Kombucha???
- Thread starter banslug
- Start date
kathryn
Cathlete
I have kombucha occasionally (I used to drink it more often, but it's pricey). For a while, stores didn't carry at least two of the brands, because the alcohol content (which is supposed to be under .5%, according to the label--at least the old labels) was inconsistent and sometimes above that (perhaps why my first bottle of kombucha seemed to give me a buzz!)
I took a class from a woman who has made her own kombucha for years, and who showed us how to do it.
It is made from a SCOBY (symbiotic combination of bacteria and yeast--but Scoby sounds cuter!) that consumes the caffeine in tea as well as sugar. The Scoby (which looks like an alien jelly creature) is put into a mixture of tea and sugar and left to sit for several days (I forget how long). The longer it ferments, the stronger the flavor is.
Supposedly, most of the caffeine and sugar is consumed by the scoby, so there isn't much in the final product.
During the fermentation process, the scoby grows a 'baby' (think of two jelly hockey pucks layered together, one smaller than the other). This new scoby can be used to make another batch of kombucha (as can the 'mother').
You can get kombucha kits (including all the materials, as well as a scoby) on Etsy and other online sources.
I still have the scoby in my fridge from the class. I doubt it's viable, as that was many months ago. I never tried to make it.
I took a class from a woman who has made her own kombucha for years, and who showed us how to do it.
It is made from a SCOBY (symbiotic combination of bacteria and yeast--but Scoby sounds cuter!) that consumes the caffeine in tea as well as sugar. The Scoby (which looks like an alien jelly creature) is put into a mixture of tea and sugar and left to sit for several days (I forget how long). The longer it ferments, the stronger the flavor is.
Supposedly, most of the caffeine and sugar is consumed by the scoby, so there isn't much in the final product.
During the fermentation process, the scoby grows a 'baby' (think of two jelly hockey pucks layered together, one smaller than the other). This new scoby can be used to make another batch of kombucha (as can the 'mother').
You can get kombucha kits (including all the materials, as well as a scoby) on Etsy and other online sources.
I still have the scoby in my fridge from the class. I doubt it's viable, as that was many months ago. I never tried to make it.
janiejoey
Cathlete
My sister used to make this. She said it looked sorta like a mushroom. She didn't have enough friends to give the babies to. She had made a lot of it all the time.
I've never tasted it, but it does sound like I would like to make it.
Thanks Gayle and Kathryn, I'll look into that and learn more on the internet.
I'm back: I searched on Pub Med. A distinguished med. company, and here are their results.
PubMed
U.S. National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Health
A case of Kombucha tea toxicity. J Intensive Care Med. 2009 May-Jun;24(3):205-7.
SungHee Kole A, Jones HD, Christensen R, Gladstein J.
Division of Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine, Department of Pharmacy Services, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA. [email protected]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Kombucha "mushroom'' tea is touted to have medicinal properties. Here, we present a case of hyperthermia, lactic acidosis, and acute renal failure within 15 hours of Kombucha tea ingestion.
CASE PRESENTATION: A 22 year old male, newly diagnosed with HIV, became short of breath and febrile to 103.0F, within twelve hours of Kombucha tea ingestion. He subsequently became combative and confused, requiring sedation and intubation for airway control. Laboratories revealed a lactate of 12.9 mmol/L, and serum creatinine of 2.1 mg/dL.
DISCUSSION: Kombucha tea is black tea fermented in a yeast-bacteria medium. Several case reports exist of serious, and sometimes fatal, hepatic dysfunction and lactic acidosis within close proximity to ingestion.
CONCLUSION: While Kombucha tea is considered a healthy elixir, the limited evidence currently available raises considerable concern that it may pose serious health risks. Consumption of this tea should be discouraged, as it may be associated with life-threatening lactic acidosis.
PMID: 19460826 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Publication Types, MeSH Terms, Substances
Publication Types:
Check out Kombucha in Pub Med search engine and you will see a lot of studies. They strongly recommend against it for human consumption.
This advisement is from the Mayo Clinic: Kombucha tea: What are the health benefits? - MayoClinic.com They also strongly recommend against it for human consumption.
Be safe and learn all you can before introducing different things into your body.
Janie
I've never tasted it, but it does sound like I would like to make it.
Thanks Gayle and Kathryn, I'll look into that and learn more on the internet.
I'm back: I searched on Pub Med. A distinguished med. company, and here are their results.
PubMed
U.S. National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Health
A case of Kombucha tea toxicity. J Intensive Care Med. 2009 May-Jun;24(3):205-7.
SungHee Kole A, Jones HD, Christensen R, Gladstein J.
Division of Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine, Department of Pharmacy Services, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA. [email protected]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Kombucha "mushroom'' tea is touted to have medicinal properties. Here, we present a case of hyperthermia, lactic acidosis, and acute renal failure within 15 hours of Kombucha tea ingestion.
CASE PRESENTATION: A 22 year old male, newly diagnosed with HIV, became short of breath and febrile to 103.0F, within twelve hours of Kombucha tea ingestion. He subsequently became combative and confused, requiring sedation and intubation for airway control. Laboratories revealed a lactate of 12.9 mmol/L, and serum creatinine of 2.1 mg/dL.
DISCUSSION: Kombucha tea is black tea fermented in a yeast-bacteria medium. Several case reports exist of serious, and sometimes fatal, hepatic dysfunction and lactic acidosis within close proximity to ingestion.
CONCLUSION: While Kombucha tea is considered a healthy elixir, the limited evidence currently available raises considerable concern that it may pose serious health risks. Consumption of this tea should be discouraged, as it may be associated with life-threatening lactic acidosis.
PMID: 19460826 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Publication Types, MeSH Terms, Substances
Publication Types:
- Case Reports
- Acidosis, Lactic/chemically induced*
- HIV Infections/complications
- Humans
- Male
- Tea/toxicity*
- Young Adult
- Tea
Check out Kombucha in Pub Med search engine and you will see a lot of studies. They strongly recommend against it for human consumption.
This advisement is from the Mayo Clinic: Kombucha tea: What are the health benefits? - MayoClinic.com They also strongly recommend against it for human consumption.
Be safe and learn all you can before introducing different things into your body.
Janie
Last edited:
spyrosmom
Cathlete
Bought bottle a couple months ago at Whole Foods. Smells like rotten god knows what, and taste like a combination of sake, old sweat socks, and dead things, with bubbles. The bubbles insure the nasty taste sticks around in the back of your throat and burps for hours to come. Needless to say, I didn't finish the bottle.
Nasty, nasty stuff
Nan
Nasty, nasty stuff
Nan
banslug
Cathlete
Nan, that's a pretty good description...one that might have just turned me off to even trying it! LOL That bad, hugh?
Kathryn & Jainie...thanks for the input....
The reason I asked in the first place is that a friend left an empty bottle here last night and I found it interesting, so I checked it out online. It was GT's Raw Organic Kombucha tea; she has Crohn's disease and lives gluten-free, so I thought this might be something I'd want to try. Not so sure now!
THANKS again for all the input!
I use to make my own, it's relatively easy to make, more or less you are making a batch of tea and then sitting it aside to ferment. It just became too much of a chore to keep it going. I would have as many as 3 batches fermenting with one in the fridge so it required labeling each batch and keeping a calendar.
I do miss it and it's a wonderful pick-me-up for the afternoon slumps. My DH loved it as well but I agree it's an acquired tast.
If you want to try it and don't have the resource for a scoby you can grow one (or could in the past) by buying a bottle of Synergy's kombucha, remove the lid, cover with clean thin cloth (I use to cut up a white t-shirt) then let it sit in a dark room for about 7-10 days till a scoby is formed. I don't know if the formulation for Synergy's drinks have changed since the recall. They use to be pretty potent, (Multi-Green was my favorite) but I would imagine you could still grow one from them.
You should try it, you may enjoy it.
I do miss it and it's a wonderful pick-me-up for the afternoon slumps. My DH loved it as well but I agree it's an acquired tast.
If you want to try it and don't have the resource for a scoby you can grow one (or could in the past) by buying a bottle of Synergy's kombucha, remove the lid, cover with clean thin cloth (I use to cut up a white t-shirt) then let it sit in a dark room for about 7-10 days till a scoby is formed. I don't know if the formulation for Synergy's drinks have changed since the recall. They use to be pretty potent, (Multi-Green was my favorite) but I would imagine you could still grow one from them.
You should try it, you may enjoy it.
This should read: pour Synergy's kombucha in a large mouth bottle before covering with cloth and left to ferment... othewise you won't be able to get the baby out.
kathryn
Cathlete
You'd definitely need a Kombucha midwife for that one!This should read: pour Synergy's kombucha in a large mouth bottle before covering with cloth and left to ferment... othewise you won't be able to get the baby out.
I once had a bottle of apple cider vinegar that grew a mother in it. Looked just like a kombucha scoby.
RetroFit
Cathlete
Beyond Kombucha
Hey Gayle,
Came across this last week.
http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/we-made-it-ourselves-beyond-kombucha/?ref=food
.
Hey Gayle,
Came across this last week.
http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/we-made-it-ourselves-beyond-kombucha/?ref=food
.
JumpHigher
Cathlete
I do like G. T. Dave's Synergy. A friend of mine has Lyme Disease -- her doctor had her go gluten & dairy free, as well as recommending she drink kombucha. She drinks the Synergy variety and gave me a bottle to try. I really like it. Lots of good fruity flavors to choose from, and good for the digestive system. (I also have gone gluten-free, which is helping me travel through the menopause process a bit more easily.)
Marla
Marla