Q&A for How to Make Kombucha Tea

Yes, you can. In fact, I only use honey for kombucha. Diluted in enough water (over 19% water by weight), honey becomes an excellent feeding ground for both bacteria and yeasts. Only in its pure form, without any water, does it act as an antimicrobial.

No. That would be one of the easiest ways to introduce contradictory cultures that may harm your whole kombucha colony of cultures.

You can use as many tea bags as you'd like when making Kombucha tea, but the more tea bags you use, the stronger the flavor will be.

Yes, as the mother is simply a colony of billions of bacteria, you will simply be separating them from each other and they shouldn't get upset at the process at all.

I'd think you could use an inexpensive swimming pool pH kit. The strips come in a 3 1/2 inch tall round tin and the color test strips turn color, then you match it up to the guide printed on the tin to get your pH level. You can buy them online or in the pool supplies section of a hardware store.

Yes. You might want to grow the scoby though. Put it in a wide-mouthed container you would use for your brew and add some 100% organic juice so your small scoby is covered. Cover and leave it for a few days - it should grow quickly.

Once the bacteria has eaten all the sugar available, it can survive for a while, but eventually, it will start to die off (get icky looking and start smelling bad) from lack of nutrition. You may keep it - in the sense that you can keep it alive to use it later to brew a new batch - for probably up to a month, maybe even six weeks; however, I don't recommend drinking any of the remaining brew after the mother has been in it that long. The brew will taste increasingly like vinegar the longer you leave the mother in it.

Vinegars, other than distilled white vinegar, have other cultures that may be harmful to the scoby. Distilled white vinegar is very inexpensive. Be safe. Buy some. Buy extra to sanitize your utensils, bottles, and jars, and to sanitize your hands before handling a scoby.

The baby grows on top of the mother, which makes it easy to identify. The mother is usually bigger as well.

It will ferment naturally if placed in a dark location with the proper temperature. You just need to ensure that those factors are accounted for.

Use vinegar instead of starter tea. It's all about making the liquid acidic.

Yes, the culture does consume all the sugar if you let it brew sufficiently.

Yes, but the change might not be significant. It would be best to make your own.

You should discard the whole batch if this happens as you could end up making a kombucha that does more harm than good! (This is especially true if you are a beginner.)

If it is kept cold in the refrigerator, it will last several weeks. I have kept mine for around 3 to 4 weeks in the refrigerator.

Most generally on top. As time passes, layers upon layers of scobies will grow and build up. When the layers are too thick, separate them and pass them on to friends, feed them to farm livestock or compost them.

It will smell and taste bad. If any mold develops, discard everything, sanitize, and start over.

A culture in the case of Kumbucha tea is the good bacteria that multiplies from the Scoby mother. It spreads throughout the tea in the fermentation process and results in the unique taste of the Kumbucha tea. It does add a very small amount of alcohol to the Kumbucha as a bonus.

Refrigerate and make sure there is enough sugar (feeding ground) for the microorganisms to survive.

You can store it in the refrigerator in some kombucha. I store all my extras there also.