, I would wait it out a bit. No need to worry!
Pamela says
I have had great success growing scoby’s from store bought kombucha. The one that works best for me is GT’s original unflavored in the brown bottle.
Amanda says
Hi Pamela,
Yes, you’re referring to the “Classic” which is not available in Pennsylvania due to potential alcohol content and stupid alcohol laws. I did mention it above as a likely better option.
DJ says
I remember a couple years back my husband grew our first scoby from store bought kombucha. It took 2 months to grow it.
Karwn says
Hi,
I actually live in Philly and was wondering if you had a spare scoby? I am currently trying to grow one using G&T Original Enlightened, but I’ve heard it’s not an ideal situation… I thought I’d try to contact you incase it didn’t work out!
Thank you!
Amanda says
I do give out spare SCOBYs at events and classes, but otherwise my schedule makes it difficult for me to meet folks for SCOBY-sharing. I know that Philly Homebrew Outlet is currently selling high quality SCOBYs, so that would be a great place to start!
Andy says
I have what I think might be a scoby. But it might be a vinegar mother. Is there a difference? Can they be interchangeable?
Amanda says
Hi Andy,
They can look very similar to one another, but they do not contain the same microbes. If it’s growing in your kombucha, it’s a SCOBY.
Kombucha SCOBYs have more diverse microorganisms than vinegar mothers do, so you won’t end up with a true vinegar (it’s fine as vinegar, though) if you make vinegar with it.
Vinegar mothers are generally not great to use for brewing booch, because they don’t contain all of the kombucha organisms you’d want.
Vanessa says
I have brewed my own kombucha several times but the last time I brewed I got lazy and didn’t bottle any of the batch…I know of forgot about it and it just sat in my pantry. The SCOBY got pretty big and I decided to toss out the whole batch and SCOBY because I was worried about the safety of drinking it (the batch was in my pantry for a few months!!). Would it have been safe to reuse that SCOBY? It looked healthy, but I just didn’t want to risk it. Also, do you bottle your kombucha for carbonation? The last batch I borrowed never carbonated but I’ve been successful with other batches- what’s the deal? Still learning every time I do this! Thanks!!!
Amanda says
Booch is resilient (that pH gets low and stays low, making it an inhospitable environment for bad guys), and you definitely could have used the SCOBY and the starter tea to make a new batch. As long as it didn’t dry out and get moldy, I would never have an issue using a SCOBY that’s been around the block. It may be a bit different from how it brewed before its isolation period, but it may also be exactly the same and totally fine.
I would always recommend using your nose. If things smell bad or look bad, it’s time to start fresh. Otherwise, your SCOBY will likely accept benign neglect without too much fuss. It’s one reason I keep booch going forever. Even if I need some time off, it always comes back strong! Enjoy yours!
Jillian says
I am patiently waiting for my SCOBY mother to grow! I have a few questions about how to transition into the brewing process. Every recipe I have read says you need to have a stater kombucha, can I use the tea my SCOBY just grew in? Or Is it ok to use a store bought starter?
Amanda says
Yup! Go ahead and use the tea your SCOBY grew in. Enjoy your brews!
Viveka says
Hi Amanda,
Thanks for sharing your experienced with the kombucha!
I just wanted to ask you about your recipe, it seems you are only adding sugar to the finished kombucha to grow a new scoby, and no tea? I thought the scobys were thriving on the minerals from the black tea?
Amanda says
Hi Viveka,
For brewing booch, I do add tea. To grow a SCOBY, I only add sugar. There is tea in the kombucha, and sugar is all that’s been necessary in my experience.
One thing: I read all the time that kombucha requires black tea and that has never been my experience. Every SCOBY I’ve had has done well with a variety of tea types (stick to the camellia sinensis plant: green, black, white, oolon, pu-erh, etc). If you want to branch into non-tea (tisane, etc) approach with a lot of attention (notice the health of your SCOBY over time). Some SCOBYs are fine with no tea at all, while others suffer and don’t survive.
I hope that helps!
Amy says
Hi. I’m confused. What’s kombucha versus Scoby? I was going to buy an organic Scoby from Amazon. What should I read to understand better? I have a glass canister to use, coffee filters. What else will I need?
If your room isn’t warm enough, could you wrap the glass canister with a towel to keep it warmer?
Ps I have to have a decaf tea, any recommendations, I like fruity flavors, green tea, organic preferred. Thanks.
Amanda says
Hi Amy,
I think you might like this kombucha guide! It should answer all of your questions.
Good luck getting started!
Amanda
Toni Carolan says
Thanks for all the above information.
I’m interested in 2nd fermentation.
The pictures I’ve seen are so colourful but my blueberry and blackberry kombucha teas taste great but stay fairly uncoloured.
How can I ‘tint’ up my teas?
Thanks in advance.
Amanda says
Hi Toni,
You can mash the berries up before you add them, or even juice them! Do be aware that you’re making sugars very available to the boochy microbes, so you may get a bit more carbonation than you’re used to, and it may happen more quickly (if you bottle in glass, this can cause a safety risk). If you’re already using juice, use more!
I hope that helps!
Suha Ali says
Hey, I was wondering if there was anyway I can make a scoby ( mother).without using store bought kombucha seeing as my local store doesnt carry it and I’m too far from town ??
Suha Ali says
I once made homemade grape vinegar and saw for the first time a mother, but ended up throwing it out cause I didnt know what to do with it…
Amanda says
Hi! No, unfortunately, you need something to start it. Vinegar mothers and SCOBYs aren’t the same kind of pellicle (they don’t have the same organisms in them and they don’t produce the same kind of finished liquid). You can order finished kombucha SCOBYs online for a reasonable price to save you the drive! Then you can just use white distilled vinegar in place of starter tea and you’ll be off to the races.
Judy A McCourt says
My tea from my Scoby has been refrigerated for several months and it has formed a Scooby that is kinda slimy and looks sorta brown……can I try to regrow it?
Amanda says
Hi Judy
You can try! The fridge isn’t the best place to store SCOBYs (room temp is), so it’s possible that some of the yeast strains in your SCOBY died out in that time. Here’s what I would do:
Make a small batch of kombucha with the SCOBY and starter tea you have. Don’t drink that batch. Smell it, though. Note any off smells or “hot” alcoholic smells. Make another small batch and observe the smells again. I would recommend getting some pH strips (wine ones work, and you can get those from the home-brew store or online). What you need is a strip that will give a readout down to the 2.5 range. Test the second batch after 3-4 days. The pH should be 3.5 or below. If it’s not, give it max 3 more days. If it still isn’t reading 3.5 or below, it’s probably time to ditch your SCOBY and get a new one. A naturally low pH is the reason kombucha is so so safe to drink.
If your SCOBY isn’t quickly and reliably getting that pH into the zone, it’s not worth keeping it, in my opinion. You could try a couple more brew and dumps before testing pH, if you’re really attached to that SCOBY.
I hope that helps!
Jono says
Hi I have recently started making a scoby using store bought kombuchu and some sweetened tea. There is a layer of something growing on the bottom of the jar and some cloudiness and a couple of loose pieces floating around? It has been about a week now, I’m a little bit skeptic about what’s happening. Am new to this and would really like to see this work. Is this normal as everyone says the scoby should form on top.
Thanks for any words of wisdom you can offer.
Amanda says
Hi Jono,
The SCOBY will form on the top (it needs air to form). If it’s in the liquid, it’s totally possible that the jar got jostled and the SCOBY seeped down into the liquid. Not abnormal. Another layer will form on the surface. The stuff on the bottom is most likely excess yeast.
Good luck! I hope that helps!
CORNELLA says
I bought 2 bottles of original Kombucha from the Health Store. I made a scoby but it came out thin. I kept making Kombucha with the thin scoby this winter in my kitchen. Every time I used the same scoby, and it got thicker every time. My homemade kombucha came out very good, and second fermentation produced very fizzy and aromatic kombucha. I also tried to make kombucha with chamomile tea and it was aromatic from the first fermentation. What do you think about the scoby? Do I have a good scoby? Is it necessarily for a scoby to be thick? How long can I use the same scoby?
Amanda says
Hi Cornella,
Sounds like it’s making kombucha, so in my book, that’s a good SCOBY. Your SCOBY should last forever, but for the longest life, keep the topmost SCOBY when you get pull SCOBYs out of there. The newest layers are at the top, and using those means infinite kombucha!
Carolina says
Hi
I dont know if you will still see this… But you look like someone who knows stuff well (i mean it as a compliment) so i was wondering if you could help me out…
It has been pretty cold where i live (around 20 – 25C) so in a week my ‘scoby nest’ wasn’t looking like anything promising.. but now it started to create some kind of a ‘foam looking thing’ at the top… Is that normal? Do you think that there is still a chance of it working?
Thank you
Greetings from Brazil (:
Amanda says
Hi Carolina,
I can’t say without seeing, but carbonation at the top is normal, as is the formation of a new SCOBY. Sounds like it is working!
Billy says
Thank you for the step by step pictures on how it should look throughout the process Amanda! I was worried about trying to create my own scoby but it makes it much easier knowing how things should be progressing. I’ll report back with how mine does!
emma says
My Scoby has been growing for almost a month but is still very thin, will it be ok to use to make Kombucha?
Amanda says
I can’t say without seeing it, but it really shouldn’t be super thin at a month. Personally I would probably get a fresh bottle of store-bought and throw some sugar in there to start again, but you could also test the ph of the liquid. It should be quite acidic at this point (definitely below 4 and preferably close to 3 or below).
So sorry to hear that your SCOBY didn’t thrive. Can I ask what you used as your starting medium?
Tawnya says
I’m super new to this. A week ago I started trying to grow my scoby from store bought kombucha. I’m starting to see some brown gunk forming on the surface and I’m just wondering if it’s too late to add a little sugar? I don’t want to disturb what’s going on but, then again I don’t know if what’s going on is “normal” or how much longer I need to wait for an obvious scoby formation before I just toss it all in the trash. Help!
Amanda says
Hey Tawnya,
Is the brown gunk resting on anything? Like even the thinnest possible layer? Is the brown gunk fluffy or slimy?
Maureen says
If your making another batch of kombucha how do you store your Scoby? Should I put a cloth on container out of fridge or put in fridge.
Amanda says
Hi Maureen,
If you’re not going to make your next batch right away, store your SCOBY in some of the finished kombucha. Ideally, you would add more sweet tea to the mix before leaving it, but it’s not strictly necessary.
I never put my SCOBYs in the fridge. It’s not necessary, and the cold could impact the balance of microflora in your SCOBY. Just stick it in a cupboard or on a shelf and use it whenever you’re ready next.
If you want more info on kombucha, you can check out my comprehensive kombucha guide.
Shirley Cartwright says
if your scoby sinks to bottom is it time for a new one
Amanda says
Hi Shirley,
Probably not. If the SCOBY is on the bottom of your jar (like totally on the bottom, not floating toward the bottom) and stays there for a few days while you leave your jar without moving it), it may be time for a new one. More likely, a new SCOBY layer has started forming at the top, and gasses trapped between the two SCOBYs have pushed the older layers down a bit.
In theory, a SCOBY will never die. Just make sure that when you discard layers, you’re getting rid of what’s on the bottom and keeping what’s on top. I’m 7+ years into a loving relationship with the same SCOBY and so can you.
I hope that helps!
Marilyn says
Is it possible to get a decent scoby from second fermented store batch? I have been unable to find the original flavor anywhere I have shopped.
Amanda says
Go for it! You might luck out and your SCOBY might be great right off the bat. You might get a flimsy SCOBY, but be able to grown that into something stronger and tastier over time. I have had better success with small, local brands and with home-brewed stuff, but I do recommend trying with whatever you can get your hands on.
Rachael says
I recently started growing a scoby and it’s doing really well. I didn’t think about the size of the vessel for growing the scoby until now. It’s in a 1/2 gallon mason jar but I wanted to make a continuous brew in a 2 gallon dispenser. Should I move it to the larger vessel? Will it fill in? ???? it is currently about a 1/4” thick. Thanks!
Amanda says
It will fill in! Don’t worry! You might want to let it get a little a bigger before moving to the 2 gallon vessel.
Deb says
Can you use store bought tea like Arizona or pure leaf tea to make kombucha
Amanda says
I would definitely be willing to try it. Generally those contain preservatives which could be an issue (and could hurt your SCOBY). it will also be much more costly to do it with purchased tea than doing it with tea you brewed yourself.
You can’t grow a SCOBY just from tea, though. You definitely need kombucha and/or a SCOBY to get that going (just in case that wasn’t clear!).
Krystal says
Hi! I’m excited to grow my SCOBY. Have a bottle of a locally brewed ginger flavored kombucha to use. My question is whether I gently mix this to use or is it preferred to get all of the particulate from the bottom or not to mix and use the top part of the liquid. Had problems growing in the past (my SCOBY wasn’t smooth and looked like kahm yeast). Also the temp in my house fluctuated a lot then but now it’s stable and I want to try again. Second question is should I boil my town water prior to use and/or is there a specific type of bottled water that could be used? Thank you so much for your informative post and help!
Amanda says
Hi Krystal,
I wouldn’t use any special water, although I typically use a charcoal water filter (Brita, Mavea, etc) for my drinking water, so that’s what I use for my fermenting water as well.
If I’m understanding the question correctly, what you want to do is no disturb it. If you’re stirring regularly, you’ll prevent the SCOBY from forming. I hope that helps!
kristin says
Super great info! THANK YOU! And also, you’re hilarious… #cuethemusic , “I couldnt if I tried!”