🍄Kombucha01 Growing The Pellicle

Ingredients

  • 7 cups (1.6 l) water (filtered water is always better)

  • ½ cup (100 g) granulated white sugar

  • 4 bags black tea (Lipton black tea that Americans often use for sweet tea is a good choice)

  • 1 cup (240 ml) unpasteurised and minimally flavoured store-bought kombucha

Supplies

  • 1 gallon (4.55 l) wide-mouth jar, preferably with a valve/spout at the base

  • Cheese cloth

  • Rubber bands

  • Large pot for boiling water

Steps

  1. Bring 3 cups (710 ml) water to a boil, dissolve sugar in water, remove from heat, add tea bags, and steep for 20 minutes

  2. Remove tea bags, add 4 cups (950 ml) room temperature water to pot tea

  3. Pour tea into jar then pour 1 cup store-bought kombucha into jar.

    • Make sure to include any particulates in the bottom of the bottle; this is bacteria that will help kickstart fermentation

  4. Secure cheese cloth over top of jar with rubber band to keep bugs, debris, etc. out

  5. Set jar somewhere dark and room temperature for 1-4 weeks, until a ¼ in (0.5 cm) pellicle forms

  6. Proceed to ../02 first fermentation!

Tips

This is what a pellicle might look like after it's been used to brew a few batches.

Subhyphae