How To Grow A Kombucha "Scoby"

Kombucha is one of our favorite drinks, but it can be pretty pricey. We had a scoby we had bought several years ago, but it went bad during one of our remodels (we hadn't been using it regularly because of all of the dust) so we set out to grow our own. It was surprisingly super easy! 

It is important to start this in a clean environment so I sterilize my jars and such to make sure that everything is clean. To do this just boil water and pour it into the jar, on my spoons etc.

 1 Gallon-sized Glass Jar
 3 Quarts of Spring Water
 1 Cup of Organic Raw Sugar
 4 Bags of Organic Green Tea
 1 Bag of Organic Black Tea
 1 Cup of Unflavored Kombucha
 Clean White Flour Sack Cloth
 Rubber Band or Twine
A label of some kind.

Put 1 1/2  quarts of water in your gallon size glass jar and the other 1 1/2 gallons in your pan.

Heat and add your sugar and stir until dissolved.  Add your tea bags and let steep for 10 minutes.

Remove bags and add tea to your water in the glass jar. The tea in the jar should be about 96 degrees so if it is too cool warm it up in the pan again or if it is too hot, let it cool a bit.  

To this add your starter and stir gently. Cover with your flour sack and secure with rubber band or twine to keep bugs and things out of it.  Place your jar out of direct sunlight where it will be untouched from 5-8 days.  

When the time has passed remove the SCOBY and 1 cup of the tea for your starter and put in your new batch of kombucha or a zip lock bag.

Already have a Scoby? Try our Kombucha Recipe!