Fermenting at Home – Recipe for Your Own Kombucha SCOBY

Grow Your Own Kombucha SCOBY with Simple Equipment

We’ll explain how you can easily grow your own kombucha SCOBY, also known as a tea fungus, with a little patience and the right ingredients. The most important ingredient is unpasteurized, raw kombucha, which introduces live microorganisms and sufficient acidity to the starter. Combined with sweetened tea, this allows the yeasts and bacteria to develop into a distinctive culture and form the typical jelly-like layer on the surface.

For your SCOBY to grow well, it needs suitable conditions: a clean location away from direct sunlight and a consistently stable room temperature of around 20 to 25 °C. Other environmental conditions can also affect fermentation. For getting started at home, we’ll focus on the most important factors. And you’re off: grow your own SCOBY!

You’ll need:

• 1 large, thoroughly cleaned glass container with a wide opening
• Tea – for example, green or black tea without flavorings or artificial additives
• Organic organic cane sugar
• Water, filtered if necessary
• Unpasteurized kombucha as a starter liquid, for example Kombucha Original
• 1 clean, breathable cover cloth and a rubber band to secure it
• A location with a consistently stable temperature of around 20 to 25 °C, away from direct sunlight

Ready to SCOBY: How to grow your own kombucha SCOBY

1. Brew the tea with hot water and let it steep for 8 to 10 minutes. Use around 8 g of tea and 60 g of organic cane sugar per liter of water. Stir in the sugar until it has completely dissolved.
2. Let the sweetened tea cool completely to room temperature. Hot tea can harm the live microorganisms in the kombucha starter.
3. Pour the cooled tea into a thoroughly cleaned glass container.
4. Add the unpasteurized kombucha at a ratio of 1:10, for example 100 ml of kombucha starter per 1 liter of sweetened tea. Use a sufficiently acidic starter if possible, so that the starter has a suitable acidic environment from the very beginning.
5. Cover the container with a clean, breathable cloth and secure it with a rubber band. This allows air to reach the starter while keeping insects and other contaminants out as much as possible.
6. Place the glass in a safe place with a stable room temperature and let the starter ferment undisturbed.

Now comes the waiting, waiting, waiting!

Depending on the temperature, starter liquid, and other conditions, it can take around 7 to 21 days for a clearly visible new SCOBY layer to form. At first, small bubbles or a thin, translucent film may appear on the surface. Over time, this can develop into an increasingly thick, cream-colored to light beige layer.

Important: Not every change on the surface is automatically normal. Fuzzy, dry patches or distinctly green, blue, black, or otherwise conspicuously discolored areas may indicate mold. If in doubt, discard the entire starter, including the culture, and do not taste it. Cleanliness and a sufficiently acidic starter are essential for safe fermentation.

Frequently Asked Questions About Growing a Kombucha SCOBY

How long does it take to grow a kombucha SCOBY?

Under suitable conditions, a new SCOBY layer can form within around 7 to 21 days. The actual duration depends on factors such as temperature, starter liquid, and the condition of the starter.

Can I grow a SCOBY without unpasteurized kombucha?

For this method, you need a suitable starter liquid containing live microorganisms. Pasteurized kombucha is generally not suitable for this purpose. Also, make sure the starter is sufficiently acidic.

How can I tell if there is mold on my kombucha starter?

Mold can appear as a dry, fuzzy coating, often with conspicuous green, blue, black, or otherwise discolored patches. In contrast, a normal SCOBY layer is usually moist and smooth or slightly uneven. If you suspect mold, discard the entire starter, including the culture, and start over with a clean container and fresh ingredients.