*** You'll need: a gallon jug, an enamel-ware pot for boiling the water, approximately 1 gallon of distilled deionized water, 6 or 7 tea bags (I use Lipton, Luzianne, or Earl Grey), 1 & 1/3 cup of sugar, cheese cloth (at least 4 layers), a rubber band, and the Kombucha culture. Expect to spend about 5 hours making your first batch. Also, the first batch may not be as good as future batches, depending on how long & where the original Kombucha culture has been in storage.

NOW, we're ready to start! Here's how it's done:

1. Bring the distilled water to a rolling boil in the enamel-ware pot (DON'T use metal cookware when working with Kombucha; especially don't use aluminum!). Now, let the water cool to about 50 degs. C so it won't crack the gallon jug (this will probably take around 2 hours or so).

2. When the water's cooled enough, pour approximately 1/3 of it into the glass jug and add the sugar. Shake the jug to swirl the water and dissolve the sugar; it dissolves really fast. Shake the jug fast enough to keep the water swirling (so it'll mix uniformly) and add the rest of the water to about 2 inches from the top (this is usually somewhat less than a full gallon). Place the tea bags in and let them steep for about 30 minutes to 1 hour; also, dunk them up & down several times while they're steeping.

3. Remove the tea bags and continue to let the tea cool to room temp. (about another 1 & 1/2 to 3 hours or so). Now, add about 1/2 cup of Kombucha tea from the previous batch (if this is your first batch, 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar will do). Next, add the Kombucha culture (white side up) gently to the tea after washing it with cold tap water. Cover the jug with the cheese cloth and secure it with the rubber band. You might also want to add a lid or Petri dish to keep any unwanted contaminants that might get through the cloth: this lid must fit very loosely, as AIR must still get in for the Kombucha to grow! Place the jug where it's dark, clean, and won't get bumped or moved (e.g., in the cabinet under the kitchen counter).

4. After about 10 to 17 days (some cultures grow at different rates), the newly-formed Kombucha culture should be approximately 1/3 inch thick. Remove the culture and filter the tea. I filter mine in a 2000-ml Erhlenmeyer filter flask with either a coffee filter or cheese cloth in the Buchner funnel. Store the tea in the 'fridge! Cooling stops the growth of the acid bacteria, but the low-temperature yeasts will continue to grow and proliferate. If the tea is stored in tightly- stoppered bottles for about 5 weeks, it'll become sparkling (like champagne). Save the Kombucha cultures and about 1/2 to 1 cup of tea for the next batch.

***Please read these additional notes about Kombucha. :-)

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