The Kombucha Kronicles, Part 1: What The Fuck Is Kombucha? And Why Should I drink it?

Today at Verde Vegan in Acapulco @kennyskitchen from Steemit held a Kombucha workshop.  Prior to this I had vague information at best on the topic and still realistically did until I looked it up this evening.  I've tried a bunch of different kinds and the only type I've ever liked was homemade, in Southern Oregon.  This is one of those things I've wanted to like but just really haven't, although that homemade stuff gives me hope.  So I'll experiment.

Kenny reportedly brought a jar of the SCOBY, something I'll explain further below for the purpose of brewing lots of kombucha down here, which he reportedly did.  So today, since he's leaving next week, he split his scoby up and shared it with everyone who came to get some, with a sheet of directions. We bought the largest jar of it, as it was stored in a large brewing jar that he used while he was here. We couldn't stay for the workshop so we got the quick laydown from him on it.  With the internet, nothing is unreachable. So I figured I'd start with the basics as I understand that my understanding of this drink is seriously fuzzy at best.  

Wikipedia describes it as a "fermented, lightly effervescent sweet black or green tea functional drink".   I'd never even heard of a non-functional drink which wikipedia uses to describe any non-alcoholic drink that could be considered performance enhancing.  It's got what's called a scoby, which I took pictures of and photoed above.  If anyone who's experienced with this stuff is wondering why it's pink, it's because he tried it with jamaica tea, a bright red hibiscus tea super common down here. The word scoby is actually an acronym, used to mean: symbotic colony of bacteria and yeast.  Pretty straight foreward when you think about it. 

It uses a combination of several different kinds of yeasts and bacterias.  A yeast called saccharomyces is commonly used.  Gluconacetobacter xylinus is a generally the bactiral one used mainly, although there are a few others that are used in lower concentration to these. Because kombucha is a drink fermented with natural yeast and bacteria, contamination is possible.  For this reason, sanitary brewing conditions are essential.  There are deaths that are linked to kombucha contamination. It generally presents itself in kidney and liver toxicty. 

This is something that originated in the Manchuria area, that is near China, Mongolia area.  It is linked back to 220 BCE, although the exact origin date and place isn't necessarily super clear.  It was commonly drank in the Russia area and spread west to Germany through Europe and onward from there.  It's now consumed worldwide. 

Kombucha has been nicknamed tea fungus and I think that's fitting.  The fungusy film that is known as scoby is interestingly textured from my understanding.  It was described as equal parts tough and jelly like, which is interesting to think about.  Supposedly it's dried and used as a super strong leather material, something a bit crazy to consider. Kenny evidently uses it in cooking, once dehydrated.  

I've heard about it due to it's long list of reported health benefits, which I'll just name a few of here: improved digestion, weight loss, increased energy, cleansing and detox, immune support, reduced joint pain, cancer prevention just to name a few.  According to wikipedia, none of these claims have been backed up by science.  Wikipedia was quick to point out that there have been deaths linked to contaminated home brewed kombucha, so home brewer beware. 

While I think it's probably damn good for you I think wikipedia is probably a bit right when it says that the claims are not what they say they are.  It's already proven that fermented foods are very healthy for us, so drinking fermented tea makes sense.  But it also makes sense that fermented tea, like fermented anything can go really wrong and people can get really sick.  You've just got to pay attention at the right times and you shouldn't have issue.  If dirty hippies all over Oregon can make this stuff without there being a news freakout over hippies dying over it, it's not as hard as wikipedia made it out to be.

Now I've just recieved my first scoby and I know very little about it.  I've got very little experience with the drinks so I don't know the effects.  For all I know, this is the miracle thing I need in my diet, or it might not be.  The only way to find out is to try it, and it'll make an interesting adventure at the very least.  

I intend to share my adventures here Steemit, in real time as things happen. If I notice any health changes, I'll share those too. I'm coming at this from a pretty non-biased perspective from what I can tell, as I'm not dead set on enjoying this or it working out so the placebo effect should be less likely, but we'll see. 

Today, I got my scoby.  As soon as I have more purified water and possibly organic tea,  I'm going to get a batch brewing and see how it goes.  When that happens, you'll hear about it.  If you've got experience and tips and things like that, let me know! If you've got delicious flavoring recipes, I wanna know that too, as we get bored quickly here.  

So there we go, we started the first step of making kombucha, figuring what the fuck it even is and why we should be drinking it.