I have been wondering whether kombucha needs to ferment in an open air container. Even though a cloth towel is covering the vessel, I know very well that dust, dirt, and micro organisms are able to travel through the “barrier.” Also, the kombucha is sitting in my guest bathroom. And, while the bathroom doesn’t get used, it seems more sanitary if the vessel is hermetically sealed.

In one bucket, I oxygenated the liquid, oxygenated the air, sealed up the top, and then placed an airlock in the hole. In the other bucket, I placed a cheesecloth over the top. After a couple of weeks, the scobies were dramatically different. Clearly, the gelatinous mass is a protection barrier to oxygen.

I wondered if kombucha could eat different sugars than sucrose. So I brewed a batch of kombucha with dry malt extract (DME). It was not a problem at all it seem. Although there is one noticeable difference. When the CO2 is generated and bubbles out of the liquid, the DME is foamier than sugar. And you can see the dried foam along the edges. The taste also has a slightly different mouth feel.

I have now experimented with three different scoby cultures. The first one was from the Meetup group. The second one which I bought via Amazon was the Oregon Kombucha Complete Starter Kit. The third one I got from Kombucha Kamp and was two scoby cultures as 2 Full Size Kombucha Mothers.

I bought two new ones so that I could run an experiment. One kombucha batch will be sealed to the outside air and the second will be open.