Small fermentation break for your tea fungus
Would you like to take a little break from making your own kombucha or store your tea mushrooms as a reserve? We have put together the most important facts about Scoby storage and care for you!
What is a Scoby Hotel?
Simply put, a Scoby Hotel is a large jar filled with starter liquid. Finished kombucha serves as the starter liquid. With a correspondingly low PH value between 2.3 and 3.5, your Scoby can be stored in this liquid for weeks or even years with a clear conscience. The low PH value ensures that the Scoby is protected against harmful germs. It is very important that your kombucha mushroom is completely covered with starter liquid. The Scoby Hotel can either be covered with an air-permeable cloth or closed airtight with a lid. The sealed variant should be stored in a cool place. You should be aware that these Scobys are more susceptible to mold. In addition, they sometimes take a little longer before they can be reactivated for kombucha production.
What do I need to store a kombucha mushroom?
- Finished kombucha as a starter liquid
- If stored without refrigeration: a rubber band and an air-permeable cloth to cover
- When stored in the refrigerator or in a cool place: jar with cap
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What should you consider when storing tea mushrooms?
Remove yeasts and observe hygieneBefore your tea fungus goes on a well-deserved vacation, you should pay attention to a few things. The Scoby Hotel should be well cleaned. There should be no detergent residue left in the glass. It is best to use vinegar to clean all objects and tools. You can also free the kombucha mushroom from a few yeasts before you put it in the glass. Yeast are the brownish-black deposits on your Scoby.
Different storage options
When stored openly with a cloth, the tea fungus will not need long to be fully productive again for Kombucha production. If you store your Scoby in a closed jar in the fridge, it will take longer to activate for a new batch.
New Scobys emerge
With the non-refrigerated version of the hotel, sooner or later a new kombucha fungus will appear on the surface. This will grow over time and should be well cared for. Oxygen should still be able to get into your Scoby Hotel. Air circulates through the air-permeable cloth into the glass.
Properly grooming and trimming Scobys
So that the oxygen can continue to circulate in your Scoby Hotel, you should trim or thin out the tea fungus that has formed. Regular care ensures that the liquid under the tea fungus that has formed is still supplied with oxygen. This also prevents the formation of harmful gases in the Scoby Hotel. You can easily try to separate the layers of the kombucha mushroom from each other with clean hands. Carefully peel off and thin out the scoby a bit. If this is not possible, take a standard pair of scissors and trim the Scoby a little in terms of its thickness and/or size. This should be cleaned with vinegar beforehand.
Scoby rotation at the hotel
Most kombucha connoisseurs know that the Scoby Hotel is not just a good storage place. It offers an excellent way to rotate kombucha mushrooms. The kombucha mushrooms are given a break and at the same time the cultures are kept active. The scobys from the fermentation go to the hotel and a scoby with some liquid from the hotel can be used for the next use. Other kombucha brewers, on the other hand, prefer to use the same tea fungus over and over again and to adjust the desired kombucha taste to it.
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