They look kinda scary and gross, some say they look alien, but once you welcome them into your home you will love them forever. Yes, I am talking about kombucha scobies. Never heard of these odd looking living things before? No worries allow me to introduce you to my wonderful kitchen friends.

Though I want to keep the topic of probiotics for another post, if you haven’t heard about the importance of our friendly gut bacteria, then know that they are not only important for digestion, but they play a significant role in our immunity and overall health.

Think of the bacteria in yogurt, kimchi, or sauerkraut. Well, kombucha will give you the same benefits, but instead of fermenting milk and veggies, kombucha is fermented tea.

While you need a starter culture or little bit from your previous batch to make yogurt, or bacteria present on cabbage leaves to make sauerkraut or kimchi, for kombucha you need what they call a scoby (or the rubbery blob you see in the pictures) to turn sweet tea into a tangy delicious fizzy drink.

What the hell are these???

Again don’t judge this ugly living thing by its look. Scoby is an acronym for Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast. And that’s what it is. It is a place where friendly bacteria and yeast kindly live together while fermenting your tea.

Furthermore, this floating rubbery mass will also seal of the fermenting tea from the air and prevent undesirable bacteria to enter and thrive.

People are often scared of fermenting because of its living nature! Don’t be!

During fermentation, the bacteria produce lactic acid which will create a selective environment were these friendly bacteria will thrive and others will simply die. So you are starting to understand its importance. Next to fermenting tea, it will also protect you from unwanted bacteria, good or bad, that are floating around in the environment.

Though some people like to sterilize their equipment, this is not needed. Just maintain an overall clean kitchen policy. Wash your hands before touching the scoby and clean your tools/jars with hot water.

Food safety is important. So for everybody new to fermenting, I’ll make a separate post about it so you can all feel safe making and eating your own fermented food and drinks.

But enough talking, let’s get started!

How to grow a scoby from scratch

Before we can start brewing Kombucha or fermented tea, we need a scoby. It's a vital part. Kombucha is coming… but let’s not think of that delicious homebrewed kombucha just yet. You will have to wait for another one to four weeks.

First things first…. make that alien-like creature that will help you create some magic in the kitchen. Without it, you are lost!

Step 1: Get a starter culture

If you have a kombucha-brewing friend ask a bottle of his/her finished product to start your own. Probably they will be able to give you a scoby too as they are so easy to grow ;) But where's the fun in that. Be adventurous and see your babies grow and evolve.

If you don't have a kombucha friend, raw, unflavored store-bought kombucha is as good to get you started. If you can see little blobby things floating at the top or bottom of the bottle, pick that one. If you can't see anything that's fine too, it just might take a bit longer. That’s all.

Step 2: Make Sweet tea and FERMENT!

Makes 1 scoby per jar

Ingredients

7 cups water
1/2 cup granulated sugar (white or raw sugar)
4 bags black tea or 2 tablespoon loose leaf tea
1 cup unpasteurized (store-bought) kombucha (preferably unflavored)

FYI: A scoby grows best when using white or raw sugar and black tea. Avoid alternative sugars or honey/maple/agave or other true teas such as green, oolong, or white tea. You'll have plenty of time to experiment with that once you have a healthy scoby

Directions

Bring water to a boil and stir in the sugar until dissolved. Add the black tea and steep until the tea has cooled down to room temperature.
Stir in the store-bought kombucha - if you see little rubbery things floating in the bottle make sure to add them too. They are baby scobies. Pour the sweet tea into a jar(s). I didn't have big enough jar so I used 2. Which have now turned into 4 jars in a continuous system of kombucha brewing (more about that in part II).
Cover with a rubber band and coffee filter or clean cloth and store for 1 to 4 weeks. Though they don’t need complete darkness to grow, do not put them in direct sunlight. Mine are on the counter.
For the first few days you will not see much happening, except bubbles forming at the surface. These bubbles will eventually form groups and later a film. Do not disturb this process! The bubbles are released carbon-dioxide from the fermenting process and they are a sign that your tea and scoby are healthy and happy.
The film will them further thicken and when it has formed a layer of about 1/4-inch thick, your scoby is ready to be used to make kombucha tea (part II will be all about that).