Kombucha, or Kombucha Tea, is a fermented drink prepared from sweetened black or green tea.
While the origins are uncertain, it seems to originate from ancient China. It was widely popular in Russia and has become increasingly popular in the United States in recent years. While the drink does not seem to be as widespread in the shop shelves as in the US yet, you may have noticed kombucha bottles from local producers being more and more available in organic food stores and supermarkets.
Kombucha has enjoyed a recent increase in popularity in part thanks to gut health awareness. There seems to be no scientific studies that support the health benefits that many articles and online pages attribute to Kombucha. Nontheless, it is an enjoyable and refreshing drink when prepared following basic higienic procedures (see receipe section for moere).
The main ingredient is the SCOBY, acronym for symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, also referred as "mother" or "mushroom". Other ingredients you will need are sugar, and black or green tea. No fancy equipment is needed, other than a glass jar for the fermentation, vinyl gloves for transferring the SCOBY from one place to another and basic equipment to sterilise the jar.
Head to the receipe section of this website to learn how to brew your Kombucha!
