i did it! i made homemade kombucha! we were out of sugar so i delayed the tasting and bottling. it is definitely fizzy. i could see a stream of bubbles originate from the mother scoby as i was ladling the liquid into bottles. it still tasted faintly of oolong (used organic oolong from intelligentsia) and had a bit of sweetness. i could add a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to each bottle but i’m not sure it needs it. it starts like cider then tickles the back of the throat then finishes with caramel and nut. i love it. i should’ve tasted it on day 7 but i think a 2-week brewing cycle will be perfect. especially since i reserve 1.5 cups for my next batch, bottle the rest in the 7 bottles that i have, and have about 4 ounces leftover to savor while i’m bottling.

here’s my gallon of kombucha ready for bottling on day 12. notice the orange and brown floaty blobs? they are just byproducts of the yeast. next time, i’ll get my scoby to float on top so it grows larger.

here’s my pearly white baby scoby that was just a semi-transparent film a week ago. i put him in the compost. maybe i can convince someone to take the next one. oh, well. it’s just like sourdough starter – you can’t keep it all.

L to R: 1.5 cups of kombucha with scoby; 8oz of starter tea to feed the scoby until i clean the gallon jar; baby scoby in the bowl; 2 bottles; a bit to taste test; 4 bottles (i made the perfect amount!); plastic ladle; plastic strainer and plastic funnel for bottling ease

bubbles!