Over winter break in 2022, I was visiting a friend in Vermont and someone up there was giving away their SCOBY. The SCOBY is key to making kombucha because it has bacteria in it that ferments the tea. I was spending a lot of money on individual drinks, so I was like, okay, making it myself would be kind of cool. I figured winter break was the perfect time to start a new hobby. I took the SCOBY home with me from Vermont—I just transported it in a little takeout soup container. I started making kombucha and it’s really fun. And I never stopped. It’s nice because I feel like it’s not like a sourdough starter where you have to give it a lot of upkeep. You can just keep the SCOBY in your closet for, like, a pretty long time.

After you ferment it you can add flavoring. My favorite flavor is lavender, which I have actually picked from outside Perkins Hall. I remember texting a friend—I was like, is this safe to eat?

A fun fact is that when you ferment, after two weeks, the SCOBY kind of births another SCOBY. But I’ve never given one away. I just keep all my SCOBYs in the same jar through multiple processes of fermentation—that’s gonna contribute to making the kombucha stronger.

It’s been a really fun experience being able to share something I’ve made with friends. I’ve come to realize from living off campus that there’s very much a culture of inviting people over and sharing food. It’s nice to have something to give to people and see them be excited about, to be able to consume something that you’ve created. Students here care a lot about where their food comes from.