Uh-oh. Can you not ferment kombucha in chai tea?

[Aletheia]

I hope I didn't kill my scoby.  I've had it (or a permutation of it!) for two years and have gotten attached!

I usually just use green or black, but had some yummy chai a friend brought from India.  It is not making a new culture on top.  It's been sitting for 5 days.

Does this mean the preestablished scobies are not going to work their magic on the next batch I brew???

[velcromom]

I have not had any experience with chai tea, but I do know that you can grow a scoby in many different types of tea, and I've even had success culturing apple juice with a scoby, which seemed to love it and grew rapidly. Perhaps there is an ingredient in chai it doesn't like? Or is it colder than normal? Low temps definitely slow fermentation down.

[Aletheia]

Wow!  Apple juice?  What did it taste like? 

For the record, I took my scoby out and put it in green tea once more, and it is very happy.  I don't know what was in that chai blend, but I've read that essential oils don't do well in kombucha (so earl grey is not supposed to work.) 

I am totally going to try the apple juice idea. 

What kind of apple juice did you use?  I have some fresh pressed cider... or ought I use store bought pasteurized stuff?

[velcromom]

I am using organic pasteurized apple juice right now. It tastes, well, tangy, apply, a little sweet. I had some that went too long & got really sour so we just mixed it into some water with lemon juice and a bit of sweetener... essentially made lemonade with it, but I don't think it really needs the lemon. I let the kids drink juice now and then and decided that it's going to be fermented or mixed with a fermented beverage to improve it.

[dogmom327]

Chai tea makes amazing tasting Kombucha but...the oils in the tea are generally not good for the scoby in the long run.  If you are going to use Chai tea I'd recommend two things: first, use your extra scoby's for that task (one's you'd normally just compost) and I wouldn't use each scoby for more than a batch or two.  Two, don't let it ferment longer than maybe 10 days so there's less risk of rancid oils.