How can I rescue my Kombucha?

[Guest guest]

My first batch ever. I have four one gallon jars. Each was made from 6

bags of black tea, has 1 & 1/3 cups of sugar and 1/4 cup of distilled

white vinegar added. I let the tea cool to room temp before adding my

scobies.

On day four I had babies about a 16th inch thick and healthy looking

(I guess? I'm a newb.) but my brew was not very sweet or vinegary or

fizzy. I also sank my babies (is that ok?) when using a straw to get a

sample.

On day seven no change in taste or carbonation.

I am wondering if I can rescue it at this point by adding more sugar

and/or vinegar. Thanks.

Evin

[Guest guest]

Evin...

Just let it be. it seems you've done everything correctly, except you

disturbed it too early on in the process.

Carbonation is not always experienced with first ferment.

New brews are notorious for taking longer than the normal 7 to 10

days. A new brew can take up to three weeks. It has for me on

occasion....

Don't worry about the babies that sank. They won't grow anymore, but

it will not affect the brewing process.

New babies will begin to form, but as you will be testing the taste at

this point, they probably won't amount to much.

When you start your next brew you can use just the original mothers or

the mothers plus any newly formed babies, mature or not.

Most people do a second ferment whereby they bottle the finished

Kombucha, either plain or with flavoring additions, cap tightly, and

let sit at room temp a few days or more to develop fizziness. If doing

this you ought to release the pressure in the bottles regularly to

prevent possible explosions if using glass to bottle.

It is then refrigerated.

Gayle

On Nov 24, 2008, at 8:45 PM, milesevin wrote:

> My first batch ever. I have four one gallon jars. Each was made from 6

> bags of black tea, has 1 & 1/3 cups of sugar and 1/4 cup of distilled

> white vinegar added. I let the tea cool to room temp before adding my

> scobies.

>

> On day four I had babies about a 16th inch thick and healthy looking

> (I guess? I'm a newb.) but my brew was not very sweet or vinegary or

> fizzy. I also sank my babies (is that ok?) when using a straw to get a

> sample.

>

> On day seven no change in taste or carbonation.

>

> I am wondering if I can rescue it at this point by adding more sugar

> and/or vinegar. Thanks.

>

> Evin

>

>

>

>

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