Although the original Kombucha will eventually wear out from age and use, it can be used repeatedly for quite a few months--as long as it remains in healthy condition. The life-span of a particular colony probably varies with use and feed-stock as well as growing environment, etc.

According to Russian reports no special precautionary measures are needed because the Kombucha protects itself against impurities. Some of these protective features include the organic acids, low alcohol content, and carbonic acid. These all jointly block the development of all foreign microörganisms not belonging to the Kombucha. The Russian researcher IN.

Some say you can wash the mold off the Kombucha with vinegar, but I would advise that for safety's sake you throw out this batch of fermented tea as well as the Kombucha colony and start again with another Kombucha. Always add a 10% solution of ready fermented Kombucha Tea to each new batch you start. This is done to acidify the fermenting solution at the very start--to deter mold growth.

By Günther W. Frank , author of the book, Kombucha - Healthy Beverage and Natural Remedy from the Far East ISBN 3-85068-337-0 http://www.bawue.de/~kombucha/english.html One is also often advised to deep-freeze the culture in the freezer during a break in production, together with a little of the ready-fermented beverage. To do this, the culture can be heat-sealed into a freezer bag or else put into a screw-top jar.

It doesn't matter. There is no advantage to using one or the other. Each will produce a new colony when put into a feeding solution.

Günther W. Frank, author of Kombucha-Healthy Beverage and Natural Remedy from the Far East, suggests the following method: "I mail Kombucha colonies like this: I put the colony, including about 9 ounces of ready fermented beverage (very important!) in a plastic bag--like one use for deep freezing food in a deep-freeze. Then I seal the bag with a bag sealer. This bag I put into another bag, which I seal again. So it is double sealed.

Boil 96 ounces water, plus 2 cups extra to allow for evaporation during the 5 minute boiling period. Cover with a lid while boiling. After 5 minutes remove cover and add 1 cup of white sugar. [use measuring cup] Remove pot from heat add 5 -6 regular size tea bags--or the equivalent amount of loose tea--in a tea-ball or tea holder. You can use either black tea, green tea, or oolong tea or a combination of teas.

Michael Roussin, Director of the Kombucha Consumer Research Group ™ says ". . . the colony brings to the ferment everything it needs to reproduce itself. And fermenting without a colony will breed out some of the symbiotes, and it will also breed in new ones." ". . .I strongly recommend that you introduce a colony to each new ferment you start. It has all of the information necessary to replicate itself, and while some of that information is not necessary, much of it is.

You can ferment Kombucha in a dark or in a light place. It is best not to grow it in direct sunlight because that may destroy some of the beneficial bacteria needed to produce Kombucha Tea. The temperature where the Kombucha Tea is being fermented should remain between 75-85° F. If it gets too cool it will take longer to ferment.

If you have a large container there is no problem with putting in more than one colony. Many people don't separate the colonies but just let them stack up in the fermenting vessel, while periodically removing the oldest one from the bottom of the stack. However, a single colony is sufficient to ferment Kombucha, additional colonies will just take up volume in your container.

No. Chlorine can cause damage to the Kombucha colony. The best way to clean your colony (to remove the brown stringy yeast etc.,) is to simply bathe it in some of the kombucha ferment it came out of. This practice will also serve to maintain the pH of the colony. Washing it in water--even cooled, boiled water, could change the pH and make it susceptible to mold growth.

No. Thin spots or holes or if the parent colony tears while being separated from the baby, doesn't mean there is a problem with the Kombucha. However, if the colony smells "off," and tears or falls apart very easily, throw it out and use a different one in your next batch.

John A. (Jack) Barclay -- a member of the Kombucha mailing list, stated the following : "Someone was told that if the Kombucha colony doesn't float to the top within a day or two, it should be thrown out. Not so. Whether the Kombucha floats or sinks or rests somewhere in the middle is a function of the density of the Kombucha compared to the density of the liquid. The density is affected by the amount and kind of sugar, temperature, water hardness, kind of tea etc.

The following advice is provided by Carl Mueller, a former member of the Kombucha mailing list. "I state the following based on my knowledge and experience brewing wine and beer. I feel that this is applicable here because a lot of what has been previously stated i.e., sterility, alcohol production, etc., are the same. Yeast will die in a fermented liquid after the food source has been exhausted--a process known as drying out.

Put a large glass or marble weight on the "mother" colony to keep it on the bottom, then you won't have a problem and the new colony will not be disturbed.

When you register your domain name, you tell InterNIC which domain name servers (DNS) to use to serve your site to the web. The DNS entries have to propagate - Internet Service Providers (ISPs) around the world have to update their records. This can take 12-72 hours (it typically takes a day). Since some ISPs update their DNS tables more frequently than others, your site will be visible from some ISPs earlier than others. This process is the same no matter which host you choose.

A colony is the ultimate networking community, comprised of each of the six hive types, or six hives total, with the maximum 30 networking members in each of the six different hives. Hives typically meet a minimum of twice a month. At least two times a year, the Queen/King Bee will assemble a networking event for her or his entire colony.

There are two primary ways to propagate roses. Asexual reproduction is usually used to produce a duplicate of the parent plant. Sexual reproduction, i.e. growing roses from seed, is primarily used to create new varieties of roses. Common methods of asexual propagation of roses are softwood rooting, hardwood rooting, and bud grafting. Limited space permits only a brief description of softwood rooting.

Bamboo is usually propagated by digging up part of a clump of existing bamboo and moving it elsewhere (see the next question.) The vast majority of propagating is done that way and it results in most plants of most varieties in the U.S. being clones. If you divide a bamboo plant and put it in a new location, it usually doesn’t do much for the first few growing seasons.

Here is a list of frequently asked questions about Lewtress's unique products. We hope that you find the information you require. If not please contact us. Lewtress Herbal Products FAQ's