Kombucha!

[Dovetail]

I was shocked that I didn't see a thread on this yet!!

Kombucha is a fermented tea that has all kinds of probiotics, and vitamins and other such "good for you" things

I've been drinking this brand:

I find them pretty expensive (4$ a pop) but it is a lot better for you than that starbucks latte! I'm not fond of yoghurt so this is kind of my replacement!

It is basiclly tea, which is fermented with sugar, yeast and a "kombucha culture"

it pretty much takes on whatever flavor the tea is, but the kind I get has guava in it so it's much tastier than the other flavors (which I find kind of vinegar-ey)

I find over all it helps me "graze" less (aka so bored that I'm eatting) and give me a lot more energy than something like coffee which makes me crash later on! Plus, it's sweet and bubbly (naturally!) so it's a good thing to ween me off of soda.

Does anyone else like this stuff? Has anyone tried brewing it themselves? I know there are other brands too! Share your Kombucha love!!

[browneyedsusan]

I think I was reading about this in Mary Jane's Farm? It seemed a little gross/science experimenty in the article, but I probably wasn't in the right frame of mind to take it in.

Here's a link--http://www.maryjanesfarm.com/snitz///topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=51459

(a try at a link, anyway. I'm not a tech dynamo.)

I had no idea you could buy it pre-bottled! Where do you get it?

[Dovetail]

I get mine at my grocery (called Country mart) they stock it by the NAKED juices, and POM and other drinks like that. I've also found it at a few gas stations (if that station sells stuff besides soda and tea) and of course places like whole foods would have it too. I think it's akin to making a bread starter. If it goes moldy you throw it out (cause EW!) I'll have to check out that link when I get off work ^-^

[Natalia]

I love it! Soda murders my kidneys so when i want a bubble fix juice and seltzer cant satisfy i go for this. I drink gts enlightened and bucha brands.

I have a cute kombucha story my dad indulges me by trying alot of my weird food. So when i was drinking some when he came home i asked him if he wanted any. He asked what it was i told him fungus beer and he still drank it LOL!

[Dovetail]

Natalia, He probably drank it cause you said beer!! Haha

I love cranberry juice and tonic water too in the summer time. I just wish these weren't quite so pricey.

The GT brand seems to have "100%" raw kombucha too, which I had to be 21+ to look at, so I guess the other types DO have booze in them. I let my manager at work try some of mine and she goes "Does this have alchahol in it?" and I just told her "well, I wasn't carded so I guess not, but it IS fermemnted, so maybe a little" xD She wasn't upset though ^-^ She liked it maybe I have a convert.

[joflakes]

I want to try it but can't find it anywhere here in the UK pre-bottled and I'm not up for making my own =(

[Dovetail]

Jo-
I found this site: http://www.seedsofhealth.co.uk/resou...kombucha.shtml

near the middle it lists some commercial kombucha for sale in the UK. I don't know if you'd recognise the stores or brands though.

Someone else online said they have it at Sainsburys? (but when I typed Kombucha into the sainsbury website it didn't bring anything up)

I'm not brave enough to try making it myself. However, the husband has a friend who he is trying to partner with in opening a new pub in the next town over which would have Kombucha on tap ^-^ So I guess it can't be that hard. It seems to only take a week to fermement.

[Natalia]

I think i have been sufficently enabled i came home with 5 bottles of kombucha that were on sale today. Guava/mango, chai, 2 ginger lemon, and lavender.

[owlathena]

I drink a GT daves every once in a while. I've tried several brands and that's by far my favorite. When I first discovered them a couple years ago I had one almost every day, but not so much anymore because they're expensive! My favorite is the "third-eye chai," its one of their "classic" ones so you have to be 21 to buy it (they have another line called "enlightened" that doesn't contain any alcohol, or at least not enough to have to label it), but I don't think the alcohol level in it is anything to fret about. I'm pregnant, and I drink them once week or so. I wouldn't chug one after another of course, but beer is about 4% and GT daves "classic" kombuchas are only about 0.5%, so its pretty negligible.

[browneyedsusan]

I'm going to put it on the grocery list! A fun experiment for me!