Homemade Kombucha. Photo by Shannon Stonger.
By Shannon Stonger
Health Impact News
One of the beauties of fermentation is how very diverse the foods created through the process can be. Not only does this give us a variety of delicious ways in which we can partake in the enzymes, probiotics, and other benefits of fermented foods, it also gives us a variety of microorganisms, as each of these foods contains their own microbial identity. Indeed, eating fermented foods of all varieties is a good way to guarantee a variety of microbes in your diet.
Drinking fermented beverages is a tasty way to add fermentation to your meal. Kombucha tea, a fermented sweet tea, is one such tonic.
Kombucha has a long history of use in many cultures. Many believe it originates in China and later spread to Eastern Europe.
How Kombucha Is Made
It is not inaccurate to say that, at its core, kombucha is simply a fermented sweet tea. This tangy, effervescent beverage is made simply of sugar and tea which is then combined with the SCOBY or mother. It is this mother – a starter culture – which feeds on the sweetened tea and converts those sugars into organic acids and other microorganisms which we benefit from.
The acronym SCOBY stands for symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. This starter culture, mother, kombucha mushroom, or SCOBY – all of which it can be referred to as – is what turns sweet tea into kombucha. It is a round disk that takes on the shape and diameter of whatever vessel it was prepared in. With every batch of kombucha prepared, a “baby” SCOBY is grown from the bottom of the “mother” SCOBY. This insures a long line of SCOBYs to be made into new batches, given away to friends, or added to the compost pile.
Beneficial Constituents of Kombucha
Many refer to kombucha as a “vinegary” beverage, and they are not far off. Kombucha, like all fermented foods, contains organic acids. Fermented foods are often referred to as “lacto-fermented” foods due to the presence of lactic acid. Kombucha, however, contains a large quantity of acetic acid as well as other beneficial acids.
Acetic acid is the acid present in vinegar, which is why kombucha often has a slight vinegar-like flavor to it. In fact, the longer kombucha is fermented, the more vinegar flavor – and most likely vinegar constituents – is present. This is helpful in that making kombucha and deliberately or accidentally allowing it to ferment longer than usual will give you a homemade raw vinegar-like substance for salad dressings and the like.
There are other acids generally present in kombucha such as gluconic acid, malic acid, butyric acid, and more. It is worth noting that all of these acids play an important role in the body from detoxification to gut health to cell regeneration. Like most whole foods, kombucha is more than the sum of its parts in this regard.
Probiotics, enzymes, minute amounts of alcohol, and B vitamins are also prevalent in kombucha. These are helpful for digestion, energy, and vitality.
Homemade vs. Store-Bought
As with most foods, preparing kombucha at home allows you to control all aspects of the process from ingredients to the fermentation process which dictates the constituents found in the final product.
One of the factors at play is sugar content. Cultured kombucha can range in sugar content from sweet to an almost dry, tart flavor. The longer kombucha is allowed to ferment (with temperature also being a factor), the lower the sugar content of the kombucha. If gut dysbiosis or candida is a problem, then avoiding the sugar content while reaping the benefits of kombucha may be a necessity. Having control over the fermentation period, then, is important. Store-bought kombucha beverages tend to be more sugary, catering to the taste of those who are probably addicted to soft-drinks.
Another major reason to make kombucha at home is for the monetary savings. Commercial kombucha bottles can cost upwards of $3-$4. There is a justifiable reason for this in that fermented foods of all sorts are not like pre-packaged foods we purchase inexpensively from the grocery store. They are living foods with many variables which need to be kept refrigerated, once cultured, to deter further fermentation.
Which is why making it at home will save you a significant amount of money. One cost-comparison states that after recouping upfront costs for equipment and purchased SCOBYs, homemade kombucha cost $.12 versus the $3 they were spending at the store. As you can see, this is not insignificant.
Creating Flavorful, Carbonated Kombucha at Home
If you want to reap the benefits and cost-savings of preparing your kombucha at home, but also want to enjoy that fizzy flavor present in the commercial varieties, then you will want to know about the second fermentation of kombucha.
The initial fermentation is done in an open-air vessel covered with a permeable towel or cloth. This allows the yeasts access to oxygen, but the airflow also reduces its ability to carbonate. Large amounts of carbonation happen when the kombucha is bottled into airtight vessels. The kombucha continues to ferment, producing carbon dioxide, which gives you carbonation.
Allowing that kombucha to have access to sugar during the bottled second fermentation tends to increase the carbonation. So, when planning for bottled kombucha it is a good idea to decant it into bottles while it still has a small amount of sugar content, or add sweet fruit juices, purees, or whole fruits to the bottle.
Only a small amount is necessary, however, so do be careful not to over sweeten your second ferment lest you create more carbonation than you bargained for. Bottles have been known to explode during the fermentation process! Moreover, it is a good idea to open bottled kombucha over a sink if you are not sure of just how carbonated it has become.