Young SCOBY with no starter tea??

July 28, 2008

Hello all.

I am just now trying to brew my firstbatch of KT in about 2 years as

I lost my previous batches and scobys to mold and didn't have time to

hunt down a new one until now.

I finally found a local person who agreed to sell me a SCOBY for $10

(hmmm, yes, he sold it to me, I thought they were not really supposed

to be sold for money traditionally??) At any rate I was happy to

have it and drove the hour to pick it up last week. The person

warned me on the phone that they didn't have anythng to put it in for

me so I went with a mason jar in hand and met him at a local store.

When I got there I was kind of surprised that he had his little

baggie of SCOBYs with him but no starter KT. As soon as I arrived he

scooped a baby out of the bag, plopped it in my jar, scooped up the

$10 and we were both on our way. I am concerned that I had no KT to

add to the brew, well maybe about a tablespoon managed to splash into

the jar with the baby. The SCOBY seems to be a very young one, very

thin although it was quite large in diameter. I decided it may be

best to brew it in a very small batch the first time since I had no

KT to add to it and it was so thin, so what I did was to actually cut

the SCOBY in half (I know that was probably not the ideal treament

and I have to say I fealt really bad doing it! But since I decided

to use one quart mason jars I decided that it was large enough to do

that and start 2 jars, even after doing so I had to fold it over

twice to put it into the jars). It smelled right and fealt right but

sunk like a rock to the bottom of the jars. I prepared the tea as

usual and set the jars up in my office where they won't be

disturbed. Today was day 4 and I have a definate film on the top of

the jars and even a few bubbles. I plan to leave it at least a week

to give my new babies a chance to get some substance. So I am

thinking it is going to be fine. Just wondering if you all agree, or

if I should plan to leave it brewing longer this first time? I

didn't even have any vinegar to add to it. Since the babies are

forming do you all think it will actually be ok? I can't wait to

start drinking it again! As I mentioned in an earlier post I have

had several little health issues develope since I stopped drinking

it! I am hoing to get my whole family back into drinking it once I

have a steady supply going again!

Thanks for any advice and opinions you'd be willing to share!

Dorene

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