Source
pmccurdypac•

Can't see any pictures but from your description what you have is part of a pellicle, a completely unnecessary and insufficient start for kombucha. All you need is a couple of cups of booch from a previous batch (or from a store bought bottle). The pellicle is simply a byproduct.

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0sprinklOP•

What is in it? It was like an inch thick, hard and rubbery... So you can make a SCOBY from scratch with kombucha?

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Bissrok•

It's a cellulose biofilm... thing. Like a little protective hat the SCOBY makes.

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0sprinklOP•

Ok, thanks!

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0sprinklOP•

So it can form a new SCOBY this way? Interesting! Milk kefir is the closest thing I've made, I know you need the kefir grains to make more grains, and store bought kefir isn't made the same way.

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RuinedBooch•

It looks like what you have is a piece of pellicle, which is a byproduct of kombucha produced by the bacteria, but in and of itself, the pellicle is not an organism.

For best results, you need the SCOBY (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast) which are microscopic single cellular organisms that live in the tea. These organisms will be present in the liquid on the surface of the pellicle, but using a pellicle alone isn’t a reliable brewing method. Sweet tea is highly prone to mold, so you need to use starter fluid to increase the acidity and prevent mold while the colony repopulates the fresh sweet tea.

You can try adding a small amount of sweet tea and see if the acidity increases, but it is likely to be prone to mold, which will contaminate the pellicle.

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