Kombucha
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2020 4:42 pm
Surprised to see there isn't a kombucha thread yet!
Discovered in Latvia in 1913, but supposedly originally from the Russia-China border region once known as Manchuria. Popularized by the Germans, and with no connection to Japan or Japanese seaweed tea whatsoever, other than that Manchuria had a very large Japanese population at the time and briefly became a Japanese colony during the Second World War. Known in Java as "tea cider".
Made its way to America through a series of convoluted steps nobody seems to have adequately traced, and then became wildly popular in the late 80s/early 90s, mostly as part of a health fad, first by folks desperate for something that might help provide some relief from AIDS, and later as a sort of cure-all for a variety of chronic diseases (the most popular American brand, GT's, was started by someone convinced that kombucha had helped their mother during her cancer struggle).
Eventually there were a few tea-heads who started making kombucha with a focus on the flavor, such as Stash and Tazo co-founder Stephen Lee, who was involved in kombucha through the now-sold company "Kombucha Wonder Drink", while others have gone in the other direction and used spice and fruit mixtures to disguise not-so-good fermentation.
Any suggestions for commercially available pure-tea kombuchas folks should try?
Discovered in Latvia in 1913, but supposedly originally from the Russia-China border region once known as Manchuria. Popularized by the Germans, and with no connection to Japan or Japanese seaweed tea whatsoever, other than that Manchuria had a very large Japanese population at the time and briefly became a Japanese colony during the Second World War. Known in Java as "tea cider".
Made its way to America through a series of convoluted steps nobody seems to have adequately traced, and then became wildly popular in the late 80s/early 90s, mostly as part of a health fad, first by folks desperate for something that might help provide some relief from AIDS, and later as a sort of cure-all for a variety of chronic diseases (the most popular American brand, GT's, was started by someone convinced that kombucha had helped their mother during her cancer struggle).
Eventually there were a few tea-heads who started making kombucha with a focus on the flavor, such as Stash and Tazo co-founder Stephen Lee, who was involved in kombucha through the now-sold company "Kombucha Wonder Drink", while others have gone in the other direction and used spice and fruit mixtures to disguise not-so-good fermentation.
Any suggestions for commercially available pure-tea kombuchas folks should try?