How to Ship a SCOBY

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If you follow me on Facebook, you might have noticed that I offered to share some of my extra SCOBY’s with those that were interested. Through this process, I learned some simple steps on how to ship them so naturally, I thought that I would share.

If you find yourself with a nice Five Star SCOBY Hotel with No Vacancies and want to start sharing them with others, you can ship them in a small flat-rate box that runs $6.95 (price subject to change). It ships as priority mail and should arrive in the recipient’s hands within 2-3 days.

When to Ship

It is best to package your SCOBY right before you want to send it, so they don’t sit too long and lose vitality. With that being said, make sure that the person you are mailing it to will be home to receive it. Also, take the weather into account. You don’t want to ship a SCOBY to a home mailbox in 100 degrees (F) weather if they aren’t home to fetch it.

If you are not intending to make a business out of shipping SCOBYs, and want to send one to a friend or two – then here is a quick and easy method.

Quick and Easy

The process is quite simple. I use a double ziplock bag system, but you could also use a food sealer, just be sure to change the settings, so it doesn’t try to pull air out of the bag, or the liquid will seep out.

If you find yourself in the position of wanting to start a business in selling SCOBYs, then you might want to ramp up your packaging game. Most SCOBY outlets package their SCOBYs in thick plastic pockets which are sealed with a heat sealing machine.  You will want to make sure that the bags are heavy duty, food grade, and suitable in size. You want the SCOBY to lay flat in the bag.

Well, that about wraps up this little chat. Brewing your own kombucha is quite satisfying and being able to share the gift that it gives us, is even better.  Have a blessed day, amie sue

How to Mail a kombucha SCOBY

1. With clean hands, place the SCOBY in a heavy duty, freezer-safe quart-sized Ziploc bag.
   • We won’t be freezing the SCOBY; I just find the freezer-safe bags to be heavy duty.
2. Add 1-2 cups of mature kombucha to the bag, so the SCOBY has some food for the trip.
   • This will also be used as a starter tea for the recipient. Make sure the starter liquid is nice and strong. If the starter liquid is from an immature SCOBY, it won’t be acidic enough to drop the ph for the first batch of kombucha.
   • Leave a little room for the plastic bags to expand because the SCOBY will ferment and produce CO2 during transportation.
3. Put this bag into another Ziploc bag and seal that too, so the SCOBY is double-sealed.
4. Wrap small bubbled bubble wrap around the SCOBY, leaving a little room for the plastic bags to expand. The SCOBY will ferment and produce CO2 during transportation.
5. Take to the post office and mail.  Be sure to get a tracking number so you can send it the recipient.
6. Contact the person you are sending it to, letting them know that the SCOBY has shipped. Provide them with the tracking number so they can monitor the arrival.

Temperature Concerns… Addressed

Summer Months Shipping:

• A SCOBY can handle normal shipping conditions and temperatures of 108 degrees (F). If it’s in a mailbox for a few days this hot, it should be fine and brew normally.

Winter Months Shipping:

• A SCOBY can handle being frozen, it’s not ideal, but it will survive! Allow it to thaw at room temp in its original packaging up for 48 hours.