No, the sludge is not the important part, just the liquid, and you leave the “gelatinous” scoby in the container you make the kombucha in. Although if there is a thin scoby, drinking it gives you a *lot* of the microbes one drinks kombucha for!
Is there a quality dried extract in the form of a tablet yet ?
Anything that has to be drunk that quickly to avoid your teeth turning brown personally I would rather just pop a pill.