How to grow your own Kombucha Mushroom

There are many places online to buy kombucha mushrooms, but where is all the fun in that.  Here is how you can grow your own kombucha mushroom from a commercial bottle of Kombucha:

What you will need:
-Glass bowl or container (I used a quart sized jar)
-towel big enough to cover container and rubber band to secure it (I used a coffee filter)
-1 bottle of raw, unflavored kombucha tea
-1 cup of filtered water
-1 tea bag (black, green, or oolong)
-2 TBSP of white sugar
-time and patience

Heat water up to 190 degrees F.  Add tea bag and stir in sugar until dissolved.  Allow to cool to room temp.  Meanwhile take commercial bottle of kombucha out of fridge and allow to warm up to room temp.  Pour commercial kombucha and sweet tea into glass jar.  Cover with cloth and secure with rubber band.  In a couple of days you should start to see a thin film over the top.  That's the start of a baby mushroom!  In a couple of weeks it should be about 1/4"-1/2" thick.  Now you can make a one gallon batch of kombucha tea!

Commercial kombucha tea, a tea bag, and sugar

Tea and sugar

Can you see the small scoby on the surface of the tea?

Now the waiting game begins!