From Candy's website...

How to Brew Kombucha
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First off, don't be scared off by the word "brew," as Kombucha is not an alcoholic drink (however it does contain a very small amount of alcohol). The brewing action is not via an alcoholic fermentation, but rather, a healthy bacterial growth and cultivation.

Here's how to brew Kombucha:

What You Need

- a scoby

- 3 quarts filtered water

- 1 cup organic white sugar

- 4 natural or organic bags of black tea

- 1/2 cup Kombucha from a previous brew, or 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar

How to make it

1. In a large stock pot, bring the water to a full boil, then turn off the heat.

2. In a large glass container/canister/jar, pour in the sugar. Pour the boiling water on top of the sugar, and mix well with a mixing spoon.

3. Put in the four tea bags.

4. Loosely cover the glass container with flour sack cloth or a clean dish towel, and leave it sitting there for several hours, until the tea has cooled to room temperature.

5. After the tea has cooled - remove and throw away the tea bags. Pour in the 1/2 cup of Kombucha or apple cider vinegar.

6. Remove any rings and wash your hands. Then gently pick up your scoby, and float it on top of the tea. The scoby may float on top, sink to the bottom, or stay somewhere in between. Either way is fine.



Here is one of my storage jars of scobies:



7. Cover the container with cloth, and secure the cloth on with a rubber band. Place the brew into a dark cabinet, away from any plants, dust, or chemicals. Leave the brew there for one week, undisturbed.



I'm doing a double brew, so I have two going:



8. One week later: Take a look at your brew. You should have a baby scoby on top, and the brew should have a vinegar smell. Grab a straw, and use it to gently push the scobies out of the way a bit, and sip a small sample of the Kombucha. Does it taste anything like tea? If so, then brew for a few more days, then taste again. If you don't taste any tea, then the brew is done.






9. Once the brew is done: Pour the brew through a fine strainer into a juice pitcher, then pour it from the juice pitcher into glass jars, bottles, or containers. Store Kombucha in glass only. Kombucha will leach toxins from metal and plastic. Kombucha can be in plastic temporarily, but not for long periods of time.



Kombucha is naturally carbonated. It's like "the soda pop for health nuts."

10. Store your original scoby in a jar in some Kombucha, and the baby scoby in a different jar in some Kombucha. Keep the mother in the jar in the cabinet, and start your next brew with your new baby scoby. Keep your original scoby as a back up, in case your baby scoby dies, or molds. As you get more scobies, you can add them to your two jars. Rotate which scobies you use from week to week. If you have more than one scoby that needs to do a brew, but you only wish to make one brew's worth, then you can put several scobies in the same brew, and it'll come out just fine.

Notes

Scobies eventually die, and won't brew anymore. When a scoby is getting old, you'll be able to tell, because it'll be dark brown in color. When a scoby is dark brown, it's time to put it to other uses (you can use Google to research this) or just throw it away.

Store your unused scobies in sealed jars of kombucha liquid in a cabinet. I personally never refrigerate my scobies, as the cool temperatures can cause a scoby to go into a "hibernation" mode, in which it can take a few weeks to "wake it back up" when you try to brew with it. If your scoby sits in a jar in the cabinet for a long time, then it will grow another scoby. If it is going to be a long time before you brew again, then fill the scoby’s jar with tea, and 1/4 cup of Kombucha or apple cider vinegar. That liquid will keep your scoby for a few months, if not longer, before you either need to brew, or change the liquid.

What about the tea and sugar? If you brewed for a week or longer, then there is little to no tea or sugar left in the brew. The tea and sugar "feed" the Scoby, and the Scoby's by-product is the Kombucha drink. You can experiment with different teas and sugars, but I've still found black tea and organic white sugar to give the best brewing results, and the healthiest, fattest scobies.