1000 views, and SCOBY goes global!

Yesterday, Brooklyn Alewife reached a milestone:  this blog has been viewed 1,000 times.  That might happen to some people in a few days or in one day, I don’t know.  For me it took a few months, and the number feels significant.

Meanwhile, my SCOBY has become a world traveller.  The first great adventure for SCOBY mother of kombucha was a few years ago:  my friend Monica brought her to Argentina.  I believe there are still pieces of this mother haunting Buenos Aires, even though Monica has since returned to NYC.  Last week was a big one, though.  Congratulations to Annie who adopted a Jun SCOBY which I shipped to Iceland, and Naz, who flew a kombucha mother from New York to Turkey.  In honor of milestones and worldly cultures, I offer you a picture of my current batches.  These were both taken on September 10– what with travelling I let them go pretty long, so they are both on the vinegary side.  It’s interesting to see the two ferments next to each other:  you can really see the difference in the brews.  Note how I started them both on the same day.  The scummy looking stuff hanging off the kombucha SCOBY is yeast strands.  That Jun mother sure did take over the jar, just as she seems to be planning to take over the world!:

Kombucha tips: Is it good, or do I throw it?

A very moldy SCOBY (I didn’t grow this).  Credits to http://www.kombuchakamp.com

There have been many times over the years in my kombucha making process where I’ve come across a weird looking SCOBY.  Many variations occur within the normal growth process.  The main question is:  is it mold?  Holes in your SCOBY are not mold.   Air pockets are also normal and healthy.  In searching for a good illustration of what’s good and bad, I came across this website:

http://www.kombuchakamp.com/2011/01/kombucha-mold-information-and-pictures.html

They had some tips in there that I hadn’t heard of before.  So this is a great read if you are having any kind of compromises in your kombucha growing.   That being said, I’ve found that most of the time, it’s pretty hard to mess up.