QUESTION:
Hi Dave,
I am getting very vinegary kombucha even after 5 days of brewing.
The amount of tea left under the spigot level must be very sour ( I have been brewing for 4-5 months now).
I now use 1 teaspoon of tea in each tea bag (2 teaspoons total) and I boil them in 1-1.5 gallons of water.
Do you call starter tea the brewed tea under the spigot level?
What do I do?
Thanks!
Marylene
ANSWER:
Hi Marylene,
I would use a little more tea than 2 teaspoons… I would suggest using twice that amount or at least 3 teaspoon when brewing up 1.5 gallons.
If you want your tea less vinegary here are a few options…
1. Use a little less starter tea
2. Reset your starter tea by replacing it with a few commercial bottles of store bought kombucha tea (from a health benefit perspective you will loose out on some of the unique organic acids that only begin to form after day 20 of brewing.. hence the benefits of continuously brewing.. however the stuff has to taste good to you otherwise what’s the point right!). so when things get out of hand this will help you get back to normal.
3. Try straining your starter tea with a cheese cloth or any other type of mesh strainer.. (oil strainer work great too). Than once you have the sediments mostly strained out you can use this new strained starter tea in with your new sweet tea.
4. If you are using a heat mat you might want to cu back and actually lower the temp by using the heat mat only at night when the temp drops or placing it on the bottom of your brewer instead of the wrap around technique. A longer brew time with mellow out the taste.
5. Finally when you add you fresh sweet tea to start a new batch pour some of the starter tea on top to help evenly mix your brew from the get go.
Happy Brewin’,
Dave
PS: And yes, you got it! Starter tea is the brewed tea under the spigot level. 🙂
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