KOMBUCHA SCOBY - TO START YOUR OWN KOMBUCHA BREW

Steps:

• Pour the bottle of kombucha and sweetened tea into a large glass jar.
• Cover jar with a towel or coffee filter secured with a rubber band so the brew can breathe but still be protected from insects and other contaminants.
• Let it sit for a week. Put it in a room temperature area that is dark (like your pantry - NEVER in the refrigerator as it will kill your SCOBY.).
• With time, a new SCOBY will start to form on top of the liquid. It will appear first as a thin film, then slowly fill in and thicken up.
• Once it's about 1/4 inch thick, it's ready to go. You can let it sit longer and get even thicker, but that's really not necessary. If you see ANY mold - discard it and start over. It will look like bread mold.
• To start a batch with your SCOBY, wash your hands. Never touch your SCOBY with dirty hands as it will cause it to mold.
• Drain 75% of the liquid you have from your brew into a food grade glass container to drink.
• Place 4 C Black or Green tea that has been in food grade glass container with 25% remaining liquid.
• Top with new SCOBY and let it go through the same week long fermentation process as you did to make the SCOBY.
• A new SCOBY will form on top of the old SCOBY and you can peel it off and start a new batch from the new SCOBY or have two batches going at the same time in different jars. You can give away the new baby SCOBYs but make sure to include 1/2 c of the brew it came from and enough sugar and tea bags for somebody to start their own.
• With the remaining 75% juice, drink 4 oz. at most a day if you're not going to dilute it with tea or fruit juice.
• If diluting with juice, pour 2.5 ounces into a quart sized food grade glass jar and top with kombucha brew.
• Cover, set it back in the pantry and let "brew" for 48 hours.
• Place fruit juice Kombucha in the fridge and enjoy.