COTTER CRUNCH: Feeding my Mother

Its the weekend, yea! Loving my Saturday but still a bit of work to do. I think I'll save it for tomorrow though. I need one day to just run errands, clean, relax (somewhat).
Anyway, let me tell you a little bit of what I've been up to. I've been feeding my mother.

NO, not this mother......

This mother.....

a growing mother soby

You see, it was about time I tried to make this stuff. I spend too much $$ on buying it and with the whole recall (which is ridiculous), I figured it was the perfect time.
So I researched on how to make your own scoby first (aka mother). I found a great website that says you can make it from a previous bottle. WOOHOO. I just so happened to have a bottle of the Vibranz Ginger. I can do this. Little did I know how much this Kombucha Making would test my patience. I'm like a 2nd grader school girl watching my science project grow. Come on, grow, culture, ferment, LETS DO THIS!!

So here we go. One week ago........

Growing the Mother

First, select an excellent bottle of plain or gingered kombucha. It should have as many yeasty filaments floating in it as possible, and it must be raw. Heat kills kombucha. You can drink some of the kombucha if you like -- just leave all the sediment & stringy bits in the bottle, and at least half a cup of liquid. Next, ready the kombucha food.
In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup water to boiling. Add two tablespoons white sugar, and return the liquid to a boil until the sugar is dissolved. Turn off the heat and add one bag of organic black tea (or a tablespoon of looseleaf) and let the mixture cool at room temperature until it no longer feels the slightest bit warm to the touch.

1/2 kombucha bottle, sugar, and black tea

Remove the tea bag or strain the tea. Pour all the contents of the kombucha bottle into the sugar-tea -- the the sediment, the half-cup of kombucha liquid, and the stringy things (these will turn into the kombucha mother!), and put it all in a glass quart or pint jar. Cover the jar with a cloth and a tight rubberband to keep bugs out, and place it in a warm, dark, safe spot. Note that the kombucha liquid is necessary to keep the mixture sufficiently acidic. If the liquid is not acidic, mold will grow.

first jar- growing my mother scoby

Keep an eye on the kombucha. In a few days or a week, it should star to grow a thin film over the surface. The film will thicken and become the kombucha mother. If any mold appears, discard everything and start over -- but that shouldn't even be a possibility if you have enough acid in the liquid.
When the film is about an eighth of an inch thick, you'll need to give it another little boost of food. It's not yet strong enough to culture a lot of kombucha for you to drink -- right now it's just growing.

After waiting a week....

eek! look at mother growing! I must bee feeding her well. :)

What I made yesterday.....
This time, make a quart of tea. Heat four cups water to the boil, add 1/3 cup sugar, and steep with 2 tea bags or 2 tablespoons black tea. When the liquid cools completely, remove the tea leaves, put the baby kombucha and all the liquid and sediment in a large glass jar or bowl with the tea. Cover it tightly and watch it carefully.

bigger batch with my growing mother inside. We shall see what happens next week!

The kombucha mother should thicken significantly over the space of two weeks. When the mother is between 1/4 and 1/2" thick, you can use it to make yourself a batch of kombucha.

So there you have it. I must wait another 10-14 DAYS to make a complete batch. UGH!! I am so impatient, can you tell? After this batch, i get to brew. See below on how to brew.

Making Kombucha

Heat three quarts water to the boil. Add 1 cup sugar, return to the boil until dissolved, turn off the heat, and add 4 tea bags (or 4 tablespoons looseleaf) black tea. Let cool completely to room temperature. Remove the tea bags or leaves, and put it in a one-gallon glass jar. Pour in a cup or two of finished kombucha liquid from the last batch (to keep everything acidic) and place the kombucha mother on top. It's okay if it sinks. Cover it securely with cloth and a rubberband, and place it in a warm, dark cupboard for a week or ten days. A new kombucha baby will grow on the surface of the liquid. When the kombucha baby is about 1/8" to 1/4" thick, taste the kombucha. If it doesn't taste too sweet, you can harvest the liquid (saving some for the next batch) and repeat the process.
Source: Paprika

Stay tuned, maybe I'll give you some update on how my mother is doing. I sure hope she eats a lot and gets bigger, haha!
Moving on now. Just wanted to share a little fun night out. Last night we got together with my oldest brother (I have 3 brothers) and my parents. We love going to ROUGH HOLLOW GRILL and wanted to show the bro the awesome view and the delicious seafood/steaks. It was a fun time indeed! Lots of laughs, jokes, sarcasm, wine, beer, good food, and a good view.