SCOBY Watch: Week 1 Report

Last week, I began my home brew kombucha experiment by putting together a jar full of sweet tea and commercial kombucha together in a jar to hopefully grow a SCOBY that I can use to brew actual kombucha tea.  I left my little veiled jar in the closet underneath my staircase for the past week.  I've taken care not disturb the jar when I've needed to go into the closet which I mainly use for extra kitchen storage.  After my first post, I was glad to receive some kind words of encouragement from a friend of mine who has done this before.  Thanks Lynne!

Tonight, almost exactly one week later, I lifted the veil, and this is what I found.

A beautiful SCOBY has formed!  It's nearly 1/4 inch thick already!  Kristen at FoodRenegade.com where I found my SCOBY growing instructions says its ready to brew at 1/4 inch.  I'm somewhat shocked at how easy this was and how large my home grown SCOBY is after just one week.  I'm thinking about waiting another few days just to be sure it's big enough before I start brewing.  I attribute my success so far to the fact that I left this jar completely alone for a week.  I did not mess with it at all, not even to peek.  Also, I think this has been a success so far as it's location is a little on the warm side.  I'm in the middle of a Texas summer and this closet, which I keep closed, does not have an A/C vent in it.

I am so excited that this appears to be working!  Take that expensive SCOBY dealers!   I'm going to wait another three days, take a look again, and I may start brewing actual kombucha this weekend!  Stay tuned for the next SCOBY watch report!

Update:  A friend of mine messaged me last night after I put this post up and wanted to clarify what exactly in my picture was the SCOBY.  It is the yellow/white growth on top of the tea mixture.  Thanks, Martha, for the question!