Kombucha tea, anyone?

[D_Glenn]

Kombucha tea is a fermented green tea. I've tried it before but not really impressed with the claims but just the other day I saw that it has Glucuronic Acid which assists the liver in glucuronidation which is one of the key processes that the liver uses in Phase II detoxification.

There's also the Hyaluronic acid, and many other beneficial ingredients. It be interesting to see if the bacteria in it can actually re-colonize the intestine, or if it's more a scam, like the probiotics in yogurt, but I'm definitely going to be hopping on the Kombucha bandwagon just because of it's other ingredients.

Anyone else tried it? and likes it?

.

[windwalker]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombucha

The kombucha culture is a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY), comprising Acetobacter (a genus of acetic acid bacteria) and one or more yeasts. These form a zoogleal mat. In Chinese, this microbial culture is called haomo in Cantonese, or jiaomu in Mandarin, (Chinese: 酵母; literally: "fermentation mother"). It is also known as Manchurian Mushroom.

A kombucha culture may contain one or more of the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Brettanomyces bruxellensis, Candida stellata, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Torulaspora delbrueckii, and Zygosaccharomyces bailii. Alcohol production by the yeast(s) contributes to the production of acetic acid by the bacteria.[citation needed]

had a friend that used to grow the fungus that makes the tea, not to bad drinking it.
he tried making a business out of it, problem was that once
a person had some they could make/grow their own..

imo good stuff,,,

[D_Glenn]

That's the only thing I found that was bad about it is the homegrown stuff can be toxic, due to the mushrooms they use to ferment.

Apparently it's not as cut and dry as something like making your own Kefir.

So I'd be weary of that. In the USA there's several companies who are bottling it, it's pricey, but better than having a bad batch and not knowing it.

.

[Peacedog]

Tastes like cat's piss to me.

Therefore I don't drink it.

[fuga]

I've heard this homegrown toxic claim before. How substantiated is that? Is the toxicity at a higher rate than what we find for e coli outbreaks in other products through commercial channels? Just curious.

I brew kombucha at home. It's not a big deal. I have not poisoned myself. Yet...

The hardest part of home brewing is just remembering to keep feeding it and maintaining it. I went through a phase of drinking a lot, now not so much, which means I have been neglecting it. At this point, it is most likely compost bound. Hopefully the dog doesn't eat it.

Buying it in a store is expensive but easier. Especially if you are just seeing whether you can make a habit of drinking it.

-pete

[Taste of Death]

In Sacramento a dozen places or more have it on tap and there is a kombucha truck (more like a mobile bar) that comes to events featuring food trucks.

[kenneth fish]

Kombucha tea is listed by the CDC as possibly unsafe for most adults when taken by mouth. It can cause side effects including stomach problems, yeast infections, allergic reactions, yellow skin (jaundice), nausea, vomiting, head and neck pain, and death.

Kombucha tea, especially batches made at home where it’s hard to maintain a germ-free environment, can become contaminated with fungus (Aspergillus) and bacteria (including anthrax). In Iran, 20 people got anthrax infections from taking kombucha tea. This tea is listed as likely unsafe in people with weakened immune systems, such as people with HIV/AIDS and cancer patients, who are more likely to get infections.

[windwalker]

The acidity and mild alcoholic element of kombucha resists contamination by most airborne molds or bacterial spores. It was shown that Kombucha inhibits growth of harmful microorganisms such as E. coli, Sal. enteritidis, Sal. typhimurium, and Sh. Sonnei.[3] As a result, kombucha is relatively easy to maintain as a culture outside of sterile conditions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombucha

guess someone needs to update the wikipdia.

[Alexatron]

*UGH!* My daughter was into growing this for a spell. She had jars and jars of the foul smelling evil looking revolting tasting crap all around our house (I'm not a great fan in case you haven't picked that up yet). Anyway she sort of moves out but leaves most of her stuff at home with us in her room. I have no reason to go in there until a few months later she rings me asking if I could have a look in her wardrobe for some garment or other. It was like a scene out of some sort of horror or scifi movie. Half a dozen large jars of damm Kombucha filth that had been quietly breeding away in the dark. There was virtually no fluid, just layers and layers of the slimy cultures. I wore all the safety gear I could rustle up before gingerly taking them outside and burying them in a shallow unmarked grave at the end of the garden. I still feel uneasy knowing that those jars are down there creating god knows what diseases and that when the zombie apocalypse is over they'll trace ground zero to my garden. As an aside she stopped growing it after reading some articles about people getting sick on it.

[fuga]

I wore all the safety gear I could rustle up before gingerly taking them outside and burying them in a shallow unmarked grave at the end of the garden. I still feel uneasy knowing that those jars are down there creating god knows what diseases and that when the zombie apocalypse is over they'll trace ground zero to my garden.

Are you sure they're still buried?

[emptycloud]

Used to brew it years ago living in hippy commune. We perfected it. Tasted like a honey champagne. What I recall is everyone buzzing on the stuff, healthy, no side effects, up-lifting.

It takes a while to get the flavour and the fizz. Its a pretty freaky thing especially when it begins to reproduce another one underneath itself. If I had the room and time I would certainly get a culture up and running again.

Rich

[Alexatron]

I wore all the safety gear I could rustle up before gingerly taking them outside and burying them in a shallow unmarked grave at the end of the garden. I still feel uneasy knowing that those jars are down there creating god knows what diseases and that when the zombie apocalypse is over they'll trace ground zero to my garden.

Are you sure they're still buried?

Oh thanks for that - now I'll be having nightmares about the stuff. I might mix up a batch of napalm on the weekend, exhume the damm things and torch them. Then perhaps I will find peace.

[Dmitri]

Lots of people "brewed" it where/when I was growing up. Never heard of any health hazards, but that may be due to lack of good (or any, for that matter) research and diagnosis. Made myself try it once, wasn't anything spectacular... Couldn't bring myself to drinking it because it just looks like something one should NOT be consuming...

[I-mon]

It's delicious when you get it right!

[Doc Stier]

Tastes like cat's piss to me.

Therefore I don't drink it.

Wow! You've actually drank cat piss? I've often wondered what happened to you! That explains a lot! LOL