SCOBY stands for symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. It is often referred to as "the mother." I am sure most of you have heard about or know about apple cider vinegar with the mother. If you purchase or look at ACV with the mother, you will notice it has a lot of stringy looking things in it. That is the yeast culture they are calling the mother.
This is what your SCOBY will look like when you order yours from the kombucha shop!
It is in there with starter tea.
A kombucha SCOBY looks like a disk. Mine came in starter tea from the kombucha kit my husband bought me, which is the most ideal way to buy one. If you get a dehydrated SCOBY online, they can become compromised and ruin your kombucha. As you will see in that link though, a SCOBY is very easy to make! It just takes some time and some love.
The best thing about a SCOBY is that while you are brewing your kombucha, another SCOBY will form! This gives you a chance to make more and more batches, and share them with friends in need. Because seriously you guys, finding a SCOBY that is healthy is more difficult than it should be!
There are some rules in taking care of a SCOBY:
- Your SCOBY needs to eat sugar. YES, sugar! It feeds the good bacteria, and during the fermenting process there will become less and less sugar in your kombucha.
- When you bottle your kombucha, leave enough tea in with your SCOBY to be the next brews "starter tea."
- Don't let your SCOBY get too hot.
- Don't place near direct sunlight.
- Do NOT wash any of your kombucha brewing jars with soap. Hot water and vinegar work well, but the antibacterial soap will kill your precious SCOBY!
Those are the basics. I don't want to get too into it and become confusing or overwhelming!
Here is my SCOBY in my kombucha all ready to ferment!
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xo,
Chelsea
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