The mat at the top of the kombucha is not the SCOBY. It is a waste product of the SCOBY - just a big slab of cellulose. This is a misunderstanding that I've seen people on r/kombucha get pretty upset about
The actual SCOBY is in the kombucha itself, not the cellulose. It's pretty easy to prove; when I made kombucha I would throw out the mat after every batch and save some of the liquid to use as starter for the next.
The actual SCOBY is in the kombucha itself, not the cellulose. It's pretty easy to prove; when I made kombucha I would throw out the mat after every batch and save some of the liquid to use as starter for the next.