OK, so as you all know from my Kombucha 101 post I don't drink caffeinated any thing. I even remove the caffeine from my tea my self now, (that's a whole other post). And as you know Kombucha likes to grow in sweet tea. I thought since I have lots of SCOBYs that I would see what would happen if I just made some sugar water and used some starter tea. I used two different jars and floated a SCOBY in each. I checked on them a week later and they seemed fine, in fact they had grown new little SCOBYs on each. They were lighter in color, they kind of looked like the ones that grow on green tea,(I use black). The brew smelled just like it should and when I tasted it, it tasted like week old Kombucha usually tastes (too sweet for me, but starting to turn into the good stuff). So I let it sit for another three weeks like I do all of my other brews,(I like it strong and sour like vinegar). When it came time to make another batch I did another taste test. To my surprise it was still really sweet witch tells me that the culture is not consuming the sugar like it should. This makes me think that without the tea in the mix Kombucha will die. I did however make a new batch using the brew from the fist batch and new sugar water just as I would if it were the regular tea. It has been a week so far and the stuff smells fine and still tastes like really sweet Kombucha. Also thin little SCOBYs are growing on top, but they aren't as thick as their brothers and sisters growing in the sweet tea. I want to see if it will adapt like the kind that is called "Jun" that is supposedly made with honey and not sugar, or if it will just fade a way. I hope that it will adapt and not die off. I don't want to be mean to my SCOBYs for no reason! If it seems like it won't adapt then I will try putting tea back in the mix and see what happens. If the tea kick starts it back up then we will know for sure that tea is the key ingredient. I will keep every body posted on this.
Also kids don't try this at home. I have been making Kombucha for many years now and I know how it is supposed to be. So the chances of me getting sick from tasting this stuff are quite slim. If it smells not right I will not even taste let a lone drink it. But for all of you newbies out there stick to the basics and we will all be brewing fine!
These are pictures of the 2nd batch. as you can see in the closer ones that the new SCOBYs are so thin that you can't even see them. I can barely see them when I take the cloth off of the jars to check on them. Notice how much lighter in color they all are. The brew is still brownish due to the fact that I use unrefined cane sugar (organic when available.)
These are pictures of the 2nd batch. as you can see in the closer ones that the new SCOBYs are so thin that you can't even see them. I can barely see them when I take the cloth off of the jars to check on them. Notice how much lighter in color they all are. The brew is still brownish due to the fact that I use unrefined cane sugar (organic when available.)
