#KombuchaWatch Update
So I've been producing a 250ml bottle a day for a while now and I love it.
It tastes like an expensive soft drink with hints of honey and I know I'll want more than this when the warm weather comes.
I've bought a second dozen bottles and will be upping production this week.
Five small bottles of kombucha begin their secondary fermentation to add some fizz.
#KombuchaWatch
It seems I can make a very pleasant bottle of sparkling kombucha, something that tastes like a fairly expensive soft drink, which I would happily drink throughout the coming summer.
1/2
#KombuchaWatch Day 18
My first bottle! What's it like?
There's a spritz to it but it's not sparkling.
There's a sourness which is not unpleasant - the sort that most commercial soft drinks rely on.
It's not overly sweet. It actually tastes quite grown-up.
1/2
#KombuchaWatch Day 17
Whatever the bottled kombucha is doing, it's going into the fridge today. I want it to chill for tomorrow's grand opening.
#KombuchaWatch Day 16
I tried a sip from the bottle - it has a spritz to it and is actually quite drinkable though it's hardly effervescing with bubbles.
I'm pretty sure that both the new batch of tea and the vinegar are forming scobies.
#KombuchaWatch Day 15
No sign of a secondary fermentation in the bottled kombucha yet, which is to be expected.
What I didn't expect is that the original scoby in the vinegar jar seems to be forming *yet another* scoby.
#KombuchaWatch Day 14
Yesterday it tasted EXTRAORDINARY for 2-week-old tea left out on a kitchen counter. Today it's quite sour. I was warned.
I've made another batch of sweet tea for the new scoby, kept the old one to make vinegar, and bottled one bottle to try a second fermentation.
#KombuchaWatch Day 13
Today I bit the bullet. I gently pushed the scoby down and retrieved a bit of the liquid in order to taste it.
It's sweeter than I thought it would be, worryingly so. Has any of the sugar fermented?
It needs to be acidic if I'm going to make more. I just can't tell if it is.
#KombuchaWatch Day 12
The new scoby is still filling out. There are biggish bubbles beneath it which I might take as a sign of fermentation occurring at last...but tbh I have no idea why they're there.
One of my less ridiculous theories is they'll separate the scoby from the insides of the glass.
#KombuchaWatch Day 11
While waiting for the scoby to form, another look at the things fermenting in my kitchen.
It's been about a week and the red cabbage is now a little tart, just the way I like it. Into a storage container, cover with the brine, and into the fridge!
#KombuchaWatch Day 10
While what I'm hoping is a brand new scoby (the right size for the jars I'll be using) forms, a quick look at the other fermented things in my kitchen.
First the kefir. It's made from the grains I froze last summer.
They're still not procreating but are growing in size.
#KombuchaWatch Day 9
Today I tentatively removed the cotton covering from the rim of the jar to take peek at what's happening beneath that crinkly translucent surface.
It's this! 😯
#KombuchaWatch Day 8
In an ideal world today would be the day to harvest the finished kombucha but first fermentations are notoriously squirrelly.
The written instructions that came with the scoby suggest up to 14 days. I'm reluctant to touch it in case I disturb the process that's been ongoing.
#KombuchaWatch Day 7
The scoby has anchored against the growth on the surface - and get this - in the exact centre!
Remember it was always a little lopsided as it floated in the tea? That seems to be rectified now.
#KombuchaWatch Day 6
The scoby performed some ridiculously slow balletic moves overnight. It now seems to be on its way to docking with whatever is forming on the surface.
I swear I don't touch the bottle, let alone shake it. These inscrutable moves it makes are by its own design alone.
A new scoby forming on the surface of the tea?
Bad pic showing the flow of ectoplasm from the original scoby to the one that's now possibly forming?
#KombuchaWatch Day 5
While I've been looking at the bottom of the jar, perhaps I should have been looking at the top.
It's hard to see but there's a very thin, transparent, waxy-looking surface forming. I only noticed it because it looks slightly crinkly.
The birth of a new scoby?
1/2
#KombuchaWatch Day 4
Last night I observed the oddest thing: the upright scoby had reached the bottom of the jar and from its base oozed a small cloud of white ectoplasm.
It's much harder to see in the plain light of day. I had to overexpose the pic to get this. Note the tea is not this light.
#KombuchaWatch Day 1
#KombuchaWatch Day 2
Day 3 of #KombuchaWatch
Oh my! The scoby really is sinking!
Is the tea now sufficiently acidic that it feels it can immerse itself? Is it heading for those unknown particles at the bottom of the jar? Has it simply given up the ghost?
I just have to trust that it knows what it's doing.
