Three months is too long unless they are using a continuous system. Continuous uses a glass vessel with a spout at the bottom. You drain off some Kombucha every week or two(like two-thirds or three-fourths) and then add fresh nutrient solution(sweetened tea). You should still clean the vessel out every 2 or 3 months, strain out dead yeast sediment and remove old SCOBYs just to be safe. I use half gallon mason jars every two weeks. I let a batch go for just over 3 weeks one time and it was so fucking acidic and vinegar-like that I used it for salad dressing or cut it with flavored seltzer water. I wouldn't touch anything that was 3 months old without knowing their process first.

I use organic english breakfast tea and organic cane sugar.

3.5 quarts of water(365 Spring Water from Whole Foods, I noticed the new SCOBY forms fastest on it compared to generic spring water)

2 Tablespoons of loose tea(as much as 3 TBS for a weaker tea/blend)

1 cup of organic Cane Sugar

I bring the water to a boil and let it boil for 10 minutes, turn off the heat for 5 minutes and then add the tea. Steep and stir a few times for 15 minutes then add the sugar. I don't add sugar right away to avoid caramelizing it. I let the tea steep for 2 or 3 hours. It has to cool to room temps before you can mix it with starter and add the SCOBY. If its even slightly warm to the touch it can kill your yeasts and bacteria.

Half gallon jars are cleaned with plain Dawn dish soap(nothing that has anti-bacterial additives because this will kill the SCOBY/Kombucha), rinsed really well with water and then rinsed a final time with distilled white vinegar(never Apple Cider Vinegar as this will introduce vinegar worms and the wrong kind of "mother") right before use.

I use 1 cup starter kombucha per half gallon jar and one SCOBY and then add the nutrient tea. I cover jars with 2 coffee filters held on with a rubber band. The coffee filter is a filter to let in air but keep out other spores and flys/gnats/nematodes during the ferment.

I use SCOBYs for about two months before tossing them and use a younger one. Extra SCOBY are kept in a SCOBY Hotel that I feed sugar on the off week. I use the hotel kombucha as most of my starter and supplement it with regular kombucha. I get stronger starter that way(higher density culture of yeast and bacteria as well as more acidic). The SCOBY likes an acidic environment and that high acidity(pH between 2 and 3) also keeps other contaminants(molds) from growing.

I rinse the SCOBY down with a solution of some spring water and distilled white vinegar(I just eyeball it but probably 2 parts water to one part white vinegar) before each new batch. I dip the SCOBY in a bowl and rub it down. This just cleans off excess yeasts and dead cells. Mostly makes me feel better and the new ferments don't look so creepy.

Some people do a secondary ferment for carbonation. I don't. My kombucha turns out effervescent(sparkling) rather than carbonated similar to soda or beer. If someone likes carbonation they will do a ferment in jars like I do for a week then bottle it in Grolsch style bottles for another 4 to 7 days then refrigerate(burping bottles ever 36 to 48 hours before refrigerating to avoid bottle bombs). You feed some new sugar to promote a burst of CO2 in the second ferment under a tight seal to create pressure. The second ferment is also where you will add flavorings, either fruit/fruit juice or a flavored tea/tisane blend.


I get a very peppy buzz from drinking my home made Kombucha. It works better than coffee to wake me up if I drink 16 oz. I've read this could be a histamine response that a small percentage of people get from kombucha. Whatever the reason its enough that I have no plans to stop making the stuff anytime soon.