Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Have you tried Kombucha?

Last week my friend (and co-worker) Deberah and I were doing some work in Atlanta and decided to have lunch at Whole Foods. Now I've long known she was a fellow tea lover, but I was still surprised when we stopped by the case of refrigerated teas and she happily grabbed a bottle of Kombucha. Kombucha? That's the fermented tea drink I had been wanting to try myself! So that's what we both got to drink with our lunch.

On Deberah's recommendation I got the Gingerade flavor, and I *kind of* liked it. I really must qualify that because this is definitely going to be an acquired taste. "So what do you think?" she asked after I'd taken a drink. "I think ... I think it tastes like really, really good Texize!" I said, and she laughed. Actually, it was more like Alka-Seltzer and Texize with a bit of ginger, which I realize sounds horrid but somehow it works.

Deberah let me try a sip of her Multi-Green Kombucha, and it tasted less industrial but I still liked mine better.

So why drink Kombucha? Well, I got interested when I found this 1985 book on eBay last year, "Tea Fungus Kombucha: The Natural Remedy and its Significance in Cases of Cancer and other Metabolic Diseases." Turns out this was actually a book aimed at medical professionals, so much of it was way over my head, but I did enjoy reading the "success reports" at the end and learning about people who said this beverage helped them conquer various illnesses. I am healthy at the moment and not looking to "cure" anything, but I am also a firm believer in the health properties of tea and am certainly keen to learn about new uses for tea. Apparently you can make your own Kombucha rather like you make a sourdough bread starter to keep on hand. I've got lots to learn about this fermented tea drink, though, before I try that! Are any of you Kombucha fans? I'd dearly love to hear from the Kombucha drinkers!


5 comments:

  1. Nope but now I am educated and that is why I love your blog...enlightened and as always interesting! THX!

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  2. Never heard of Kombucha until today. Sounds interesting.

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  3. Dave's Kombucha is a pretty popular brand for Kombucha. I have been drinking it for over 4 years off and on. It's an acquired taste! Be careful when you make your own Kombucha; I knew someone that made a batch and got very sick from it.

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  4. I've read about Kombucha. I'm not likely to try it and definitely not going to make my own.

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  5. I am not a particular fan of Kombucha, but I do have friends that like it.

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