Update: Found out my kombucha SCOBY was way older than I thought

I was cleaning out my fermentation cabinet yesterday and found a notebook from when I first started. I wrote the date I got my original SCOBY from a friend. That was in 2018. I've been feeding and splitting this same culture for six years without realizing it. I always just thought I was maintaining a 'mature' batch, not a historical artifact. It's been through three moves with me, from my old apartment to this house. The fact that this rubbery blob has been alive and working longer than some people have had their pets is wild to me. It makes me weirdly nervous now, like I'm responsible for a tiny, sour ecosystem. Has anyone else had a culture survive that long, or is mine some kind of freak accident?

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xena3735mo ago

It's just kombucha, not a pet.

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martin.paige5mo ago

Honestly that's kind of amazing, a six year old scoby. It reminds me of how we get used to things just being there in the background, you know? Like that one houseplant you've had forever that you forget is actually a living thing you're keeping alive. It's easy to miss the history in everyday stuff until you find the old date written down. Makes you look at your whole kitchen differently.

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luna8915mo ago

Right?! @xena373 I mean technically it's not a pet but c'mon, six years of feeding this thing is basically a relationship at that point lol. I found a sourdough starter in my grandma's fridge once that had a note taped to it from 1998, nearly cried.

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