Right now, since I brew in 2 one-gallon barrel jars, I remove the scoby each time to pour off the entire batch into bottles; with continuous brewing, I'll just pour off the amount I desire through the spigot and pour in new sweet tea (amount equal to what was removed), without touching the scoby or washing the jar out. I've heard that the KT is supposed to be better (we'll see) and there's less risk of contamination of the scoby.
If your KT is too sweet, you could try letting it go longer...it will also take longer if it's cool in your house. How much sugar are you using? More important than even the scoby is the finished KT you use to inoculate each batch - you want it nice and strong, and I use a cup per gallon. You can use multiple scobies, but the key will really be the previous batch's KT that you're adding to the new batch.
I use black, green, white, oolong, jasmine (green), and pu erh teas in my KT. Oolong is semi-fermented and pu erh is fermented. A scoby does best with at least some black tea, but you can make KT entirely with green (I'd recharge it with black periodically). You can even make it with yerba mate, but I would "recharge" it periodically, too. I'd just avoid any flavored tea (like Earl Grey, for example) because the oils can harm the scoby and possibly inhibit fermentation. Orange pekoe should be fine because that refers to the grade of tea - it's just black tea, despite the name.
If your KT is too sweet, you could try letting it go longer...it will also take longer if it's cool in your house. How much sugar are you using? More important than even the scoby is the finished KT you use to inoculate each batch - you want it nice and strong, and I use a cup per gallon. You can use multiple scobies, but the key will really be the previous batch's KT that you're adding to the new batch.
I use black, green, white, oolong, jasmine (green), and pu erh teas in my KT. Oolong is semi-fermented and pu erh is fermented. A scoby does best with at least some black tea, but you can make KT entirely with green (I'd recharge it with black periodically). You can even make it with yerba mate, but I would "recharge" it periodically, too. I'd just avoid any flavored tea (like Earl Grey, for example) because the oils can harm the scoby and possibly inhibit fermentation. Orange pekoe should be fine because that refers to the grade of tea - it's just black tea, despite the name.
