When you receive your SCOBY, it will look like a flat, rubbery disc or segment, floating in rich Kombucha starter liquid.
Once you add it to your sweetened tea, it may sink or float or stand on end. And, depending on the temperature, within 7-10 days, your tea should develop a transparent film on the surface…that’s the “baby” SCOBY, which may or may not attach itself to the original, or “mother.”
As your Kombucha brews, your SCOBY may turn dark, mottled, stringy, hairy, bumpy, bubbly, smooth or lumpy. All of this is normal. You may even see some brown blobs or spots developing. Still normal. On very rare occasion, mold may show up. But if it does, you’ll know it when you see it because it will look very different from your SCOBY: furry, black or blue, and growing in concentric circles. If you spot it, it’s time to toss both the SCOBY and the Kombucha and start fresh.