We used 21 grams of tea for this batch but we’re going to start putting more tea in our buch starting next week. We’ll do 25 grams of tea for the small batch from now on. For this batch we used 1 1/4 cups of starter buch and 1 cup of sugar.
We harvested this on 8/11 and it tasted really good so we kept it simple and added just 1 tsp of sugar for a batch of House Buch.
This time we did 2 steeps with 18 grams of tea each for a total of 36 grams. Next week we’ll probably switch back to 42 grams for the big batch. We used 2 cups of starter buch and 1 3/4 cups of sugar.
We harvested this on 8/11 and flavored it with 1/4 – 1/3 cup of puree from 6 pears and 2 limes plus 1/2 tbsp of sugar.
We did our usual 21 grams of tea, 10.5 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar. We’ll compare the taste of this to the big batch which has more tea and sugar.
We flavored this batch with fresh raspberries from Becky next door, 1/4 cup with 1/2 tbsp of sugar. We’ll let this ferment on the shelf for about 3 more days.
We’re trying a lot more tea this time, two 1/2 gallon brews of 21 grams of tea each. This left room for about 2 cups of water in our 1.5 gallon jar which means we’re using about 18 cups of water. This is compared to the 10.5 cups of water we use in our 1 gallon jar. To stick to our old recipe we would do 2 brews of 18 grams each so we’ve got an extra 6 grams in this batch. We’ll see if we like the extra tea flavor. As for sugar we used 2 full cups in this batch which is an increase in sugar as well. We’ll have to see how this compares to our old recipe. We let our last big batch go for 8 days and it tasted pretty darn good. Depending on the temperature we may let this one go for 8 days as well.
We harvested this on 8/4. We made 5 bottles of plain with 1 tsp of sugar and 4 grapes with 1/4 cup of grape juice and 1 tsp of sugar. This batch tasted really good so we’re going to stick with using more tea, 42 grams for the big batch and 25 for the small.
Hmmm, our nute isn’t anywhere near that dark which I think is the problem. We just tasted our first big batch of buch bottle and it didn’t have that rich Oolong flavor. Unfortunately we tasted it after our nute for this batch was ready. For this batch we used 28 grams of Oolong, steeped for 20 minutes in 195 degree water. We added 1 1/2 cups of sugar and lots of cold water to get us up to about 1 1/4 gallons then added 2 cups of starter buch and transferred the entire family. Our SCOBY thickness is about the same as in the photo but we have a short wide jar for more surface area.
Note: Next time we’re going to do things a little differently and jack up the tea strength. The big batch uses almost twice the tea the small batch does. I want to increase the amount of tea to two 1/2 gallon steeps with 21 grams of tea each.
We harvested this on 7/27 after 8 days and it tasted great! We got 8 bottles of Grape Ape out of it which we’ll probably sit on the shelf 5 days before refrigerating. We added the usual 1/4 cup concord grape juice and 1 tsp of sugar. It still tasted sweet so hopefully that will be enough.
Oops, I screwed up and used just 14 grams of tea instead of the usual 21. I expect this will turn out weak. We are kinda off our game and still tweaking things in our new ecosystem. We’ll keep the SCOBY family together and keep 1 1/2 cups for starter which should give it a little extra kick. Maybe we’ll make ginger beer out of this batch.
We harvested this on 7/27 after 8 days. It was about right but definitely light on the tea. We made plain out of it with 1 tsp of sugar and will let it go on the shelf the usual 9 days.
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