What Happens When You Ignore Your Kombucha Scoby? (2024)

What Happens When You Ignore Your Kombucha Scoby?

Sep 20, 2013

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What happens when you ignore your kombucha scoby? This is what happens.

(UPDATE) And while this SCOBY will create a STRONG brew, it’s ok for your SCOBY to be that thick. Please refer to my new and improved method of making continuous brew kombucha HERE!

No, you don’t grow a yellow marker. I was only trying to give you an idea of the thickness of my kombucha scoby.

She’s huge. Out of control. A fermenting queen. Or an ignored baby.

It happens. I can ignore this birthing momma because she sits quietly fermenting all day long. Demanding nothing. Content to just brew more babies (the sweet term referring to the growth that kombucha scobies produce or slough off over time. These can then be used to start a new kombucha brew or to pass on to a friend.)

How to Maintain a Continuous Brew Kombucha

Creating a continuous brew of kombucha really is easy. Almost too easy.

I create my sweet tea the same as before.

Ingredients

IF you haven’t checked out my NEW method of Continuous Brew Kombucha — head on over to that blog post now!

3 tsp organic loose black tea
1 tsp organic loose green tea
1 – 1 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
filtered water (I use 3 quarts)
Kombucha SCOBY

Boil filtered water. Once bubbling, add sugar. Simmer for 10 minutes. Turn stove off. Add teas. Steep for 10-15 minutes. Strain and wait for tea to cool to room temperature.

Directions

The only part that is different is WHERE I pour my sweet tea.

I set my strainer in a “repurposed” ceramic water cooler.

Nothing fancy. Just the ceramic base that would normally hold your filtered water.

I like to take the new scoby that was formed out of the water cooler before I add my fresh tea.

Otherwise the kombucha ferments quite quickly and the taste is too strong for me. Or anyone in my family for that matter. BUT you may leave multiple scobies in the cooler without a problem.

Give the new one to a friend or compost it.

Typically, before I add my new tea, I take out “about” as much fermented kombucha that is being replaced with tea. However, if I think that the kombucha is too strong for my taste buds, I won’t take the brew out until AFTER I have added the new sweet tea.

Feel free to flavor or drink straight. Best if cold.

But remember, you DO NOT need to drink kombucha in mass quantities. Try about 1/4 cup at a time. This fermented beverage naturally detoxifies your liver. More is not always better.

Learn how to grow your own SCOBY here!

33 thoughts on “What Happens When You Ignore Your Kombucha Scoby?”

Oh, that reminds me to go and recirculate mine.
Great tip about not taking some until you’ve added the new batch.
I often let mine go a little too long and then have to suffer through the sour.
The kids love a second ferment with a tiny bit of organic grape juice.
Do you know of anyone in the Crockett Texas area that I could get a starting scoby from.
- I don’t! I’m sorry but I ordered mine initially from Kombucha Kamp on Amazon — or find a raw plain kombucha and grow your own from scratch!!!
- I started my own Scoby, by using the very last bit of a store bought Kombucha -Syergy Ginger Berry, I believe was the flavor. NOW all I need to do is figure out how to get them flavored like the SUPER expensive ones in the store!
  - Yes, this is a bit tricky!!!! I honestly haven’t mastered the flavoring either!
    - It is so easy! You’ll need round pressure top bottles (not square shaped. They’ll explode!) Then fill 1/4 to 1/3rd depending on your taste w/100% fruit juice of your choice and fill the rest with ripe kombuca. Let sit for 2_3 days and then refrigerate to stop fermenting. (Fresh juice will ferment faster but is more expensive.)
      - Yes! We love flavored kombucha — however with our exploding flavored water kefir adventure . . . I have shied away from flavoring our drinks!
    - I have put fruits in my nutribullet, blend fine, and add some to each bottle i pour to refrigerate. I have done different berries, elderberry syrup, and pineapple/tumeric!
      - Yum!!!! I love Elderberry Syrup!
- I started my own from purchased Kombucha and it works great and is simple to do. There are directions on the internet.
  - Yes! I did that about a year ago and now we are using the continuous brew system!
- It is very easy to get or start you own scoby, I went to the store and purchased a bottle of GTS organic and raw kombucha. It was about three dollars. I made my sweet tea and added the whole bottle of the store purchased raw Kombucha. I had this in a glass jar with cheese cloth over the top. I kept it in my cabinet that is about 60-70 degrees. After a week some floaties started on the top. Over all it took about three weeks before a small scoby started. I was drinking my own Kombucha after that.
  - Yes it is super easy! I have a NEW blog post coming on this very subject!!! But here is the new blog post on how I do Continuous Brew kombucha! https://jodimckenna.com/continuous-brew-kombucha/
  - Here is the tutorial on how to grow your own SCOBY!! https://jodimckenna.com/grow-kombucha-scoby/
- Get one of the Kombucha drinks (I like GTS) and just add it to the tea.
What would cause your kombucha to taste salty??? Thanks…
- I honestly an not sure unless you put salt in instead of sugar??
I have plenty SCOBIs. Living in Ellwood City, PA
I mix kombucha with white wine ….interesting taste.
- I bet it would also be good with Moscato!
You can get interesting flavors by using flavored teas for your first fermentation.
- For sure! My favorite is jasmine tea though! What about you?
  - Hmmmm I’m thinking about the brews I’ve made lately. .. I’d have to say fresh apple,cinnamon and cloves was good, but pomegranate was delicious! I’m second fermenting my own version of Chai with star anis, cloves, ginger, cinnamon and cardamom. Waiting to see how it comes out. Oh! Hybiscus with lemon peal and lavender was good too! Got a great fizz with that one! Hehehehe guess I can’t just name one. … I’m having too much fun making up flavors! I really want to try passion fruit!
    - Candie — that sounds yummy. All those flavors!!! I love mint/lavender. And Espresso Kombucha!
      - I was given one and I forgot all about it…it sat in a mason jar for about six months…what can I do with it now? Is it still active? Do I throw it away?
      - Well, what does the SCOBY look like? And what does the liquid smell like? As long as there isn’t mold and it smells like vinegar it is probably fine. If you had it in the fridge, I would probably toss it. So make your sweet tea like the recipe I shared in the link above!
- If I use flavored tea will it change the SCOBY requiring it to only be used for that flavor?
  - It will change the flavor. Just make sure that it doesn’t have extra things added to the tea. You want a pure tea. Jasmine is my favorite because it makes the Kombucha have a ginger flavor.
I have a nice hotel going that I rarely harvest from. I’m going north for the summer and wonder if I need to worry about it while I’m gone. I plan to seal it closed. Should I add sweet tea before leaving or just let it rest in brewed starter? I will be gone 5 months.
- I’m so sorry I am just answering this. Yes, add your sweet tea and store in a cool, dark place. How did it survive while you were gone?
Do use your regular scoby or a new one? I’m wondering if the scoby will acquire the flavor then not be suitable for plain kombucha.
- I keep using the same SCOBY. We have a continuous brew system so I just keep adding new sweet tea. However, when it gets thick and ferments faster than I would like, I cut it or use the newly formed SCOBY.
Just starting with a scabby from a friend. The first batch is vinegary but it did form a new scabby. What did I do wrong?
- Nothing!!! Basically, your SCOBY ate all of the sugar up!!!!! You could ferment for less time.