Apple Cider and Kombucha

[Nerium]

I just picked up a 4L jug of freshly pressed apple cider from the farmer's market and I'm itching to ferment it, but not sure how. I have been brewing kombucha for a few months, so I'm wondering if I could do something using a kombucha scoby, or doing a second fermentation and filling bottles with half cider, half brewed kombucha. I'm also tempted to try just fermenting it on it's own, maybe with some champagne yeast to make a hard cider. Thoughts anyone?

[infinity_farmer]

Hello! I've wondered the same thing myself. I'm currently brewing with half black and red tea and half apple cider from my farmers market. The cider is pasteurized, unfortunately. However, it has been brewing for less than 36 hours and it is already very frothy and has that kombucha "zip" to it. I reckon if I let it sit for a few weeks it will become alcoholic. Hopefully not vinegared. I will post the results :)

[JaneMS]

I don't know about apple cider, yesterday I had kombucha i with grape juice and it was fabulous. So when I get a mother I'm going to put her in the grape and do it that way.

It would be interesting to see if it would work.

[infinity_farmer]

My cider and kombucha scoby has been fermenting for maybe two months now. It has turned vinegared. It was too strong to palate, unfortunately.

[ciderguy]

We make hard cider using a kombucha scoby culture I picked up at a local home-brew store. We don't expose it to air in order to prevent the culture to acidify. It has to be one of the tastiest hard ciders we make. We start with unpasteurized juice that is sulphited than pitch 12-24 hours later. It's ready to drink in less than 2 weeks.

[Tim Hall]

Ciderguy, this is interesting. Do the yeasts get enough oxygen for their aerobic phase? I mean do you aerate it and then put it under an airlock, or just put it straight under an airlock with sulphite?

Also do you pitch just some of the kombucha liquid, or SCOBY too?

[Debsta]

I was wondering the same thing and ended up on this site. I use to make Kombucha using Rose tea and brown sugar. I was wondering if you could make a kombucha cider blend with fruit instead of sugar? So has anybody tried that? Like half Rose tea half unpasteurized cider with a little apple cider vinegar mother and strain the tea through dried elderberry, cinnamon stick with a little natural loganberry preserve for sugar. Would that work? I don't know anything about making cider. Kinda looking to make a kombucha fermented elderberry cyder tonic. Thoughts about what does and doesn't work would be appreciated. Thanks.