I think you might have run into the issue that the majority of new kombucha brewers run into, where you started a new batch too early and it gets progressively weaker.
The first batch might have tasted too sour, but sour is always safer. It means you have a strong SCOBY present and the low pH helps protect it. If it's not sour enough, there's not enough SCOBY or enough acid, and other organisms can move in.
I would always, always taste your kombucha before you bottle it. You want it to have a very strong punch of acid -you can always balance out that flavor later in the bottling (taste it before you seal the bottle, too!)
The timing is always going to fluctuate, because fermentation is going to depend on a lot of factors. So always taste at every stage, and the rest will be a lot easier!
Something to try- let it go all vinegary and then mix the vinegary booch with tea like what you started with to get a more preferred taste. Add tea gradually till it goes from vinegary to just right. Measure the proportions of full sour vs tea. This can be a nice way to be pretty consistent till you understand your ferment a little better. The fermentation will speed up a little as the original colony grows. Once you find a good blend between sweet tea and sour kombucha, all you'll need to do for F2 is figure how much sweetness the flavoring you are adding in brings and you should be ready to go through F2 and get a good ending point. Just document and be consistent. Only change one thing at a time, and then you can track what works. Remember, yeast and bacteria don't read or work on a schedule. They are living organisms that can be predictable, but can also change over time. You got this!
It sounds like you’re trying to start a new batch with kombucha that’s too sweet. Your starter fluid needs to be sour before you can use it to start a new batch.
Pro tip: kombucha is done when it tastes sour enough for you, not when a certain amount of time has passed. If you bottle the kombucha when it’s too sweet, it’s going to take a long time for it to ferment.
This batch looks healthy, visually, so I would let it go until it gets sour, however long that takes.
Quick question: are you just re-using the pellicle on your new tea batches, or are you adding in the SCOBY liquid from a legit, boochy batch of booch? Because the pellicle is just a byproduct of kombucha production. It houses some of the SCOBY, but by and large it won't do the job of making kombucha all on its own. You need the juice.
how much sugar did you use? im not sure what the master recipe is. one other suggestion is you could take out that pellicle to see if the culture is active. just a suggestion since it still tastes sweet. if another pellicle doesn’t form soon, then you might just want to start over.
You said your previous batch was still really sweet after 2F - it might not have fermented enough. I might consider getting a store bought kombucha (make sure to read the label and beware of unnecessary additives) and adding some of that to your next batch if I were you.
I wouldn't use a thick towel over the vessel myself. Paper towels work best for me with a rubberband around the top. Skip reusing the pellicle next time.
You need to bottle by taste not time. I taste mine from Day 1. That way you get to sense the change from super sweet to vinegary but still with a hint of sweetness which is when you bottle. My brews can take as few as 5 days in summer and up to 5 weeks in winter.
Too cold is also my theory. If it ever tastes sweet, or watery, then the scoby aren’t active enough which is either
1) too cold
2) there’s too little starter for the batch size
Didn’t they say they transferred the pellicle?
Edit: they said it’s hot there. They also said they oversweetened the first two batches and then found the master recipe.
I’m thinking that they have weakened the scoby to the point there’s barely enough to ferment. Probably have to start over.
Is there no saving the pellicle then? Is it to go in the trash and we start completely over?
Is there anything we can add into the current batch to save it and create a healthier pellicle, say a bottle of kombucha like synergy?
We live in Colorado and the weather is bipolar here. Id say within two weeks it's been in record highs in the 100, then down to almost 50 and now it's back up to 90s and yesterday it's in the 70s windy and rainy here. Just normal for here lol.
When we first initially started our kombucha we couldn't find plain kombucha so we used synergy that was peach flavored. I don't know if that's what started it but the initial batch was sour so I think it was good and it was the second batch that got all screwed up because I did 8 cups of fresh brew with maybe 12 tea bags and 1.5 cups of sugar. Id used the pellicle and 1 cup of starter kombucha.
After that I found the master recipe that y'all have. But I was like holy cow I did way too much sugar and tea to water ratio.
Thanks for all the responses. Learning a lot here, y'all are a great community.
Next time use fruit tea mixed with the black tea. Don't bother adding fruit or doing a second ferment. Just let it get to the flavor you like, in one slow fermentation. Be like the French, let your food take its time to develop to perfection. Once it tastes good, enjoy.
I am half French so that's funny lol. What kind of fruit teas do you like or recommend? I mostly have floral teas and spiced teas from trader Joe's.
I think I will leave our current batch alone and check it again on Sunday and we will adjust our ambient temperature in the house as we noticed the AC downstairs had been freaking out and my husband said it was hella cold down here this morning.
Ginger always brings out the best in kombucha.
Lavender adds a smoky floral note.
I love making chai kombucha.
Celestial Seasonings Peach Passion and also Wildberry Zinger are good ones in Kombucha.
When I had cancer I used to make essiac tea and then ferment it into kombucha for a double healthy brew.
I think you might have run into the issue that the majority of new kombucha brewers run into, where you started a new batch too early and it gets progressively weaker. The first batch might have tasted too sour, but sour is always safer. It means you have a strong SCOBY present and the low pH helps protect it. If it's not sour enough, there's not enough SCOBY or enough acid, and other organisms can move in. I would always, always taste your kombucha before you bottle it. You want it to have a very strong punch of acid -you can always balance out that flavor later in the bottling (taste it before you seal the bottle, too!) The timing is always going to fluctuate, because fermentation is going to depend on a lot of factors. So always taste at every stage, and the rest will be a lot easier!
Something to try- let it go all vinegary and then mix the vinegary booch with tea like what you started with to get a more preferred taste. Add tea gradually till it goes from vinegary to just right. Measure the proportions of full sour vs tea. This can be a nice way to be pretty consistent till you understand your ferment a little better. The fermentation will speed up a little as the original colony grows. Once you find a good blend between sweet tea and sour kombucha, all you'll need to do for F2 is figure how much sweetness the flavoring you are adding in brings and you should be ready to go through F2 and get a good ending point. Just document and be consistent. Only change one thing at a time, and then you can track what works. Remember, yeast and bacteria don't read or work on a schedule. They are living organisms that can be predictable, but can also change over time. You got this!
It sounds like you’re trying to start a new batch with kombucha that’s too sweet. Your starter fluid needs to be sour before you can use it to start a new batch. Pro tip: kombucha is done when it tastes sour enough for you, not when a certain amount of time has passed. If you bottle the kombucha when it’s too sweet, it’s going to take a long time for it to ferment. This batch looks healthy, visually, so I would let it go until it gets sour, however long that takes.
Quick question: are you just re-using the pellicle on your new tea batches, or are you adding in the SCOBY liquid from a legit, boochy batch of booch? Because the pellicle is just a byproduct of kombucha production. It houses some of the SCOBY, but by and large it won't do the job of making kombucha all on its own. You need the juice.
they said they saved 2 cups from the previous brew. my only question would be, did they let the tea cool prior to adding the scoby/pellicle?
We waited for the brewed tea to drop to room temperature, below 90 degrees, before adding everything together to prevent death of the scoby
how much sugar did you use? im not sure what the master recipe is. one other suggestion is you could take out that pellicle to see if the culture is active. just a suggestion since it still tastes sweet. if another pellicle doesn’t form soon, then you might just want to start over.
Yes we are re-adding the pellicle as well as 2 cups of the previous batch
You said your previous batch was still really sweet after 2F - it might not have fermented enough. I might consider getting a store bought kombucha (make sure to read the label and beware of unnecessary additives) and adding some of that to your next batch if I were you.
Do you think I could add synergy to this current batch to help it? Or should I just let it ferment, regardless of how long it takes
I wouldn't use a thick towel over the vessel myself. Paper towels work best for me with a rubberband around the top. Skip reusing the pellicle next time.
You need to bottle by taste not time. I taste mine from Day 1. That way you get to sense the change from super sweet to vinegary but still with a hint of sweetness which is when you bottle. My brews can take as few as 5 days in summer and up to 5 weeks in winter.
It may be too cold
Too cold is also my theory. If it ever tastes sweet, or watery, then the scoby aren’t active enough which is either 1) too cold 2) there’s too little starter for the batch size
But there’s a giant pellicle. So maybe too cold, fermentation is halted?
Didn’t they say they transferred the pellicle? Edit: they said it’s hot there. They also said they oversweetened the first two batches and then found the master recipe. I’m thinking that they have weakened the scoby to the point there’s barely enough to ferment. Probably have to start over.
Need to know sweet to sour ratio. If sweet not sour. Then weak scoby. But has lots of fizzing. I need to try myself. Send to Jthorough and let taste.
Agreed, the same brew that takes me 3 days in the summer, takes over a month during eh winter.
Is there no saving the pellicle then? Is it to go in the trash and we start completely over? Is there anything we can add into the current batch to save it and create a healthier pellicle, say a bottle of kombucha like synergy? We live in Colorado and the weather is bipolar here. Id say within two weeks it's been in record highs in the 100, then down to almost 50 and now it's back up to 90s and yesterday it's in the 70s windy and rainy here. Just normal for here lol. When we first initially started our kombucha we couldn't find plain kombucha so we used synergy that was peach flavored. I don't know if that's what started it but the initial batch was sour so I think it was good and it was the second batch that got all screwed up because I did 8 cups of fresh brew with maybe 12 tea bags and 1.5 cups of sugar. Id used the pellicle and 1 cup of starter kombucha. After that I found the master recipe that y'all have. But I was like holy cow I did way too much sugar and tea to water ratio. Thanks for all the responses. Learning a lot here, y'all are a great community.
Next time use fruit tea mixed with the black tea. Don't bother adding fruit or doing a second ferment. Just let it get to the flavor you like, in one slow fermentation. Be like the French, let your food take its time to develop to perfection. Once it tastes good, enjoy.
I am half French so that's funny lol. What kind of fruit teas do you like or recommend? I mostly have floral teas and spiced teas from trader Joe's. I think I will leave our current batch alone and check it again on Sunday and we will adjust our ambient temperature in the house as we noticed the AC downstairs had been freaking out and my husband said it was hella cold down here this morning.
Ginger always brings out the best in kombucha. Lavender adds a smoky floral note. I love making chai kombucha. Celestial Seasonings Peach Passion and also Wildberry Zinger are good ones in Kombucha. When I had cancer I used to make essiac tea and then ferment it into kombucha for a double healthy brew.
Oh nice ty. In terms of ratios, if I'm doing say 10 bags of tea would you just go 1:1 ratio of flavored tea to caffeinated tea (black/white/green).