New kombucha “pet”

We have a new pet! Last week my neighbour invited me and another friend over to see her kombucha. It was fascinating to see the SCOBYs and taste the different brews. There was so much information to take in, and I’ve been googling recipes and tips ever since. 

When we left, we each took with us a SCOBY, so I’ve now officially ventured into the realm of brewing and drinking kombucha. Basically, kombucha is fermented sweet tea. The challenge is to keep the SCOBY healthy, and to learn how to feed and care for the kombucha. 

So, having initially started the SCOBY off in a one litre jar of starter, I’ve now set up my first 3 litre jar of brew. For my next steps, I plan to set up continuous brewing, and a SCOBY hotel.  

The recipe I used is based on info from these sites:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-make-kombucha

http://kombuchahome.com/how-to-make-kombucha-a-complete-beginners-guide/

https://www.kombuchakamp.com

I’ll be checking back on these sites and several others, for further instructions and tips. 

Now, my kombucha is sitting in a quiet corner where the temperature, hopefully, is even enough to keep it happy. It’s sheltered from bright light, but visible – so I don’t forget about it…

It’s so cold outside at the moment, on average about -15C for the last weeks, and no-one knows when it will get warmer. Thanks to a combination of high and low-pressure areas in the atmosphere, the Siberian High or Siberian Anticyclone – a massive collection of cold dry air – is sitting firmly placed over Norway. The last time this happened was in 2010, when the cold was even more extreme, dropping in our area to an all time low of -33C… 

Update 21/3:

My first batch of kombucha turned out really well! I drank it up, and forgot to take any photos… I did some research, and decided to do a second fermentation with fresh ginger and turmeric. It was delicious. Now, I have a new batch fermenting, and look forward to flavouring it in the same way, and setting up the second fermentation.