Do you mean from the bottled tea or do they actually sell kombucha mushrooms in the stores?

Aloha Kombucha seekers

Well to have a Kombucha culture you must start with a living mushroom and a bit of mother..which I am almost positive they don't have in the stores...and I am curious to know if that stuff is even really living enzymatically or if they pasteurize or anything like that ..
The way is to seek out a living representative of the culture
I have some..but I am in BC on the sunshine coast..

good luck...

Taoin of the lore

HEY all! I'm a Berkeley college student with two kombucha mother that I need to get rid of b4 I go back home. Let me know if anyone wants them, they are very easy to make. To make from scratch buy 1 bottle of synergy Kombucha from whole foods. And depending on how big the jar you want to use, use 20% of the starter (synergy Kombucha from whole foods) then add a good amount of sugar, and cool tea. It took mine about a month to get a good mother to form. Very easy after you make, I just stuck it under my bed for a while and checked it every once in a while. I advise looking on youtube to get a better understanding. I advise using a glass jar instead of plasticc (because plastics can leech chemicals into the tea) and don't use tap water (because it has chlorine that can slow down the yeast/fungus culture along with you shouldn't drink tap anyway flouride/and other chemicals). After you make your first mother that takes about a month, you can make more batches in a week to 10 days depending on how sweet/strong you want it. It is also exponetial growth, so before you know it, you can have a ton of them.
Email me at crackerwiz@yahoo.com if anyone wants the mothers or info, thanks.

Ya you can start from the bottle stuff provided it's good. I use GT's kombucha - any flavor. Take about a glass of it, cover with a clean towel and leave in corner for a week and you should have a nice starter. Then drop that in your tea/sugar mix. My original shroom drops to the bottom and stays there but the process is enough to get a nice new one going on top

I'm sure someone else can anser this better but what I know is that it's a living organism some what of a mushroom that uses caffiene or the tannins there in to change thae tea into a vinegar . which has a nuetral ph level that benifits you body from being to acidic or alcoline... please interrupt me if I am wrong... I think that it benifits your body by equalising it therefore alowing thinsgs to go properly... and the baby' happens because once every five day the " mushroom" divides into 2 seperate beings... " they " say that it should be done in an absolute sterile condition, so it dosen't invite other bacteria. which I think is bull hooey since it' protects itself naturally by being neutral. Like anything you should start it out mildly an ounce a day in the evening.... than mre as your body gets used to it... otherwise you get bloated and poopy not very nice... okay time to breath sorry for the mile long rant... sunny