plain bottles

Oolong is a traditional Chinese tea produced through a unique process including withering the plant under the strong sun and oxidation before curling and twisting. We used the last of a new Oolong (not Tung Ting). For this batch we brought 6 cups of water to 185 degrees, added 35 grams of tea and steeped for 5 minutes covered, stirring midway through. We then added a cup of sugar to a gallon jar and strained the tea into it, dissolving the sugar. We added 5 cups of water and let cool to room temperature. Next we added 1 1/2 cups of starter tea and transferred the SCOBY.

We harvested this on 9/24. It had a couple inches of SCOBY (about average) and tasted more sweet than vinegary so we flavored it with just 1/2 tbsp of sugar. Next time we are going to try 1 1/4 cup of sugar in the initial fermentation and no sugar added for the second.