Tea Does Matter!

When I was a newbie in brewing; I never knew that the type of tea matters for brewing. For me as long as tea is introduced into the brew, you will get a good brew and a baby SCOBY.

I was proven so wrong when my uncle tasked me to brew with Rooibos tea.

My first batch with Rooibos was barely a success. The brew is can still be passed as kombucha but the baby SCOBY is remarkably thin and looks weak.


When I swapped it with regular black Tea (Boh) the next brew was strong, bold in flavor and the baby SCOBY was thick and strong. Since then, I have tested with green tea, jasmine and even chrysanthemum. Results are recorded in the table below. 

For beginners, its best to start of brewing with black tea; once you have several Scobies at hand, then you can start experimenting with the batches.


My next kombucha brew? Lo Han Kuo kombucha.

Type of Tea
Strength of Brew
Scoby
Development
Black Tea
Bold and strong
Very thick

Green Tea
Mild tasting
Light in colour but thick
Rooibos Tea
Mild tasting
Thin and weak
Chrysanthemum Tea
Medium taste with strong hints of chrysanthemum
Light in colour and thick
Jasmine Tea
Medium taste with light hints of jasmine
Light in colour and thick

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