Are you as intrigued with this bizarre fizzy carbonated/fermented tea beverage as I am? I purchased one bottle from our local "Green" general store and realized that it was delicious and potent... but also sadly overpriced. Anyone who knows how to brew a good cup of tea knows that it is beyond ridiculous to pay $1.75 for a cup of tea anywhere (especially when said "tea" comes from a teabag out of an old box).So i'm investigating a bit... the ingredients are by and large very simple-- a glass jar, cleese cloth, tea leaves, white sugar. But the weird ingredient is referred to as either a "SCOBY" or a "Mushroom." I can't get a straight answer to what this "thing" is, other than it's fermented, sort of a spore, and not entirely a mushroom. More like a fermented blanket of spores. Weird, huh?
This SCOBY develops on your tea for a few weeks, and in the process, grows a new scoby for your next batch. So once you're off and running, the materials partially regenerate themselves, making $2.75 per bottle seem sadly too expensive.
Some would wonder, "...and WHY exactly would you drink fizzy, fermented tea?"
I suppose, because it allegedly does wonders for the digestive tract, skin, and hair. And life is too short not to brew your own fizzy fermented tea! Why not?
Wow, is that man making balogna? Nope! It's a giant repulsive/beguiling SCOBY!
Here is the aforementioned "legitimate" version, priced at $2.75
Joel's mom makes a mean kombucha...we love it!
ReplyDeleteReally?!?! I need to be gettin' some recipes from her. Have you ventured into it yet?
ReplyDeleteFrom the CDC website: The Kombucha "mushroom" is a symbiotic colony of several species of yeast and bacteria that are bound together by a surrounding thin membrane. Although the composition of the Kombucha colony varies, some of the species reportedly found in the "mushroom" include S. ludwigii, S. pombe, Bacterium xylinum, B. gluconicum, B. xylinoides, B. katogenum, Pichia fermentans, and Torula sp. Kombucha tea can contain up to 1.5% alcohol and a variety of other metabolites (e.g., ethyl acetate, acetic acid, and lactate).
ReplyDeleteNo spores, fungus, mushrooms - just bacteria and yeast. (Remember when yeast was considered the root of all evil in alternative health circles?) It is very acidic and can possibly cause acidosis if consumed in excess or by people with medical issues. It's popularity waned in the 90's when it was linked to the death of one woman and severe illness of another (both had severe acidosis).
People are such lemmings - they'll go for anything if they think it's cool and someone tells them it's a miracle cure.
SCOBY stands for "symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast"
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