I remember how we tasted the first batch from just received SCOBY. It was so delicious! The right amount of bubbles, sweet and sour taste – just right!
Now since I’m making my Kombucha that is tea (we received our SCOBY with 2 liters of fresh black tea liquid and had to wait for 5 days to taste it!) and sugar mix it doesn’t taste that good. It tastes too vinegarish with fewer bubbles. And at the end, it doesn’t reach the sweet and sour taste more like vinegar.
SCOBY absorbs the sugar and makes Kombucha drink, but mine seems to keep making vinegar whatever I do! I’ve tasted it every day: first – too sweet, second – too sweet, third – still sweet, no sour taste… the fourth – vinegarish aftertaste, but still sweet and no sour enough… no bubbles enough.
Where is the problem!? If you ever tried making Kombucha – let me know, maybe you know what’s the problem!
Ilze
P.S. Pictures are from those good times we had with our healthy SCOBY!
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a day in the life of a latvian mom 
I’ve never heard of any of these things. Being Sunday morning I’m going to make our ‘healthy’ breakfast now; you know what that means 😉😈😂
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PS. After reading up on Kombucha, on Wikipedia, I wouldn’t drink it. Back to our ‘poisonous mushrooms’ discussion 😜
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Oh, then you shouldn’t eat sauerkraut too :)! And if it’s called bacteria – then it’s better?! Did you read about health benefits!?
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Yes I did but here’s what a world authority on complementary medicines has said about Kobucha:
“In a 2003 systematic review, Edzard Ernst characterized kombucha as an “extreme example” of an unconventional remedy because of the great disparity between implausible, wide-ranging health claims lacking evidentiary support, and the potential for harm kombucha has. Ernst concluded that the number of proposed, unsubstantiated, therapeutic benefits did not outweigh the known risks, and that kombucha should not be recommended for therapeutic use.”
On the other hand, he didn’t say you shouldn’t drink it, I think.
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What Ernst says about soft drinks!? If you are tired of drinking water and coffee this is another option! 🙂 I like to brew it and the taste of it!
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I usually do two ferments. When I first started, I used this video as a guide, and the kombucha was always good (although the level of effervescence seemed to sometimes depend on the fruit I used). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3Axb37lMWI
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Sorry I’ve never made Kombucha, but I hope you figure out the problem quickly;)
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Thank you!
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Looks like you have too many acetic acid bacteria. They tend to grow faster in lower temperature so maybe the place is too cold? About bubbles, it is quite important how you collect the starter for the next batch. If you always take it from the very top (which is normally recommended as yeast proliferate a bit faster than bacteria), you will have less and less yeast overtime thus fewer bubbles. So, once in a while you should use the bottom part of the fluid as the starter or just mix your kombucha vigorously after taking out the scoby and before taking out the starter. You are very welcome to visit my blog for some tips but I will be honest – the best source of info about kombucha is https://www.kombuchakamp.com/
Say my get better wishes to your Scoby!
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Thank you, Anna! Your blog is such an inspiration to start all kind of fermented food making at home! I’m making kombucha and sauerkraut. I’ve been in your blog before, but forgot to follow! Can’t find you anymore! Now I’m following! Our room temperature is 17C in early morning and about 20C other time of the day. It’s not perfect for kombucha but I don’t what to give up! I know that there are special heaters to warm kombucha… Where are you from!? Ireland!? Do you have special warmers!?
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I am Polish living in Ireland. Yes, it’s pretty chilly here, even in Summer but I keep my jars with kombucha and kefir on top of kitchen cupboards. It’s much warmer there. Surprisingly, sauerkraut and other veges are much tastier if kept in lower temperature. Thank you for your kind words! I don’t blog that much now but still ferment a lot. You cannot stop once you start, can you?
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No you can’t! 🙂 I need to try highest shelf I have in my DIY Kitchen and we will see 🙂
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I forgot to say that the best place of all is the top of the fridge because of the heat that comes from this metal thing that makes the fridge work, you know at the back. But, you probably know it yourself. Good luck!
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Thank you, Anna!!!! I had one good batch… but the next one was terrible 😉 I guess it’s temperature! And if it’s not ready in 5 days, it won’t be good (somehow…)
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Oh, I normally wait 7 day or even longer in winter.
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Nice to know!
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