I have read a couple of recent posts on this board regarding kombucha tea and how healthy it is. I was intrigued and bought a bottled variety at Whole Foods today to try it out before thinking about making my own. I opened the stuff and poured some out - looks, tastes and smells identical to vinegar. Can someone please tell me what the difference is? I was told several years ago by my Hygenic nutritionist/physician NEVER to consume vinegar. It suspends digestion and is NOT a health promoting food. This has held true for me, as I can't @#$%& for 2 days after consuming vinegar. So, I had one sip of the kombucha and put it away. I don't see it being any different. Please enlighten me.

sweterson,

I would never buy kombucha personally as it's fairly easy to make at home. Also, many folks that create it for you use caffeinated tea, which is unnaceptable to me. Also, it is a fermented drink and can taste different depending on the tea that was used. I recently purchased a starter set from [happyherbalist.com] using rooibos - which contains no caffeine. I have also had kombucha made with peppermint tea and other herbal teas and it's always been an enjoyable drink to me. Always has a bit of a bite to it but it's never bitter and it never tastes or smells like vinegar.

Peace,

Marcos

Go Vegan for your life, your health, the planet and, most importantly, the animals that we share this wonderful world with!

ah, I'm glad this subject has come up as I wanted to ask something: for the people who make their kombucha at home, what do you do with your spare cultures? Any ideas? I give quite a few away, I've used it as a face mask (but it was a bit sticky/flaky), I used it in the bath (but it made a terrible mess)... does anyone actually consume the cultures? like in a smoothie or something? or is this not recommended?
it just seems a shame to throw the cultures away.

rawmark - that's interesting that you use herbal teas - I always thought it wouldn't work unless you used 'regular' tea. The company I got my first culture from recommended normal black tea. I've been using white tea (it's like green tea, only a little more delicate in flavour).
what kind of sugar do you use?

sweterson - I find that when you make it at home it gets more 'vinegary' the longer you leave it, as more of the sugar is used up in the fermentation process. but if you don't allow it to ferment for too long it is a very tasty drink - like a sparkling wine.

Lisa,

If you check the instructions on happy herbalist.com they tell you that anything longer than fifteen days is too long because the taste will become vinegary. Personally, I use florida crystals because it's close to being granulated but not "white". I have no white anything in my house. I figured that this sugar would work since it's purer than white sugar. Time will tell.

Peace,

Marcos

Go Vegan for your life, your health, the planet and, most importantly, the animals that we share this wonderful world with!

Hi Mark
I find it depends also on the size of the container you are processing the culture in. My first time I used a 4 litre pot... I waited.. and waited... I thought it wasn't working... but eventually, after about a month, there was a decent sized 'baby' on the top. When i tried the drink, it tasted wonderful - like champagne! it was just perfect. However, when I use a 1 litre pot, it only takes about a week to make.

I'm gonna try the rooibush tea - maybe 1 rooibush and 1 white tea bag... I'll have a little experiment... as for sugar, I've been using rapadura sugar (dehydrated raw cane juice) - seems to work ok. I haven't heard any complaints from the little kombucha guys, anyway (:

Interesting. But gosh, there is SO much out there heralding (apple cider) vinegar as a great cure-all.

I wonder what the truth really is?

Here's a blog that is really just about vinegar and health:

[curezone.com]

Paul Bragg used to go on and on about the health attributes of vinegar and he sure seemed awfully healthy when he died at the age of 90 during a surfing accident.

lisa,

Are you culturing your kombucha properly? The entire process, regardless of pot size, takes approximately eight days. If you go to the happyherbalist.com they have all the supplies you need including a 5 gallon bucket, thermometer, heating pad, tea, sugar, ph strips, etc.

Cheers,

Marcos

Go Vegan for your life, your health, the planet and, most importantly, the animals that we share this wonderful world with!

24 Carrots -

thank you for the info on ACV. I went to the site and looked at some of the info. Where does that info come from? I was trying to find sources, but did not have much luck.

I actually ferment my kombucha for 30 days because I have adrenal problems and anything less the sugar thats left gives me such insomnia. Its weird though because I have no problem consuming 30 day old or longer fermented kombucha-- the culture must have eaten all but a miniscule amount of the sugar.

Hi all,

As I understand it, vinigar is brewed using yeast and still contains yeast promoting substances once fermented.

So anyone with a potential yeast problem should avoid vinigar.

Does anyone know if this is true of cidar vinigar too? I imagine so.

Perhaps a problem with vinigar is actually a problem with yeast?

I keep coming across confilcting advice about Kombucha and yeast, but what I have summised is that the Kombucha itself is very anti-candida, but the beverage contains sugars that are very pro-yeast. Therefore brewing for upwards of 14 days is actually a good idea. The taste can be a bit much, I hear, so it could be mixed with water to make it easier. Personally I have a strong stomach, and I expect to be able to manage it as is.

I'm very interested to know whether brewing with pure rooibos is possible, and/or advisable. Apparantly it is the nitrogen in tea which the kombucha needs, so any herb containing nitrogen should do. As caffeine raises blood sugar it is also bad for candida, so I want to brew mine with zero caffeine if I can.

Does red bush work?

Gram

Yes, I brew kombucha with rooibos tea all the time. If you go to <www.happyherbalist.com> you will see that one of the kits that they sell is a caffeine-free option and rooibos tea is the one that comes with the kit. You can also brew it with peppermint or peppermint/lemon verbena or rooibos/lemon verbena for an interesting kick.

Cheers,

Marcos

Go Vegan for your life, your health, the planet and, most importantly, the animals that we share this wonderful world with!

Thank you very much indeed, Rooibos has some interesting health benefits of its own...

Gram

here's a good comprehensive article on kombucha:

[www.harmonikireland.com]

they seem to think it's best to use regular tea. I personally use a mixture of green tea and rooibos to limit the caffeine.

so does rooibos have nitrogen?

Wow, I'm new to this site and am amazed at the amount of information. We are eating raw most of the time, but we aren't full time yet. Like the other person, we purchased Kombucha at Whole Foods. We purchased the citrus flavored and everyone in my family loves it. I thought I was crazy because there seemed to be a sense of wellness I felt after drinking it. After reading these posts I am concerned about consuming it. We are very new to all this and I don't really know what I am doing. We are trying to clean any fungus out of our bodies and are taking probiotics. Is it better to stay away from this drink. The bottle called it a probiotic. Help

kathyz,

Kombucha Tea is believed to be the longness of life drink. In otherwords, because it helps you with digestion that basically means that your body doesn't need to worry about such things on it's own. Kombucha is a very healthy drink but, after buying the full kit from the happy herbalist, I'd rather make it myself. This way it's not bottled and is completely fresh everytime I drink it.

Peace,

Marcos

Marcos

Go Vegan for your life, your health, the planet and, most importantly, the animals that we share this wonderful world with!

It was just caffeine and sugar I was worried about. Everything I've read about Kombucha is very positive. I can't imagine buying it from a shop though, that would seem unstrustworthy. Why? Because they probably worry more about the taste than anything else.

I, on the other hand, am prepared to drink month-brewed Kombucha regardless of the taste, if it will mean no sugar. Fingers crossed there...

gramlin,

Month brewed kombucha would be very untasty. If you go to the happy herbalist website they tell you exactly how long you can brew kombucha to receive the greatest amount of benefits. Problem is, after more than 15 days the drink actually starts to taste nasty so, if you've never tried a 30 day kombucha tea, trust me and skip it.

The typical brew for kombucha is anywhere from 8-12 days.

Peace,

Marcos

Go Vegan for your life, your health, the planet and, most importantly, the animals that we share this wonderful world with!

Right, I've read all the usual stuff. I've been brewing for about eight days myself, and it's gorgeous, but the other day I spilt some in the kitchen and after it had dried the surface was incredibly sticky, just as it would be with sugar-water. So I summised there was still considerable sugar in the solution. I'm going to try the test again after two weeks, and so on, until I know there is no sugar, then, if this is the case, I'll see if I can handle the taste.

Thanks for telling me in advance though, perhaps you can tell me also if you noticed the stickiness in any of your two-week batches?

Best regards,
Gram

good test Gram!

so what kind of sugar are y'all using?
I've been using Rapadura raw dehydrated cane juice. That Harmonik site recommends simply using white sugar, but I figured I may as well use the good stuff (:

Still using plain old granulated white sugar, that's what they say worked best in the lab. Sugar's sugar, at the end of the day, too much of any kind will still turn to glucose in the body pretty quick.

But I hear some sugars are too rich for Kombucha. Honey eventually kills it. I think that might also be true of brown sugar. And I read that fructose doesn't make such a healthy drink either, something about one of the beneficial acids not being present or something.

I expect someone here has all the answers...?

~G

I use organic florida crystals, which is still a light brown color and it works fine for me. Each person is going to tell you something different but this works fine for me and I atleast know it's organic.

Peace,

Marcos

Go Vegan for your life, your health, the planet and, most importantly, the animals that we share this wonderful world with!

True, I bet the culture prefers organic. And the ancient kombucha masters would not have had white sugar. But then, maybe we can grow super-kombucha these days. Nah, just joking. I heard brown's ok but has "less consistant results" – whatever that means.

Gram

12 days... much less sticky, much more vinigar... getting there but not free of sugar yet. Still tasted drinkable...

14 Days, still leaving a sticky coating in the saucer, like fruit juice does. Not tried the taste today.

Well, at fifteen days I've decided to try drinking some. All the info on the net and in books says this is the optimum time. Tastes ok, pretty tart. Not as nice as the eight-day batches I was brewing.

It is still leaving a little stickiness, but not much. I guess it's a trade-off. Hopefully the good done by glucuronic acid outweighs the bad done by glucose.

I haven't really concluded anything yet.

my last batch was 14 days old cos I was away - man was it vinegary! In fact, I've been using it in salad dressings instead of drinking it! And I used a little mixed with nettle/camomile tea as a hair rinse. If I drink it, I just use a little bit in water. Can't wait for my next batch to be ready, hopefully it'll taste nicer (:

I love this thread, it's like a kombucha support group (:

anyone got any good ideas on what to do with your spare cultures?

I've just been away camping, and I took some culture in a plastic pot and cut a piece of each time I got an insect bite – really reduces the itchiness. Somehow it also seemed to work for red ant bites, which is odd, because I thought ants were acid (baking soda works to neutralise them as well).

You can use it this way on spots and ulcers too. If you know anyone with leg-ulcers then bandage a bit on to the affliction. You might want to research this more, as I can't remember whether it is safe to leave overnight this way, but I have a friend who used it for his mother and reported great success.

Incidentally, I left my bottles 15-day batches out of the fridge for five days whilst I was away, and the flavour, though still acid, has improved, and it's a little less sticky.

great tips Gram, thanks (:

I wonder if it would make good compost on the compost heap?