It's got an incredibly complex fermentation with many cultures present in the
SCOBY mix, such as lactobacillus, acetobacters, saccharomyces, brettanomyces and more flavor compounds depending on the base tealeaf blend.
If you find that you have no time to tend your cultures, for any reason, you can put them in the refrigerator, which will slow them down for a week or two, or freeze them indefinitely (except for your
SCOBY which can stay in the fridge for a fairly long time with no bad effects.
The symbiotic culture forms a pellicle or biofilm on the surface of the brew often called a mushroom or
SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast).
The fermentation process uses a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast known among aficionados as
SCOBY (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast.