I've been given a kombucha culture and instructions on how to make it. I've found plenty information about the claimed benefits but as I'm of a mre scientific background, can anyone tell me what are the active ingredients in the tea and why it is supposed to be good for you? Why is is different to other health foods?
I found this article interesting (it might have been posted elsewhere on the forum) but there didn't seem to be an overall conclusion:
http://www.nutrition4health.org/nohanew ... chaTea.htm
Thanks in advance!
Kombucha Tea?
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Birdie Wife
- Tom Good
- Posts: 89
- Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 1:56 pm
- Location: Sutherland, Highlands
Re: Kombucha Tea?
Don't know if this tells anything new. Sounds like good stuff!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombucha
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombucha
Re: Kombucha Tea?
Well, from what I can see, it's going to be a mildly alcoholic, vinegary tea.
Tea's packed full of caffeine, alcohol is a euphoric, and vinegar is an antiseptic and anitbacterial agent (antibacterial for anything but the acetobacter which produces it in the first place).
A cup of coffee or ordinary tea, a glass of wine and a spoonful of cider or wine vinegar, I'm willing to bet, would be about as healthy. But then I'm an old sceptic.
Tea's packed full of caffeine, alcohol is a euphoric, and vinegar is an antiseptic and anitbacterial agent (antibacterial for anything but the acetobacter which produces it in the first place).
A cup of coffee or ordinary tea, a glass of wine and a spoonful of cider or wine vinegar, I'm willing to bet, would be about as healthy. But then I'm an old sceptic.
The secret of life is to aim below the head (With thanks to MMM)
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Lynda_2008
- margo - newbie
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Re: Kombucha Tea?
Kombucha is great. We've been making it weekly for a few years now.
It's basically just a nice, tart drink. The tea you use contributes to the taste a little. You might get a little alcohol in it but it's certainly not an alcoholic drink We shared Kombucha mothers with families with children and the whole family enjoys it as a healthier alternative to sweetened juice drinks.
It's just really pleasant. Let the Kombu-mama work until the drink suits your fancy. We ferment ours for a week in one of our cooler rooms that stays a steady temperature. When we first started we did a lot of dipping a tea spoon of it out to find out when it reached the point where we most enjoyed it.
When the kombu-mamas multiply they make a nice addition to the compost bin, or we sometimes hang them to dry and then let the dogs play with them.
After we brew it we pour it into a two liter bottle, seal and refrigerate and it's gets a nice sparkling bubbly quality to it.
As for the way it feels when you drink it - it just feels fresh and live. Much like the kind of healthy live feel you get from a fresh picked garden veggie versus a store bought one. I don't know whether it has specific health benefits for us but it, and kefir, and other ferments just feel healthy. The ferments are an especially nice part of our diet in the winter when fresh garden food is in shorter supply. We've found that kombucha, the kefir, lactofermented pickles, and pretty much anything we've tried from the "Wild fermentation" book give us a way to garden (microbes) through winter and keep our diets much closer to the level of freshness that we enjoy during our peak garden harvest months.
Make a cup or two of fresh home-grown kombucha a part of your daily routine for a year and you will never want to be without it. It really IS that good.
Lynda
It's basically just a nice, tart drink. The tea you use contributes to the taste a little. You might get a little alcohol in it but it's certainly not an alcoholic drink We shared Kombucha mothers with families with children and the whole family enjoys it as a healthier alternative to sweetened juice drinks.
It's just really pleasant. Let the Kombu-mama work until the drink suits your fancy. We ferment ours for a week in one of our cooler rooms that stays a steady temperature. When we first started we did a lot of dipping a tea spoon of it out to find out when it reached the point where we most enjoyed it.
When the kombu-mamas multiply they make a nice addition to the compost bin, or we sometimes hang them to dry and then let the dogs play with them.
After we brew it we pour it into a two liter bottle, seal and refrigerate and it's gets a nice sparkling bubbly quality to it.
As for the way it feels when you drink it - it just feels fresh and live. Much like the kind of healthy live feel you get from a fresh picked garden veggie versus a store bought one. I don't know whether it has specific health benefits for us but it, and kefir, and other ferments just feel healthy. The ferments are an especially nice part of our diet in the winter when fresh garden food is in shorter supply. We've found that kombucha, the kefir, lactofermented pickles, and pretty much anything we've tried from the "Wild fermentation" book give us a way to garden (microbes) through winter and keep our diets much closer to the level of freshness that we enjoy during our peak garden harvest months.
Make a cup or two of fresh home-grown kombucha a part of your daily routine for a year and you will never want to be without it. It really IS that good.
Lynda
Re: Kombucha Tea?
Lynda, can you post the info on the wild fermentation book? Sounds interesting!
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Lynda_2008
- margo - newbie
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Re: Kombucha Tea?
Sure. This is the book: http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Fermentation ... 1931498237
Re: Kombucha Tea?
Lynda, thanks. With the price of veggies going so high, sprouts and fermented foods make sense.
Re: Kombucha Tea?
I would drink a gallon every week! I can't keep my Kombucha Tea production up to my appetite, actually. To stay speedy in the fermentation process, I have begun keeping more starter fluid in the jar - that definitely keeps things kickin. I am looking for a second kombucha brewing jar to have two going at a time. But let me ask you this: do you think leaving bigger or double scobys in the jar would speed fermentation up too?
On a fermenting side note, I noticed that my unfiltered, unpasturized apple cidar vinegar has a lot of the "mother" in the bottom. So I collected four bottles' worth of mother and juiced some apples to add to it. I'm hoping to ferment my own apple cidar vinegar, too. Becuase I like to be involved with my food, but mostly because I wish to break the container consumption system all the way someday:-)
On a fermenting side note, I noticed that my unfiltered, unpasturized apple cidar vinegar has a lot of the "mother" in the bottom. So I collected four bottles' worth of mother and juiced some apples to add to it. I'm hoping to ferment my own apple cidar vinegar, too. Becuase I like to be involved with my food, but mostly because I wish to break the container consumption system all the way someday:-)
Enjoy your self
Re: Kombucha Tea?
I know this is an old thread, but where can I get some starter for Kombucha Tea from?