How to Store Your Kombucha Scoby

If you are brewing your own kombucha, you may want to store your Scoby in between batches or while you are away. “Scoby” stands for Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast, the mother culture that brews your kombucha. If you want to store your Scoby for less than a month and a half, you can simply brew a new batch! Additionally, you can store Scobys long-term by putting them in a Scoby hotel. This article will give you all the info you need to pause your brew, plus tips on making new Scobys!

How to Properly Preserve a Scoby

Store Scobys for up to 6 weeks in a fresh batch of kombucha, made from kombucha mother tea, clean water, black tea, and cane sugar.
Put several Scobys in a large, sterilized glass jar, then fill it ¾ of the way up with a 1 to 1 mixture of sweet black tea and fermented kombucha.
Do not refrigerate Scobys unless the temperature of your kombucha is at risk of going over 100 °F (38 °C) It will cause the Scoby to go dormant and puts it at risk of growing mold.

Section 1 of 4:

Preserving Scoby in a New Batch of Kombucha

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Start a batch of kombucha with clean water and black tea. The best way to store your Scoby is to make a new batch! Boil about 3.5 quarts (3.31 L) of water in a medium pot, and add around 8 black tea bags. ^{[1]
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Research source} Once the water boils, remove the pot from the heat source so it can cool.
- Place your pot over ice to speed up the cooling process.
- If using loose-leaf tea, use about 2 tablespoons (29.57 g).
- Generally, the first brew should only be made with unflavored, caffeinated black tea. Anything else can weaken the Scoby—remember, it’s a living organism with a specific diet. ^{[2]
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Pour in your sugar and mix it with the tea until it dissolves. Only use white cane sugar—honey, agave, or brown sugar can be difficult for Scobys to break down and eat. Every Scoby is different, though, so you can try experimenting (but have extras on hand in case something happens!). ^{[3]
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Pour your tea into a glass jar after it cools and cover it with a cloth. Let your tea steep until the water has cooled, which may take 1-3 hours. Then, pour it into a large, clean glass jar. This is where you will house your Scoby as your kombucha brews. ^{[4]
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- Put the jar through the dishwasher or wash it with soap and hot water before pouring in your tea.
- A 0.5 US gal (1.9 L) glass jar works great!
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Put your Scoby inside the jar and cover the top with cloth. Wash your hands, then put your Scoby into the jar. It will likely settle at the bottom. Then, place a tightly woven cloth over the opening, like a bandana or tea towel. ^{[5]
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- You can add a lid to your kombucha jar, but don’t seal it. As the Scoby breaks down the sugar, it releases carbon dioxide. If you seal the gasses in, you could end up with a mini kombucha explosion when you open it.
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Store your glass jar in a warm, dry, dark spot. Kombucha ferments best at 70 °F (21 °C), but can be safely kept anywhere between 65 and 85 °F (18 and 29 °C). ^{[6]
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Research source} Since sunlight can weaken (or even kill) your Scoby, keep it somewhere dark and dry. in a dark environment. To prevent spills or potential damages, place your jar on a flat, stationary surface where it will not be bumped.
- You can place your jar in a cabinet, for example. Just make sure it’s not too humid—excess moisture can cause the top of your Scoby to grow mold.
- Your Scoby will safely ferment at room temperature for about six weeks, so you can let it brew without worrying.

Section 2 of 4:

Making a Scoby Hotel

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Select a large, sterile glass container big enough to fit several Scobys. You can use any size jar, though keep in mind it has to be large enough to hold all of your Scobys, plus their food. Wash a large jar (4 litres (1.1 US gal) should be enough in most cases) with hot water and soap. ^{[7]
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- You can squirt some soap into the jar and soak it, then rinse the jar to wash away soap residue.
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Put all of your Scobys into the jar. Clean your hands well before handling your Scobys. Over time, you can add more Scobys into the same jar to create your “hotel.” This is helpful in case one of your brews goes bad. That way, you will have backup Scobys to use for new batches. ^{[8]
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- If you have so many Scobys that they take up over half of the jar, consider giving some away or making more than one hotel.
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Pour in one part kombucha and one part freshly brewed tea. Ultimately, the jar should be about ¾ of the way full, so if you have a 4 litres (1.1 US gal) jar that’s ¼ filled with Scobys, add 1 litre (0.26 US gal) of kombucha and 1 litre (0.26 US gal) of tea. ^{[9]
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- You can use some of your recent kombucha brew or use a bottle of unflavored store-bought kombucha.
- To make your tea, you can boil 5–6 cups (1.2–1.4 L) of water and steep about 4 teabags. Then, pour in about 0.5 cups (0.12 L) of cane sugar.
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Cover your jar with a clean cloth. Place a tightly woven cloth on the top of your jar and secure it with a rubber band. ^{[10]
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Research source} If the kombucha smells strongly of vinegar, consider putting an activated charcoal pouch next to your container or on top of the cloth.
- Some people advise sealing the jar with a lid to prevent it from smelling, but that will cause pressure to build up and could lead to a kombucha explosion . ^{[11]
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- If you don’t have a cloth, you can use 2 coffee filters instead.
You can place this next to other kombucha batches if you'd like. Make sure your Scoby hotel will not be disturbed in whatever location you pick. ^{[12]
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6
Replace the kombucha in your Scoby hotel every 8 weeks. Since you have multiple Scobys in your batch, it will ferment more quickly than normal and will be much more potent. To keep it well fed, empty about half of the liquid every 8 weeks and refill it with new sweet tea. ^{[13]
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- You can make a new batch of kombucha from the extra liquid, use it as vinegar, or drink it (it will likely be very acidic since the Scobys are breaking down the sugar so quickly).

Section 3 of 4:

How to Make a New Scoby

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Purchase or obtain unflavored, unpasteurized kombucha. When people refer to a Scoby, they’re often referring to the filmy cellulose mat made from bacteria in the kombucha. However, the majority of the “symbiotic colony” is actually in the liquid. The mat (or pellicle ) is very helpful for the fermentation process and can be grown from plain kombucha. ^{[14]
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- Store-bought kombucha is often lower quality than homemade and can produce weaker Scobys (which are more likely to die). If possible, get raw, homemade starter tea. ^{[15]
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  - If you have a friend who makes kombucha, consider asking them for a few cups of starter tea.
Put a jar through the dishwasher or hand wash it with hot water and soap to sterilize it. Pour in your kombucha, cover the top with a thick, breathable cloth (like a bandana), then put it in a dark, dry area to ferment. ^{[16]
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After around seven weeks, you should see a pellicule (Scoby) formed over the top of the liquid. Your Scoby is ready to go! ^{[17]
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Section 4 of 4:

FAQs About Storing Scoby

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Can you store Scobys in the refrigerator? Generally, storing your Scobys in the fridge is a bad idea. Scobys go dormant and become vulnerable to mold when the temperature gets too low, so you’re better off making a Scoby hotel. ^{[18]
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Research source} Kombucha can survive as long as it doesn’t reach 100 °F (38 °C).
- If you’re worried that your home is too hot for the Scoby hotel, you can refrigerate it for a few hours at a time to bring down the temperature.
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What does a Scoby eat? A kombucha Scoby survives on two things, pure tea (black is best) and white cane sugar. ^{[19]
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Research source} You can experiment with other ingredients, but be aware that you may end up starving your Scoby.
- Avoid flavored teas, herbal teas, essential oils, honey, agave, and brown sugar. ^{[20]
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- You may successfully make a few batches of an experimental tea, but problems usually manifest several generations down the line. ^{[21]
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- There are other kinds of Scobys out there if you’d like to switch up your ingredients. For example, a jun scoby eats honey instead of sugar.
If you’re regularly brewing kombucha, you’re probably feeding your Scoby enough. If you’re pausing your brew, feed your Scoby every 6-8 weeks. To give it enough food, replace about half of the fermented tea from the hotel. ^{[22]
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After you make a new batch of kombucha (or Scoby hotel) it will take about 8 weeks for the Scoby to eat all of the sugar in the brew, then it will go dormant and start dying soon after. ^{[23]
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When a Scoby dies, it begins to turn black. If your Scoby is moldy, it’ll turn blue. Sadly, you can’t revive a dead Scoby, so you will have to start a new batch. ^{[24]
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Research source} If your kombucha starts tasting sweeter or becomes less carbonated, that’s a good sign your Scoby is weakening and may die.

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Question

Will some loose tea leaves in the tea damage the mother?

Community Answer

Any potential bad bacteria could ruin your scoby. You also want to be careful using paper towels, they drop particles of paper onto of your scoby.

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Things You'll Need

Storing Scobys

Scoby
Jar
Black tea bags
White cane sugar
Cloth
Dark, warm storage spot

Making Scobys

Raw, unflavored, unpasteurized kombucha (can be store-bought)
Jar
Tightly knit cloth

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Warnings

If your jar or bag is not completely clean, your Scoby may grow mold.

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If your Scoby is black, it sadly is dead. You must use another to make a new brew.

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If you see any blue spots, you must stop your brew. That is mold, and you don’t want to drink it! ^{[25]
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How to Store Your Kombucha Scoby

How to Properly Preserve a Scoby

Steps

Preserving Scoby in a New Batch of Kombucha

Making a Scoby Hotel

How to Make a New Scoby

FAQs About Storing Scoby

Community Q&A

Video

Things You'll Need

Storing Scobys

Making Scobys

Tips

Warnings

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References

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