It'll need some extra time. Patience.

I like to think of the jellyfish as roots looking for nutrients.

SUCCESS!!! So I just finished DRINKING my first batch of tea that was stared from a bottle and a half of GT's. It tasted great, I have a nice pretty healthy looking bucha and batch number 2 is on its 3rd day of brewing! Hooray! Now I just need to get enough staggered batched brewing that I always have some ready to drink!

Today I just started my first batch using a bottle of "High Country Kombucha" I found at a really good health food store. I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out. I hope I have as much luck as you did. I tried to stick to your recipe as closely as possible - a cup of sugar, a gallon of water, 6 bags of black tea, and a 16 ounce bottle of kombucha tea with active cultures. wish me luck.

I just recently discovered Kombucha at a local natural foods store, thanks to some friends visiting CT from Cali. After drinking it for a couple days, I've never felt so good. I recommended some to a roommate who was feeling nauseated, and he swears by it too now. I was very thrilled to discover people are making it from GT's, and am currently brewing a small 1/2 gallon batch. Some of my concerns are as follows:

I used tap water, but boiled it first. Will this be a problem? (As opposed to using spring or filtered?)
I used 5 bags, and didn't let it steep quite as long. I used a generic black irish tea and a couple bags of green.
It's been since last wednesday, and there's definitely a little bucha booger floating up there. I tasted a little today. still tastes a bit sweet but has a vinegary smell, I think it's working. Should I use the first batch, or wait til the bucha is full-sized and start a new one before drinking?
Progress was going slow, then I read about temperature variables. I moved it upstairs to my girlfriend's room (she doesn't smoke) where it's signifigantly warmer than where I had it in the downstairs pantry. It was about 60 or so degrees in there, and now it's around 80. Hopefully this will increase the progress.
I aquired a 1 gallon cherry jar, sterilized it with boiling water and everything.. should I transfer to this jar? Is 1 gallon a better size, or is it just that 1/2 gallon will be too small of an ammount between batches? I want to get it going to where I have a staggered batch every week, and have some every day.
My girlfriend is VERY moody and sociopathic, and since I got her to drink a couple bottles, we've both noticed changes in her mood those days. She was MUCH cheerier and less depressed. I'm really excited about all this and hope it works out.
When bottling, what juices and fruits are ok to add, so it won't kill the culture but produce varients in flavor?
How long should I let it go before starting another batch, since this is started from GT's. The Bucha booger is about the size of a silver dollar right now.

Any advice would be tremendous! Thanks to everyone in this and other posts for providing so much info!!

Hi there! Last year I followed the directions in this post and was successful in starting a batch with the GT's but I let it go. I've been trying again with everything in perfect order. I even have heaters keeping the temp about 80 degrees constantly. Ive tried 4 batches now from GT's since March and nothing happens. It bubbles for about a week and then nothing. Im suspicious that the GT processing has been changed so that you cant make new batches with it. Have you heard anything like that? Do you have a baby you could share? I'm not sure I want to try GT's one more time. I'm in Sacramento, near Loemann's Plaza.

I hate to be so ignorant, but what are GTs? Thanks!

hello, i just recently discovered kombucha. i suffer from a rather severe case of crohn's disease and notice that my symptoms seem to lessen a day or so after drinking kombucha.

can someone please post a more explanatory process other than a recipe? explaining what happens, and what to do, etc.?

thank you

R.

Is there any specific type of black tea you use? Thanks, Nate