Today I tasted Santos. He was a bit on the vinegary side so I decided I needed to expel some of his liquid and feed him a new batch. I also noticed that he was growing a bit lop-sided. Santos the original wasn’t quite the size of the jar so the mother that grew on top of him was quite a bit larger. Santos has always been a lovely consistency, a bit pink from the blueberry in the brew, but very nice and flat, unlike Ramirez who keeps growing with really odd textures and holes in him. I decided it was time to get him out of the jar, remove the original mother, and let Santos grow unhindered. Now, the jar I used didn’t really have a wide mouth, so I’ve been avoided this unavoidable task up until now. I really don’t like touching my “mushrooms” but, in this case, it seemed unavoidable. I washed a large plate with soap and hot water and dried it with a paper towel. I then washed my hands thoroughly with dish soap and shut off the faucets with my elbows so as not to touch anything. I got out some clean spoons and lifted Santos from his brew. I pulled him as far as I could to the top of the jar and then I grabbed him gently with my fingers, bent him a bit, and pulled him out. Success! He made it out of the jar in one piece. I flipped him over and found the original Santos, looking more like Ramirez than I’d like him to look. So, using the spoons, I pulled him off the top Santos, rinsed Santos under some clean tap water for just a moment (about room temp), removed any yeast that seemed apparent (the dark stuff on the bottom) and I was left with a nice clean Scoby. I didn’t stop to take a photo because I didn’t want to contaminate anything. I slipped him back into his jar and turned away for a moment. When I looked back, Santos has sunk to the bottom! (See photo) I’ve heard of this happening but haven’t ever seen it since all my scobies always float at the top. A few minutes later, and he's floating sideways. I’m hoping he’ll come back up, since I like to see him up there, but if he doesn’t, this may make removing the new mother a bit easier since I won’t have to separate them. We’ll see if he floats up. 

I will now feed him and hope for the best!