Do you know this ancient brew?

By Bryon Anderson

There is a sacred weekly to biweekly ritual we perform in our house. This ritual is not dance, nor is it one of religious or irreligious tradition. The ritual we perform, rather, is one new to our house, and indeed relatively new to the West: it is the brewing of Kombucha.

We first started making Kombucha when we realized we enjoyed drinking it too much to continue paying four dollars per sixteen ounce bottle. In daring to do Kombucha ourselves, we eventually learned that it is surprisingly easy, quite economical, and very gratifying. Every batch of Kombucha we make is in fact tailored to our personal interests, something that we can of course not expect from commercial brewers.

If you’re lost at this point, it may be because you don’t know just what Kombucha is. Of course you’ve gathered it’s a beverage; unlike lemonade or apple juice, however, this beverage is taken fermented. Being fermented, Kombucha has an alcohol content, though it is so slight to be negligible (Kombucha to beer is beer to moonshine). Also, Kombucha has the fizz of fermentation, though slight; and a distinctive zing like watered-down lemon or vinegar.

Those of you familiar with Kombucha probably readily understand our liking of and motivation for brewing Kombucha (And please come to our soon-to-pass brewing class! email for information) For those not, there are many claims to Kombucha’s status as health-enhancing beverage, these being our primary motivation for drinking the brew: having ourselves experienced some of Kombucha’s beneficial claims, we have developed a taste for it. And as for these claims, among them: it aids liver function, increases energy, enhances digestion, boosts immunity, and even promotes hair growth. Additionally, some say it can help weight loss or maintenance (by curbing appetite), and also better skin appearance, this explaining Kombucha’s presence in some skin care products. This impressive collection of claims to Kombucha’s health effects would explain some of its romantic, travellin’-showy, I’ve-gotta-have-it nomenclature–”miracle fungus,” for example.

Regarding Kombucha’s status as cure-all beverage, there is no hard scientific evidence supporting any of these claims; a visit to the American Cancer Society’s website surely reveals as much. Oppositely, however, there is no science not supporting these numerous and staggering claims, which is not to say all are true; rather, there is perhaps validity to some of them. Kombucha is, after all, a millenia-old beverage; this surely speaks to its value as medicinal and health-enhancing. From my experience with Kombucha, I can at least vouch for its energizing and appetite-curbing effects; perhaps you may find these or others of its claims to be true.

If at this point you are interested in drinking Kombucha brew, a caveat for you: Start slowly! It is not uncommon to experience initial minor stomach upset with Kombucha. Kombucha’s most learned proponents say this is so as a result of over-drinking, the gastric woe stemming from Kombucha’s general potency, though especially as detoxifier. As the body grows accustomed to Kombucha’s potency, it can then respond to it more pleasantly for you, the occupant; and you can then begin to drink more at once.

Also, as there are different body types, Kombucha just may not be for you. So, of course pay attention to just what you’re body tells you during any trial with Kombucha.

For us, Kombucha has been a little bubbly, fun, zingy and energizing. We hope that you encounter this and more upon trying it, and if interested in brewing your own Kombucha, you come to our class in the near future (Details to come!).