🏨 SCOBY Hotel Size Calculator

Enter how many SCOBYs you want to store in your hotel to see the sweet tea volume and container size you'll need.

Number of SCOBYs

Liquid per culture

The page allows one and a half cups of liquid for every SCOBY and converts that to ounces, then suggests a jar:

cups = SCOBYs × 1.5
oz   = cups × 8
jar  = over 64 oz ? half gallon or larger : quart

Four SCOBYs therefore need 6.0 cups, or 48 oz. To make that much sweet tea at the usual strength — 1 cup of sugar and 8 tea bags to the gallon — use about 75 g of sugar (6 tablespoons) and 3 bags, brewed and cooled to room temperature before anything goes in.

SCOBYs	Liquid	Sugar	Tea bags
2	3.0 cups / 24 oz	37 g	1-2
4	6.0 cups / 48 oz	75 g	3
6	9.0 cups / 72 oz	112 g	4-5
8	12.0 cups / 96 oz	150 g	6

The jar advice only switches above 64 oz, so between three and five SCOBYs it still says quart when the volume alone is 36-60 oz. A quart holds 32. Read the ounce figure and pick glass that comfortably exceeds it.

Keeping the hotel

Start it with mature kombucha, not plain sweet tea. Fill with finished unflavoured brew and top up with fresh sweet tea as the level drops; the acidity is what keeps the jar stable between feeds.
Feed every 4 to 6 weeks. Pour off some of the now-vinegary liquid, keep it for starter, and replace it with cooled sweet tea.
Cover with cloth and a band. The cultures keep producing CO2, so a screwed-down lid pressurises the jar; it needs to breathe.

Frequently asked questions

How much sweet tea does a SCOBY hotel need?

1.5 cups per culture, so 6 cups for four SCOBYs and 12 cups for eight. Cultures should be submerged, not floating dry against the glass.

How often should I feed a SCOBY hotel?

Every 4 to 6 weeks at room temperature. Left much longer the liquid turns to vinegar and the cultures thin out, though they usually recover after a couple of normal brews.

Can I store SCOBYs in the fridge?

Better not to. Cold stalls the culture and it comes back sluggish. A cupboard at 65-75 °F, out of direct sun, is what a hotel is for.