Blog

They say a healthy scoby is a happy scoby, and that a happy scoby can brew you delicious kombucha for years to come! But with all the love you pour into your brewing process, a question may linger: how long does this symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast REALLY last?

The good news is, with proper care, your SCOBY can become a kombucha companion for a long time. A scoby has no “expiration date,” and the jelly-like mass that forms at the top of your brew, the scoby, constantly grows and produces new “pellicles,” those leathery discs we also affectionately call “mothers.”

While the SCOBY is a long-hauler, those mother pellicles are different. With time, you will need to thin out the pellicle layer by splitting your scoby.

This keeps your brew healthy and productive.

Here is a handy guide and video on splitting your scoby.

So, do you need to replace your scoby? You probably never will… if you maintain a healthy brewing environment free of mold or contamination, your scoby will keep churning out delicious kombucha for years.

What are the signs it’s time for a scoby refresh?

• Mold: This is a big red flag. If you see any mold on your scoby, it’s best to discard it and start fresh with a new scoby from a reputable source (I have homegrown scoby sets available, by the way).
• Blackening: A slight brown tinge is typical, but it’s time to say goodbye if your scoby turns completely black.
• Thinning and Weakness: A scoby may not be brewing effectively if it becomes thin and fragile. A healthy scoby should be thick and gelatinous.

How to keep your scoby happy and healthy for the long haul:

• Use clean equipment: Sanitation is critical to preventing contamination.
• Maintain the right temperature: Kombucha thrives in warmer environments, ideally around 68-75°F.
• Use the correct sugar ratio to tea: This feeds the scoby and helps it ferment properly.
• Don’t over-brew: Give your scoby some time to rest between brews. Especially if you are starting from a new scoby set and establishing a scoby.
• Taking a vacation: Store your kombucha correctly if taking a brewing break.

Following these simple tips, your kombucha scoby can become a cherished companion on your brewing journey for years!

We all love that sweet, bubbly taste of homemade kombucha. With any homemade fermented food or drink, one must ensure a healthy brew. I’m here to guide you through the signs of a happy, healthy brew and how to tell if a batch and scoby have been spoiled.

The Scoby Speaks for Itself

Your Scoby (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) is the life force of your kombucha. It should be firm, rubbery, and creamy white or light brown. If your scoby has turned a very dark brown/black color, or has developed any mold spots, it’s time to say goodbye.

How to Watch for Mold

Scobys can get moldy for several reasons and shouldn’t be salvaged. This post discusses how your kombucha scoby can get infested with mold, what to do if you see mold, and how to avoid mold in the first place. Check out my blog post:

Trust Your Nose and Taste Buds

Kombucha has a naturally tangy, vinegary aroma. If it smells excessively sour, like nail polish remover, or has an off-putting, funky odor, it’s best to discard it.

Taste buds play a significant role. Kombucha should be pleasantly tart and refreshing, with a hint of sweetness. If it’s overwhelmingly sour or has an unpleasant aftertaste, it is time to restart your brew with a new scoby.

When in Doubt, Toss It Out!

Remember, it’s always better to be safe than sorry. If your kombucha shows any red flags – mold, discoloration, funky smells, or unpleasant taste – err on the side of caution and compost it or throw it in the garden. Starting a new batch is better than risking an upset stomach and illness.

Remember, I sell scoby sets!

Bonus Tip: Invest in a pH strips

While not essential, pH strips can be a helpful tool. A safe pH range for kombucha is between 2.5 and 4.2. However, don’t rely solely on pH to determine safety. Use it alongside the other signs mentioned above.

Following these tips, you can ensure your homemade kombucha is safe, delicious, and ready to share with fellow booch enthusiasts. Happy brewing!

Reusing glass kombucha bottles is a sustainable and cost-effective option that I encourage for EVERY home brewer. Proper sanitization is important to prevent unwanted bacteria from spoiling homemade kombucha. Follow my detailed three-step guide on how to sanitize reused glass bottles properly:

Step 1: The Big Rinse

• Begin by thoroughly rinsing each bottle with super-hot water. Aim for temperatures around 140°F (60°C) to loosen any leftover kombucha or residue from a fruit or flavoring.
• Use a bottle brush with gentle bristles to scrub the sides and reach any nooks and crannies. Pay particular attention to the necks and bottoms of the bottles, where sediment can build up.

Step 2: Choose Your Sanitization Method

There are two main approaches to sanitizing your bottles:

• Vinegar Wash: Fill each bottle with a generous amount of white distilled vinegar. Swirl the vinegar around to coat the entire surface, then let it sit for 15-30 minutes. The acidity of the vinegar helps kill unwanted bacteria. After soaking, rinse the bottles thoroughly with hot water again.
• Heat Treatment: This method offers a deeper clean and is ideal if you’ve had any mold issues in the past.
  • Dishwasher: Run your bottles (without lids) through the dishwasher on the hottest sanitizing cycle (usually around 160°F/71°C). This is my preference.
  • Boiling Water: Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil on a stovetop. Carefully lower the bottles (without lids) into the boiling water using tongs and let them simmer for 5-10 minutes. Remove the bottles with sanitized tongs (be careful!) and let them air dry on a clean drying rack.

Step 3: Drying is Key

After sanitization, allow your bottles to air dry completely upside down on a clean drying rack. This ensures no moisture remains trapped inside, which encourages mold growth.

Bonus Tip: Inspect Before You Brew

Before filling your sanitized bottles, do a final visual inspection. Look for any chips, cracks, or imperfections in the glass or seals that could harbor bacteria. It’s always better to be safe than sorry and discard any bottles with imperfections.

By following these simple steps, you can ensure your reused glass bottles are squeaky clean and ready for your next batch of delicious kombucha! A clean brewing environment is vital for a healthy and tasty brew. Cheers!

A Quick and Easy Recipe

If you are looking for a breezy, straightforward homemade kombucha recipe, you’ll love my Cran Bam Kombucha recipe! 

Featured Flavors

Cranberry juice is good for immunity, full of antioxidants, and is a reliable player in the flavoring process. I typically keep a handful of shelf-stable jars on hand to use when I’ve had a long week and weekend and don’t want to fuss with cutting fresh fruit or have the time to thaw frozen fruit.

Lemon verbena compliments cranberry juice nicely, offering a natural, citrusy taste. I source my lemon verbena fresh from a garden pot during my growing season. Look for fresh bunches at farmers’ markets and local co-ops. Dried lemon verbena also works very well, and can usually be found at natural food stores and co-ops.  

Kombucha home-brewers ????

Follow the recipe below during the flavoring step and enjoy the sweet, citrus tang of Cran Bam!

Cran Bam Kombucha Recipe

*for one 12-16 ounce bottle

• Cranberry juice – one tablespoon

• Lemon verbena – three fresh leaves (six leaves if dried)

Store-bought juices often contain lots of sugar and often rapidly ferment. Check on your bottles after flavoring – they will likely need a burp. Check out my post on burping bottles ????

Enjoy kombucha and this content? Sign up for my newsletter and follow me for tips and tricks!

Do you want the most effective cover for homemade kombucha during the fermentation process? Look no further than ordinary coffee filters.

Effective layer

Double up with two layers and wrap a strong rubber band around your glass brewing vessel for ultra protection to ensure optimal kombucha brews.

What about the other options?

Sure, there are other options homebrewers will use: kitchen towels, cheesecloth, washcloths, old t-shirts… Because of the visible holes that I can see through with the naked eye, I just can’t recommend anything other than coffee filters. 

Coffee filters are inexpensive, and typically something that’s already in your pantry. The best thing about coffee filters is they offer a really effective layer and impenetrable surface for environmental contaminants and pesky fruit flies, which lead to scoby mold. Coffee filters hold up well, consistently for years, in my experience.

Enjoy kombucha and this wholesome, witchy content?

Sign up for my newsletter and stay tuned; I have some things brewing ????

Springtime in Wisconsin is such a special time of year. Bulbs and our spirits lift up after a cold winter. Where I live in Southern Wisconsin, early and hearty bloomers, like violets and pansies, bring a smile even on the early gray spring days. And, these special flowers are completely edible if they are grown properly!

Let’s flavor some homemade kombucha with Violets and some Tart Cherry!

Harvesting Violets and Pansies

Harvesting wildflowers like violets and pansies is an easy task and adds a special flair and flavor to homemade kombucha. You can use the fresh flowers in salads and desserts. Dried flowers can be used in teas. Both can be used to flavor homemade kombucha.

Simply snip off the flower (the stems are edible, too!), and place in a colander.

Pick your loot and wash off, then lay flat to dry.

Please ensure any foraged edible flowers, like pansies and violets, are collected from a yard or separate garden pot free from chemical pesticides. 

Tart Cherry

Two ingredients make my May Flowers a super simple and nutritious recipe. You can find organic tart cherry concentrate in the organic section of many grocery stores or at your favorite local co-op. 

I enjoy keeping a small jar of Tart Cherry in the fridge for kombucha flavoring when I’ve forgotten to thaw frozen fruit. Tart cherry is a tarty and sweet juice full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties that may reduce muscle pain. Perfect for gardening season.

May Flowers Kombucha Recipe

*for one 12-16 ounce bottle

• Violet Flowers – dried (1-3 full flowers)
• Organic Tart Cherry Concentrate – one tablespoon

No Tart Cherry? No sweat! Substitute your favorite thawed frozen fruit, cranberry juice, or even some dried elderberries. Maybe even a dash of lemon juice and a squirt of honey…

Enjoy kombucha and this content? Sign up for my newsletter and stay tuned; I’ve got some things brewing ????

Sipping on a fruity, nutritious smoothie can be a quick and filling meal. I prefer to make affordable versions at home. Not only does it save me a ton of money, I know EXACTLY what I’m putting in my body.

If you make kombucha at home, you probably have most of the essential smoothie ingredients on hand ????

Save Food, Save Money

Do you ever have a bag of spinach that you just can’t finish? Before it turns slimy and you throw it out, toss it in your freezer. The same goes for kale. Fresh, dark greens like these keep well in the freezer for a few months in a plastic storage bag.

As a gardener, I freeze plenty of the kale and spinach harvest throughout the summer and enjoy it all year long, especially in the winter. Plus, it helps me maintain my crop throughout the summer months. A rewarding tip, as frozen, leftover spinach and kale are perfect protein-packed additions to a homemade smoothie. 

Ingredients

Use up leftover ingredients around your home. Just like flavoring kombucha, flavoring and adding nutrients to your smoothies is best when personalized. 

The personal recipe shared below promotes a few areas for my custom benefit. For example, collagen to help retain my youth as I bid farewell to my 30s. Matcha powder for a caffeine kick. Wheatgrass for its nutritional value. Spinach for protein and iron.  Yogurt provides me with calcium.

Kiwi is a really powerful fruit. And, it is typically a very affordable fruit. One study states the benefits of eating one kiwi a day rival an aspirin in consideration with heart health benefits!

Yogurt and fresh ice thicken out my smoothies well. Bananas always do, too. Use oatmilk, soymilk, and other alternatives as your diet and preferences permit.

Green With Envy

• One full kiwi
• Fresh wheatgrass
• ⅓ cup frozen spinach
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ cup yogurt
• 1 teaspoon matcha powder
• 1 teaspoon collagen peptides
• 3 ice cubes

Cut the kiwi in half, then scoop both sides with a spoon into the blender. Add the remainder of the ingredients. Blend and enjoy!

Enjoy kombucha and this wholesome, witchy content? Sign up for my newsletter and stay tuned; I’ve got some things brewing ????

Pomegranate season in the USA is typically October – January when consumers find nature’s most laborious fruit in grocery stores. Pomegranates are nutritious, unique fruit. While time-consuming to unfurl, the seeds are full of benefits. 

Pomegranates have a bounty of antioxidants and Vitamin C, which help keep us healthy. Quality, store-bought pomegranate juice is also ripe with high levels of antioxidants. 

De-seeding a fresh pomegranate

A typical pomegranate contains between 200 and 1,400 seeds, also known as arils. Manually de-seeding arils can take several minutes but is well worth the investment.

I savor about 15 minutes per fruit. Find a quiet, meditative time for this task and bask in it – you’ll come to look forward to the ritual!

Important Crown Cut

As illustrated, take a sharp, serrated knife and puncture the pomegranate’s crown.

Be careful not to cut too deeply; we are looking just to cut the fruit’s flesh and avoid piercing any seeds.

Pull up the crown.

Place your pomegranate fruit in a large bowl. Rip sides of skin off and gently remove seeds, letting them fall into the bowl below you. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Clean off the pith (white, fleshy attachments) as best as you can, and voila! You just seeded a pomegranate while saving a boatload of money in the process, thanks to doing it yourself.

Kombucha home-brewers, follow the recipe below during the flavoring step and enjoy the results of your hard work.

Pom Pom Kombucha Recipe

*for one 12-16 ounce bottle

• Pomegranate seeds – fresh (6-10 per bottle; use your lucky number)
• Pomegranate juice – one tablespoon

Two ingredients; that’s it! I especially enjoy eating the seeds while drinking the booch. The seeds hold a special fizz that pops in your mouth ????

Enjoy kombucha and this content?

Sign up for my newsletter and stay tuned; I have things brewing!

Homebrewers of kombucha will experience occasional bottles and recipes that are just TOO fizzy. Have you opened a bottle like mine? I’m happy to share some tips for reigning in extra-bold kombucha fizz.

Adjust Fruit and Sugar

Most too-fizzy kombuchas are the result of too much fruit and/or sugar in the flavoring process. Next attempt, cut your fruit flavor in half. I’ve found raspberries and mangoes to be the most fizz-producing fruit additions. Also re-consider how much sugar goes into your fresh sweetened tea.

Check Temperatures

If your kombucha is in too warm of an environment, it may accelerate fermentation. For me, it means that my summer kombuchas are typically fizzier than my winter brews. I adjust by reducing the amount of time during the second fermentation, or flavoring step. You may also physically re-locate your kombucha to a cooler area of your home.

Fermentation Time

Sometimes, high pressure in kombucha can build up very quickly. Ensure you aren’t flavoring kombucha for more than 7 days before refrigeration. Try reducing the days of your second fermentation to control fizz.

Remember to Burp

It is easy to forget how beneficial a good burp is. Read more about burping kombucha to control pressure in my blog post.

Bag & BoWl TRick

Have an ultra-fizzy kombucha that you just want to drink? Put your bottle in a bowl and cover with a plastic bag, as shown in this video.

Strapped for time? Feeling lazy? Brew cycle sneak up on your week? Need a kombucha flavor — quick?!! Read on for my quick, fast, cheap, and easy kombucha recipe, and use regular items stocked in your kitchen pantry.

My secret weapon?

A small can of Dole pineapple juice.

You know the small cans you can purchase in six-packs? Yup – those!

And, while I don’t make a habit of adding extra sugar like this to kombucha, the amount of juice used per bottle is really minimal. And plus, pineapple juice is a vibrant and satisfying source of Vitamin C. 

You can also use orange juice, cranberry juice, cherry juice, etc… See what I mean? Super easy.

For each 12-16 oz bottle, add one (1) tbsp. juice during the flavoring process.

What else do you have on hand?

Of course, just a splash of pineapple juice in a kombucha bottle can be enough for a flavor. But, if you want to give yourself a deeper experience — and try something new — take a look at your spice rack for a few seconds.

Dried herbs, seasonings, and powders will compliment a pineapple kombucha while allowing you to still try something new quickly. And, maybe also get rid of stuff.

items you might have in your cupboard, too ????

Chili powder – use a tiny bit – ¼ tsp per bottle

Dried sage – one small leaf or ¼ tsp

Powdered ginger: ½ tsp 

Whole, dried clove: just one clove per bottle, or ¼ tsp powdered clove

Star anise: one arm of the tiny star, or seed pod

Dried, ground turmeric: ½ tsp (_{add ½ tsp powdered ginger – inspired by my cheery friend Julie ????})

Green Tea matcha powder: ½ tsp