What is Kombucha Starter Tea?
If you read a recipe for making kombucha, you will likely come across the term “kombucha starter tea.” So what is it?
What is Starter Tea in Kombucha Making?
“Kombucha Starter Tea” is raw, healthy, aged kombucha that contains the living bacteria and yeast needed to brew kombucha. This liquid kombucha culture is usually taken from a previous batch of kombucha and is then used to kick start a new batch of kombucha, hence the name starter tea. Starter tea is a phrase that differentiates matured kombucha from freshly inculcated, particularly referencing the matured kombucha that is used as the inoculum for a new batch of kombucha.
Where do you get it? If you’ve gotten a culture from a friend who brews, odds are they passed it along with about a cup or so of liquid–this is your starter tea. Don’t know anyone that brews? You can order our kombucha scoby, which will come with a scoby pellicle and 12 ounces of mature kombucha starter tea, ready to use. For each and every batch after that, reserve 12 ounces (if brewing 1 gallon) of kombucha from the previous batch to use as your starter for the next.
Matured kombucha, or starter tea, has had time to develop beneficial acids and many generations of microbes. It contains low sugar and measures in at a low pH, between 2.5-3.5, depending on its age.
Starter tea plays two vital roles in the kombucha brewing process. Over the years, the pellicle that forms on the surface of the brew have been referred to as the SCOBY (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast). It’s true that deeply embedded in every fiber of that pellicle is all the yeast and bacteria that created the cellulose pancake; however, you don’t technically need the pellicle to begin brewing kombucha. The pellicle does contain a high dose of bacteria and yeast; the starter tea alone, when the proper amounts are used, will also contain all the necessary microbes to get the job done. I think we all get a little emotionally attached to the little pellicles, though, as it gives us a visual means of communication with our millions of little friends. Need a little more clarification on the pellicle? See our post here on what is a SCOBY for some more detail.
So, one crucial role that starter tea plays is inoculation! It introduces the yeast and bacteria into a fresh batch of sweet tea to begin the fermentation. You really could refer to the starter tea as a SCOBY and be 100% correct.
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For whatever batch size you are making, the general rule is to use 10% kombucha starter tea to 90% fresh sweet tea. This ratio allows the starter tea to properly play out its dual role of inoculation and acidification (pH lowering). Find all kombucha brewing measurements and ratios here – kombucha tea brewing ratios
No good rule goes without exceptions, however. If you are brewing in a colder environment, you can use a larger ratio of starter tea to help jump-start the brewing process when you’ve got chilly and lazy yeast on your hands.
Or, if you choose to brew using the continuous brewing method, your ratio of starter tea is much larger. When you brew with the continuous brewing method, you are only replacing the tea that you pour out to drink or bottle, meaning the ratio of starter could technically be like 75% or even higher.
Moral of the story: kombucha starter tea is a big deal, so don’t skimp :)
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Can I use more than on scoby to brew. Or if I use one how can I hold the other one do it is good once I find someone to share with.
Yes you can brew with more than one! If you want to store the extras once they start piling up, do so in a separate jar with some tea. This is referred to sometimes as a scoby hotel :)
I just received my Fermentaholics SCOBY and starter tea, and dumped it into my gallon container with my sweet tea, and maybe there was also a cup or so of GT Daves Kombucha in there – I was going to make my own SCOBY until I got too impatient a day or two into the process and bought a Frementaholics SCOBY. I don’t have PH strips (yet) so I can’t measure PH. I am a little worried about how dark my tea is in the container though. It’s a deeper color than the honey colored Kombucha teas I see in all the pictures. I believe I used 8 tea bags on this tea, and I steeped them all for a pretty good long time. I know there is one cup of sugar in there, plus, as I mentioned a cup or a cup and a half of store bought Kombucha. Is it possible I screwed up by steeping my tea too long? Does too much, or too dark tea affect screw up the brew? Thanks
Hi Mary!
I’m sure it’s just fine! The tea, even though it is dark is still a pretty weak brew when compared to a typical cup of tea. The darker the tea, the more tannins are available for the yeast to feed on. If you’re noticing an over abundance of yeast, then you may want to back off the tea ratio a bit to allow the bacteria to balance out the culture. You should notice the tea lightening as the fermentation continues. Feel free to send me pictures to info@fermentaholics.com :)
Can i use tea from my SCOBY hotel as my starter tea?
Hi Joseph! Yes, that is a great source of strong starter tea. Be sure to replenish what you take to ensure all the pellicles are covered with liquid in order to avoid mold. Cheers!
can I keep making batches using the original scoby? for example, I just finished my first batch so now I have two scobys. do I use the new scoby for my next batch or can I use the same one from before? thanks
Hi Nik,
This will happen with each batch so you will want to “thin the heard” every so often. You can transfer either the original or the new pellicle growth, it doesn’t make a difference. You can transfer both over if you don’t know what to do with it, but eventually you’ll want to toss some out because they’ll take up too much room in the jar. Whichever pellicle you use, be sure to use the proper amount of starter tea to properly inoculate the brew and bring the pH down.
I’m growing my own Scoby from scratch and it is just about ready. Can I use 2 cups of the remaining tea in my Scoby jar as starter tea for my first batch?
I am making my Scoby in a gallon jar using a mixture of GT’s Original and fresh tea. The Scoby is nearly ready. Can I use 2 cups of the liquid left in the jar after harvesting my Scoby as starter tea for my first batch or should I use a fresh bottle of GT’s?
I am making my scoby in a one gallon jar using a mixture of fresh tea and GT’s Original. The scoby is nearly ready. After harvesting the scoby, can I use 2 cups of the liquid left in the jar as a starter tea for my first batch of kombucha or should I use a fresh bottle of GT’s?
Hi Norman,
Yes use two cups from the batch jar that you propagated your SCOBY in. That is kombucha, too so you can drink whatever is left! Congrats on your official first batch.
Cheers!
I just made my own scoby; can I use the liquid tea that it is floating on as “starter tea”?
Hi Lucy,
Yes, that liquid tea that you have is kombucha. “Starter tea” is just mature kombucha so you can absolutely use that as your starter. Be sure to use at least 10% starter per batch size.
Cheers
I just finished my fermentation with my fermentaholics SCOBY and am about ready to start my 2nd ferment and my next 1st ferment. My current tea is not as strong as the very vinegar-y starter my scoby shipped in. Should I use more than 2 cups then?
Hi Jordan,
The ratio per batch is 10% starter tea to 90% sweet tea or 1.5 cups of starter per gallon. The next step is to take a pH reading; you want it at 4.5 or less. If your pH is higher than this, you will need to add more starter tea until it is below this point. Let me know if this clears things up.
Hey there.. Wondering if you can help me. I was given a scoby but it only came with about 100mls of starter tea.. How can I make more? Or what can I do from here please.
Thanks!
Hi Alice,
Your best bet is to make a small batch and scale up accordingly. Take a look at this post on scaling your batch; this will go over what you need. For 100ml, you should brew a quart batch and scale from there.
How to scale kombucha a recipe
Hello! I hope that you could help me with some doubts I have, I’d appreciate it. I’ve been willing to start saving 20% of my brew from each of my batches to make vinegar and grow my production in the future. Can I mix the starter liquid I save from all my batches so I can have all of my vinegar stored in one large container? Or is it better not to mix them and have many small recipients with starter liquid?
My other doubt is, if my kombucha is starting not to taste that well even though I’ve been brewing it for some months already, what could it be? Ingredientes, recipe and temperature haven’t changed in my brewing area, but I feel a strange and bitter aftertaste, kind of like burnt beer or sometimes like rotten eggs.
Thanks!
Hi there and of course, we are always happy to help! The rotten eggs smell comes from sulfur. This can be from a few different sources: a product of nitrogen from the tea, from the water source, or a byproduct of certain yeast/yeast autolysis or wild yeast. This is certainly a loaded question as there are many variables, but I’d start with letting it age/ferment for a longer period of time to see if the sulfur smells decreases over time. I’d also implement pH readings to ensure each batch is started consistently at the proper pH. Last, mixing batches of vinegar is fine; it’s really just preference but again, just make sure the pH of the liquid is within the proper range. We have a post here on kombucha pH, which will go over this in more detail. Hope this helps and don’t hesitate to reach out with more questions!