In simple words, its fermented tea! Just like how fermenting grapes gives you wine, and fermenting milk gives you yogurt. Kombucha taste good, its healthy, and great fun to brew and share with your loved ones.

The sugar from the sweet tea provides the conditions for fermentation to occur. It is transformed by bacteria into healthy acids and the enzymes further break down the sugar. In other words, sugar acts as food for your scoby! The longer you ferment, the lesser sugar will remain.

Tap water might have high mineral content which might harm your scoby over the long term. This also includes natural or bottled spring water. Its recommended to use filtered water, but we've tried and tested that boiled water works just fine. You just need to give it some time to cool to room temperature before adding your scoby & starter liquid.

The most commen brewing locations are kitchen counters, kitchen/room shelves, or the dining area. Few important factors to consider are:

1. Room temperature - When working with microorganisms, the culture would suffer if its too hot or too cold. Given Singapore's climate, room temperature (24C-30C) is the optimal temperature for good fermentation.

2. Away from direct sun - The UV rays of sunlight might be great for your laundry, but it could be damaging to your kombucha culture.

3. Contaminants - Avoid placing it near harsh chemicals (air freshner, cleaning products) or the garbage, as your scoby could be affected by these contaminants. Its also a good idea to keep it away from house plants or fruit baskets as these are insect prone locations.

4. Good airflow - Kombucha needs exposure to oxygen in order for fermentation to occur. Thus, its not a a good idea to cap your jar or keep it in a tightly sealed location. A cupboard could still work if its proped open or ventilated a few times a day.

5. Convenient - It should be easy to access for you to taste and keep an eye for fruit flies

It stands for Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria & Yeast. Its appearance can vary, but its typically rubbery, opaque with a mild, vinegar-like smell. It grows on the surface of your kombucha and takes the shape of your brewing jar. As you brew your kombucha, new layers of scobies will form below. Once its too thick, you can share it to your friends to start their kombucha journey too.

It depends on your taste buds! As fermentation occurs, your brew will become less sweet as sugar is consumed. First fermentation usually takes 6-10 days, depending on its environment. We'd recommend to do a daily taste check after day 5 or 6, before proceeding to your second fermentation.

Read more about it in the first fermentation tab above.

In our starter kit, we got you off with:

- 1.2L of filtered water

- 100g of organic fine cane sugar

- 3 organic black tea bags

- 100ml of starter liquid

- 1 scoby

Feel free to use this proportion guide for your future batches of kombucha, or when you're confident of brewing larger amounts. Ultimately, it all depends on your preference, so feel free to adjust!

If its used for extended periods, it will affect the health of your kombucha, and you might even get a metal taste in your brew.

Although iits recommended to avoid metal equipment altogether, using a metal spoon to stir or pull out your scoby is fine.

Black tea is the most common, and best recommended for starters. Feel free to experiment with green tea, oolong or white tea.

Avoid herbal tea like peppermint or chamomile as they lack necessary nutients to feed your kombucha culture in your first brew. They might also contain natural oils which might interfere with your scoby's ability to absorb oxygen.

Its most common to use circular glass jars. Just be sure to avoid plastic or metal components as it can damage the kombucha scoby.

We'd highly recommend using organic refined cane sugar.

Its much easier to break down and high quality ingredients results in high quality kombucha! If you're feeling adventurous, our brewers have also tried with honey! But try to avoid raw honey as they might contain bacteria that could affect your kombucha. In fact, there's a trend of "jun kombucha" where brewers substitute sugar for honey.

With our all-in-one brew kit, all you need for future brews is just tea & sugar! Costing just a few dollars that would last you a long time.

The market rates of ready-made kombucha is SGD $25-$30 for 1.5L, so you would have recouped your cost after 2 brews, and have an endless supply for you and your friends :)