Making Kombucha

Step 2 Make sun tea

Add two to five tea bags (black or green) to three quarts of water. Let it steep for 8-24 hours, depending on how black you like it.

Comments

[reverendbubba1]

Don't ever use Earl Grey tea. The bergamot in it will injure your culture and you'll need to get a new starter. This has happened to me. Anything with citrus in it is bad because of the acidic nature, which kills the starter.

[CapraRoyale]

From what I understand, it's not in fact the acidity, because the bacteria thrive in an acidic environment.
That's why you add some of your previous batch into your new batch to bring up the acidity.
It's the Bergamot oil which floats to the surface (as oil does) and cuts off oxygen for the yeast and bacteria.

[BlondGuy101]

Earl Grey is a British gentleman's tea, and Lady Grey is a tea for his special gentlelady. I bet they'd be worth trying.

[porcupinemamma]

If you are adverse to bergemont (sorry don't know proper spelling) stay away from Earl Gray

[SisterMable]

Earl Grey is strongly flavoured with Bergamot. You should avoid any flavoured teas, as the oils from the flavorings can distort, and sometimes even kill, the mother. The volatile nature of the flavourings can also produce off flavour in the tea itself.

[ardrhi]

Odd...I don't see anything in the instructions about Earl or Lady Grey. I see mention of PG Tips, which is not a citrus-flavored tea.  Where are you folks seeing something about Earl Grey?

[technosapien]

Lady Grey tea is flavored with citrus, I'm not sure how healthy citric acid is for the scoby....