Those of you who are Kombucha drinkers already know you are special. You know how much you look forward to your nightly “Booch,” you favorite flavor or brand, the familiar healthy “buzz.” So I know I wasn’t alone in my disbelief at seeing  my beloved beverage disappear from the shelves this past June. No one seemed to know much except that “certain” bottles had been tested with higher then labeled .5 % levels of alcohol.  Could it be that my healthy “buzz” was really an alcoholic buzz? No wonder I liked it!!

Why did my Kombucha get pulled from the shelves? I’d always been curious about the miracle that is Kombucha. Curious and a little wary that is. I knew it was easily brewed at home from a Mother. (Insert alien theme song here.) But exactly what are people brewing up in their basements anyway? No thanks. I’d rather pay for a nice GT created bottle of yumminess. That is until this was no longer an option. I decided to find out for myself why these products were pulled and when they’d be back.

I really nerded out about this friends. I mean really. I read for hours searching high and low for everything Kombucha. I’d lay awake at night thinking about things I didn’t quite get that I’d have to clarify later. It’s a complicated subject and like any form of brewing both an art and science. Most of what I now know can somehow be traced to Ed Hardy and his website happyherbalist.com. He’s been brewing kombucha tea, beer, vinegar, wine as well as other fermented products for many years. If you have a real interest I recommend starting with his info.

What does it taste like? For those of you who are Booch virgins or maybe just don’t like the stuff, here’s the skinny. I didn’t like it the first time I tried it either. But did you like beer the first time you tried it? Or stinky cheese? It’s really an acquired taste. At once sweet, sour, slightly bubbly, but waxing poetic aside I thought it tasted like the bottom of my compost container. Now? Ambrosia.

How do you brew it? It turns out that there is plenty variation in Kombucha taste and brewing techniques. I’ve come to believe that my favorite bottled variety is made in the tradition of Champagne kombuchas. It has a slightly higher alcohol content than the teas, highly effervescent and is a party in a glass. Other varieties I’ve tried lately are more in the tradition of kombucha tea and are like drinking slightly bubbly juice. Also pleasant, but not quite my thing.

Why is is healthy to drink it? Other side notes of my obsession, I mean “research”, include the discovery that the kombucha ” mushroom” is no mushroom at all, but a biofilm of bacteria and yeast. The mother, or SCOBY is a synchrinistic combination of yeast and bacteria. It ferments the tea and sugar to produce a beverage full of healthful acids and probiotics. A living tonic. The benefits (which are proported to be many) seem to be derived from the probiotics and acetic acid (see study done by Cornell), but it also contains gluconic acid. Gluconic acid is thought to cause the liver to secrete glucoronic acid and thus promote detoxification. All I know for sure is I sure feel good when I drink it.

Lindsey Lawson MS EAMP is an Acupuncturist, Chinese Herbalist and Clinic Director at Glow Natural Health and Seattle Fertility Acupuncturist. She is passionate about healthy , happy living and a regular blogger. For an appointment call Glow at 206 568 7545.