Mothers are everywhere these days! No, not that woman who gave birth to you. I'm taking about Kombucha.
Intro: Brewing kombucha
Anticipate your batch size. The ratio is 1 cup sugar to 1 gallon of kombucha. You'll want to use a glass vessel. Plastic isn't good because the acids the kombucha give off can leach chemicals from the plastic. Metal is also a bad idea for long term fermentations. We got ours at Target, 2 gallon size, for $15. The lid makes a lovely garden decoration. :)
Growing a mother and making a batch of kombucha are the same process. But, when you grow a mother for the first time, the wait period is 4-6 weeks, instead of 2 weeks.
If you already have your own Mother/SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast), skip to part #2.
Part #1 Growing a mother:
Dissolve 1 cup sugar in a medium saucepan with water. It doesn't have to be a full gallon, you'll add water later to bring the total amount up to 1 gallon. When the sugar is fully dissolved (Stir until no granules remain.) and when it comes to a boil, add 6-8 teabags into the water. Kombucha should primarily be made of black or green tea. Other teas (rooibos, herbal, chamomile, mint, etc.) may certainly be incorporated, but black or green tea should make up the lion share of the tea being used. This is so you can achieve an acidic Ph, which will help to kill off any other bad bacteria or yeasts that may want to infect your batch. Cover and let steep for 5-10 minutes, depending on how strong you want the tea flavor to be. Allow the sugar/tea to cool to room temperature, or add ice cubes/cold water to bring the batch up to 1 gallon. With glass vessels, never pour boiling liquids into them since they can crack. Once the sugary tea mixture is added to the vessel, add TWO bottles of raw plain kombucha. This will introduce a culture that your mother will grow from. This will also bring down the Ph to a good level. Cover loosely with a towel (light) and a rubberband. you want to keep airflow going, but the bugs (or household pets) out. Keep in a dark place (at least out of direct sunlight). Try to maintain a stable room temperature, though maintaining exact temperature isn't necessary. Soon you'll see small strands of cellulose and yeast forming inside. After about a week, you should see a thin pale white film on the surface of the tea. Keep an eye out for anything not white (molds, infection, etc). The thin white film will eventually grow larger and pretty soon a blob will have formed on the surface of the tea. This is the formation of the mother (SCOBY). The SCOBY is the primary body, the bacteria that has evolved to form a thick cellulose wall to keep it all together. It's leathery to the touch and very tough. After 4-6 weeks, or when your SCOBY reaches a half inch in thickness, you have what you need to brew kombucha. You'll want to remove the SCOBY and proceed to use it to brew your first batch.
Part #2: Brewing kombucha
Once you have an established mother, everything about brewing the tea above is the same except for the wait time. You will withhold a quart of kombucha from that last batch and add it to the new batch, which will add more cultures. When handling the SCOBY with your bare hands, make sure they're very clean. Keep it in a clean container while you wash out your main fermentation vessel. After 1-2 weeks, your batch of kombucha should be ready. You can let it ferment longer, but be sure to taste it after 1-2 weeks. The longer you let it sit, the more vinegar tasting it will get. If you want to bottle your kombucha, you can put it in mason jars, etc. We like to use flip top glass water bottles, similar to old mineral bottles or Grolsch bottles, because they have a good plastic seal. Make sure to clean them thoroughly before use. You can bottle the kombucha plain, or cut up berries, fruit, fruit juice, ginger, grapes, etc. Ben even added cayenne once, but the jury is still out on that experiment. If you add more sugar or fermentables, let it sit a few more days in bottles at room temperature. This will cause it to become carbonated and effervescent. Refrigerate before drinking and enjoy!
Every time you brew a batch of kombucha with your SCOBY, a new SCOBY will form on the surface like before. Pretty soon you'll be begging your friends to take a SCOBY or mother off your hands. No one will be up for the challenge, but you'll be content knowing that you are.
Happy brewing!