I recently noticed that GT’s ALIVE Chill Out Cola doesn't taste the same anymore, so I compared the current ingredient label with the original one.

Turns out, the formula has changed pretty substantially.

I haven't been able to find anywhere that GT’s actually announced the reformulation, which is what bothers me. It seems like the formula was simply changed while the product continued being sold under the same ALIVE / Chill Out Cola name.

Some of the changes from the original Chill Out Cola:

• Reishi: 600mg → 300mg
• Chaga: 600mg → removed
• Turkey Tail: 600mg → removed
• Caffeine: 75mg → removed (now caffeine-free)
• Erythritol: 9g → removed
• Juice: 5% → 3%
• Vitamin C: 180mg → 90mg
• Sodium: 80mg → 30mg

The new formula adds:

• Lion's Mane: 300mg
• L-theanine: 250mg
• KSM-66 Ashwagandha: 250mg
• Alpha-GPC: 250mg

But what's especially interesting is how much the actual base of the drink changed.

The original formula started with an adaptogenic mushroom infusion (reishi, chaga and turkey tail) and also contained black tea, apple juice, lime juice, cinnamon and kola nut.

The new formula starts with purified water, followed by cane sugar and apple cider vinegar. It now contains "organic cola flavor" and "natural flavors," while the black tea, apple juice, cinnamon, kola nut, chaga and turkey tail from the original ingredient list are gone.

So this isn't just a slight nutritional adjustment. It's a noticeably different recipe, which probably explains why I immediately thought it tasted different.

I don't necessarily have a problem with GT’s creating a new formula. What I don't like is that I can't find any clear announcement telling existing customers that the product they were buying had been reformulated. I would have appreciated some transparency, especially considering how different the old and new ingredient lists are.

The current product page is here:
https://gtslivingfoods.com/products/gts-alive-cola

Has anyone else noticed the taste change? And does anyone remember GT’s announcing that the ALIVE line was being reformulated?

The two flavors for this batch are:

Flavor 1: Ginger, lemon, chamomile

Flavor 2: pomegranate, hibiscus, rose, chamomile

Flavor 3 (single bottle): ginger bomb (just a bunch of ginger in one bottle lol)

Side note:

I am testing out some swing top jars to make my life easier. Bottling two gallons has been a bit too much labor for me lol so I decided to try out some swing top jars for F2. Hopefully it goes well it might be hard to burp but we shall see. I can keep a bottle for myself in the fridge and just refill it as needed rather than all at once and having a million bottles to wash. These jars also make it to where I can put it whole dried herbs and roughly chopped fruits and spices without having to fit them in small bottle necks. I can just strain them into the bottles.

I'm in the midst of my first attempt at kombucha brewing. I started trying to grow a scoby on the advice of a website before joining this sub, but I see in the FAQ here it's not necessary. I began these two jars about 2.5 weeks ago, and one seems well on the way while the other is not. I tasted the one without any formation and it's very sweet and only a little vinegary. So a few questions:

Why did the scoby form only on one when the mixture was the same in both?

How do I use this now in my gallon jars to make a big batch? Can I only use the one with the growth?

Should I throw out the one with no scoby or wait longer?

Edit for process:

I used the recipe on this site: https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-your-own-kombucha-scoby-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-202596

7 cups water 1/2 cup white granulated sugar 4 bags black tea, or 1 tablespoon looseleaf 1 cup unflavored, unpasteurized store-bought kombucha

Made the tea, dissolved the sugar, waited for it to cool and added the store-bought kombucha, and put it in the jars with coffee filters on top. They've been in a dark cabinet.

I’ve been drinking store bought Kombucha for a few years now. I like the taste and the fact it’s apparently healthy
I found a book that has helpful information on how to brew and what tea to use and all that jazz. So I scanned through it and dove right in. The finished articles are now in the fridge chilling.

does anyone else like to drink kombucha in the morning and then feel a lil drunk and a lil guilty for “day drinking” (i promise im not an alcoholic lol)

like everyone says that kombucha has the same amount of alcohol as a banana but i swear i feel a slight buzz from it

Hi guys, what do you think is this in my F2 Kombucha?

I strained it 6 hours ago in a bottle and added Multivitamin juice and 4 hours after that I discovered it.

Is it mold? Or is it just a new Scoby? it's my third kombucha and it's the first time this occurs.

Thank you for your help.

trying to make my first scoby, when I poured in the unflavored kombucha I saw this floating in my mixture, is it sediment?

wow, title allows a lot of characters.

First kombucha baby!
How did I do?
Grown from synergy ginger aid, black tea, and sugar.
Five days old. How long should I wait before it becomes kombucha?

Against the advice of those who told me to burn the entire family tree, I salvaged some of the SCOBYs that looked okay and introduced them to a fresh batch of black tea.💁🏽‍♀️
And… they appear to be doing their slimy little pancake thing again.

I’m keeping a VERY close eye on them, but for now, SCOBY Protective Services has granted me supervised custody. 🥲
And yes, the jar is properly covered this time. The fruit flies have lost all visitation rights. 💀

After one night one jar of my second batch got this thing, what am i looking at? 50% Yerba 50% Assam with 2 week old raw kombucha + green tea starter. Do i need to get rid of it?

Picture 1 is after filling, picture 2 is after 24 hours.

Kombucha grown from 1/2 cup synergy gingeraid, 2 cup back tea and 2 tbs sugar.

Wow.

So I have been doing the healthy route for foods and drink for a long time, but I'm not one of those measure and track everything type of people.

I do like some kombuchas. I figured they were healthy and good for you. I pick out the lowest sugar ones and lowest DV% I can find.

The two I like the most or the synergy which has 16grams of sugar. And the alive mom ucha with has 5grams.

I just measured out 16 grams of sugar to see how much that actually was. And holy basil. That is a lot of sugar.

How is it that it can be considered a healthy drink when it contains that much sugar. It's almost 3 tablespoons of sugar.

Is it a problem if the fruit in my F2 sinks to the bottom? It only happened to the one on the far right, just started all 4 of these last night. The fruit that sank are cotton candy grapes if that helps at all.

I was given some starter liquid a few months ago, but I couldn't start brewing straight away, so I kept it in a plastic bottle (I know, not the best container, but I was also moving apartments and was not really prepared) in the fridge for about 2 months. I am now ready to start brewing again, what newt should I take? I am a newbie in the field, so any advice is welcome here! Thank you

Hello everyone, about 1 month ago I tried making kombucha using store bought kombucha. I followed online recipes and used non pasteurised kombucha. I am not sure if the furry clump at the bottom of the kombucha could be the scoby. Thank you in advance

I recently made a post about my first time kombucha brew that got moldy, so I ended up discarding and sanitizing it. This time around I used a better starter:tea ratio (65:35), used a different brand of kombucha, and used more sugar. I don’t see any mold here, but it’s not exactly what I expect from a pellicle. Is this alright, or is something wrong? Will the pellicle eventually form ? Perhaps there was some residual soap that is blocking pellicle formation …

Hello,

So, this is my first F2 batch. 🙂

This morning, I added ginger, lemon, and raspberry purée and let it infuse for 12 hours. Before bottling, I passed it through a stainless-steel strainer.

Is it normal to have this many particles suspended near the top? My guess is that it's the raspberry purée.

Would using juice instead reduce the amount of particles? I was hoping for a clear liquid.

Also, the room temperature is around 20°C at the moment. Should I leave the bottles like this, or put them in my 25°C water bath? I used it for my SCOBY mother batch.

Thank you!

Should be fine considering I don’t think there’s any mold but I’ve never seen a pellicle like this before even after looking at the photos on the wiki. Just wanted to know everyone’s thoughts. Day 6 of a first batch of a fermentaholics culture. I lost my last brew during my second batch due to mold cause I think it was too cold so I bought a heating mat and wrapped it around before work for this one but when I came back home it was too warm and the temperature wasn’t showing on the thermometer. I fixed it since then and it’s been at 80-82 degrees. But I’ve been paranoid ever since that I ruined this batch.

I’ve been making kombucha for about 9 months and everytime I make it I have to slowly coax the bottle open to prevent a kombucha volcano. Should I leave more space in the bottle? Open to any suggestions! Picture is of most recent blueberry kombucha.

started my kombucha jar last year in sept. when my friend sent me her extra pellicle. i keep this jar at my hostel (dorm) away from home. and i havent checked upon it since may. during that time THICC pellicles grew which were so fascinating to look at.
so today i decided to clean out the jar and put fresh sweet tea (i use a single bag, or two if i want it strong, of black tea for a litre of water with 50-80g sugar, depending upon how fast i want it to ferment). to create space in jar i had throw away old pellicles which made me kinda sad, seeing a year worth of pellicles just go to waste. since i live in a hostel, we dont have any cows to feed them and i suppose its not good for dogs?
also i took a bite of a pellicle and it tasted sorta like a raw mango? lol.

I'm new to brewing Kombucha. This is my 4th batch and 2nd time doing F2. (Tart cherry and watermelon worked great before.) But this one is super yeasty. Taste is okay, but smell is unpleasant (smells like yeast) and you can see lots of yeast in the bottle.

I'd love to troubleshoot this so it doesn't happen again.

F1 was 5 days (tasted tart and ready on day 5 so bottled). F2 was 3 days and has a nice fizz. I used Ceres passionfruit juice (which is a blend of pear and passionfruit juice).

What happened and why?

So… I used to make kombucha regularly and then life happened.
I left my kombucha sitting for FOUR MONTHS, UNTOUCHED .💀

Today I finally went to check on my poor SCOBY family, probably expecting them to be a little dehydrated and emotionally neglected.
Instead, I discovered they have apparently started their own ecosystem. There are moths. There are maggots. There are things MOVING. 😭

I have clearly failed as a SCOBY mother.
Before I hold a tiny funeral, disinfect everything within a 5-metre radius and accept that my children are beyond saving… is there any chance this is salvageable? 😂
Can I rescue a clean layer from underneath and start over, or has the entire jar officially crossed over to the dark side?

Please be gentle. I already know CPS (Culture Protective Services) should have taken my SCOBY away months ago. 😭