Same buyer pictures of jars from sides

Picture #1 day 5

Picture #2 days 7 to 8

   

This picture from a buyer, Is of her first batch at 10 days, It shows the original culture (mother) on the bottom a thin baby culture floating near the bottom, And another thin baby culture floating near the top. It was disturbed, once tea gets above the baby culture a new culture will form.The first few batches the baby may be thin. (Thank you for the picture Patricia)

The pictures below are not mold, But If you think you have mold email me I can email you mold pictures and info.

Pictures 1 & 2 below are from another buyer who was worried that her forming baby culture had mold, But all was OK. picture 1 is at day 7 & is what she was worried was mold, Picture 2 shows the formed baby around days 9 or 10 and is OK. From her first batch as well.(thank you for the questions,pictures & follow-up Lisa)

Below is a picture from a buyer that bought 2 regular size cultures from me, Did each one in a gallon jar. They emailed me asking if this one was OK because,One looked excellent & this one is bubbly & has something black hanging down inside. (black is yeast cells)

Even though its not perfect it is still OK. (Thank you for the question & picture Sunny)

Below are some pictures from a buyer on her first batch after 4 days, She was worried about the dark slime. The dark slime is yeast cells.Yeast cells may look like wet brownish toilet paper or dark slimy mucus.

(The question buyer asked was) the dark slime doesn't look like mold, but i just don't know if it's normal. i hope i can make good tea! i think a film for new baby is starting okay.what do you think? i started the tea fri., so today is day 4.i gently moved glass to get better view, and scoby sunk to bottom and green slime is now stretched. it looks like there was a very thin clear film forming (baby) that is now also pulled below the surface. will it be okay? the dark green looks like it could be green tea tannin pigment, but it's a slimy blob

Yes the slime is fine & is normal, But will not happen in all batches, Since the thin baby sank it will remain thin, And another baby will form on the surface.

Picture 1,2 & 3 are after moving the jar, So the baby culture sank with the mother.The slime has moved some in each picture. (Sara thank you for the questions, pictures & follow-up)

Below are pictures from a buyer that was wondering what the brown growth was inside the forming baby culture.He bought 10 cultures and is on the first batch for each

(The question they asked)The growth I'm talking about is on the top where the baby is forming. The baby itself looks healthy (uniform white color) but next to it a light brown lump developed (it's clumped together separate from the baby and is not dry so I know it's not mold). It has a similar texture to something like a watered down milkshake and it's bubbly. Does this sound like anything you have seen before?

All was OK as it also is yeast cells.
Picture 1 & 2 show the forming baby with the dark spot, And the original (mother)scoby is also on the top, Everything is fine.The baby appears that it will be thin when done so it will need to go in the batch with the mother on the next batch.(Thank you for the question and pictures Jorge)

 

Below another buyer was worried he might have mold, All was Ok as it is yeast tannins

His question: hi. my scoby got off to a slow start and today is now day 7. it's begun to move a bit, but there is a strange web-like growth that I'm uncertain about. here are some pictures: i don't know if this is mold or not, please advise.
(Thanks for the question & pictures Brian)

(Notice how the baby culture is thin and clear on his first batch)

Picture 1 Shows the yeast cells in a light brown on the top of the tea.(day 7)

Picture 2 is a close-up of the yeast cells on the top, (day 7)in this picture you can make out the thin very clear layer of the baby culture(the yeast cells are just under the layer with fermentation/gas bubbles)

Picture 3 shows the original culture in the tea with slime strings that will form the baby culture.(day 7)

 

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The buyer emailed me this picture below with these question:I finished a couple batches of kombucha and one of the cultures in the batches ended up with big bubbles in it and had a brown slimy residue attached to the culture. I am thinking that this is normal, but I wanted to check with you first. I have attached a photo of the actual cultures after I pulled them out of the tea.

But all is OK as sometimes Fermentation gas gets caught between the layers of the cultures causing a air bubble.

(Thanks for the question & picture Evonne)

The Picture shows the culture with the bubble and the brown slimy residue of the normal yeast cells.She has several cultures in the same jar until ready to ferment again

The Pictures below are from a buyer who wanted to make sure everything was going normal, Her questions were: Hello, I am on day 6 of my fermenting (or brewing-not quite sure what the correct verbiage is) and I wanted to send you some pictures of my tea just to make sure it’s on the right track. Basically, the culture was at the bottom of the jar until today- it has now risen and is sideways near the top of the jar- there is a film also at the top of the jar with a few black marks… Does it look healthy? Is it close to being drinkable? What are the babies and when do they come?

(Thank you for the pictures and the questions Anne)

In these 2 pictures you can see the black yeast cells & the thin clear layer of the baby, And the Original culture just under it, You can also see that the baby culture has been disturbed and has floated away from the edges of the jar,(most likely from moving the jar around) So it will not grow any thicker. But otherwise all is well and this tea will be ready to drink in a few more days.

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These Pictures are from a buyer who bought 2 of my regular size kombuchas. The question: Hello I am including three pictures with this email. I rec'd two nice cultures from you. I have had them in the process of making the tea for about twelve days. I checked them tonight and find that they have a milky white skim on top about 1/16" thick. I know the cultures were around 4" across and I put them in a gal. container each. However, they just do not look healthy. In the third picture the tea looks cloudy .under the 4" culture in both containers. I tasted it and it has a tart vinegar taste. So as far as taste, it might be ok. I am just not sure about the cloudy look under the cultures or the look of the baby culture forming. What would you suggest? Should I discard the baby and tea and start over? Or should I just let it set for a while to build up the new babies. Or should I take that thin baby off and use it to start new tea? Your suggestions and analysis would be most helpful. 

(Thank you for the pictures and the questions Irish)

In the first 2 pictures, each jar has a thin blotchy baby forming across the top of the tea, in each you can see the original culture just under the thin baby. This is not a problem and does happen on the first batches sometimes, Both pictures the baby is OK.

In the other picture it is a little blurry,But the buyer was worried about cloudy tea, This happens sometimes and is OK.

Here is a follow-up email from Irish several weeks later:

This buyer bought 2 regular size, The question:This Thursday it will be 3 weeks, I was wondering if you could help me based off pictures. Both look nearly the same, though it has been a larger time then I figured and the baby has not fully formed yet, or maybe I made another error. Let me know what you think, thanks.

(Thank you for the pictures and the question Mike)

These pictures show blotchy babys that are thicker in some spots than other spots,In both, They also show fermentation holes. The original culture is also stuck into the forming baby. This all happens and is OK. At 12 days these can be pulled and a new batch started, The babys can be put in with the original cultures for the next batches.

This buyer emailed me 2 pictures of the fermenting kombucha tea at day 7, Both pictures look great,The baby is a little thin but this is only the first batch

Thank you for the pictures Vincent

(pictures from top and side)

Thin babys,The Question:

hello from nebraska,
this is my first time brewing kombucha and it has been brewing for 14 days, it has developed two baby scobys and another on forming on top, is this normal? here is a picture of it. i want it to taste very strong, every time i taste it, its pretty weak, whats the longest i can let it ferment for?
thanks,
brandon

(Picture below)
The picture looks fine, They have got several layers of babies that have fallen below the tea, This happens when the jar is moved or bumped, or from tasting etc, So you must be careful if you want thick babies. there is nothing wrong with the babies they just have 3 thinner instead of 1 thicker. Once a baby falls below the tea it is no longer a baby it becomes a mother culture, So at this point the cultures below the tea are helping fermenting the tea. As a general K-tea ferments 7 to 14 days, But can go to 30 days.

(Thanks Brandon for the picture & question)