Kombucha?

Kombucha "tea" is not a tea per se - its a product of fermentation of weak tea and sugar by a special japanese fungus. I love it, especially the more acid variety. many a health benefit was described in literature, do some searches. Never heard of any problems with kombucha, if grown properly.

Sasha.

1. A lot of people have tried it over many years.
2. It seems to be safe.
3. It is not really tea at all and should not be called a tea.
4. It tastes like laundry that has been left wet in the sun for a long time.
5. Some people claim that it will extend your life. I don't know if this is true or not, but if I have to spend my life with a nasty taste in my mouth all day long, I'd rather it be shorter.

--scott

Imagine that of pile of wet laundry. Now put some sauerkraut over, and let it stand in the sun for a month. That's what my first batch of Kombucha tasted like. Then I figured I must have made something wrong, and threw everything away.

However, some people say it actually tastes good, so I plan to try it again, since some years ago I made a similar mistake of saying that (green) tea was horrible, simply because I couldn't brew it correctly.

What I made years ago was like sparkling cider. If it brews too long it does get nasty.

Yes, Anna, it is like sparkling cider. However it became fashionable recently among some of our American friends to describe anything outside their immediate contemporary culture with denigrating epithets.

I was recently buying beef tongue at Rayley's and both checkout lady and her "paper or plastic" helper expressed utter disgust with my purchase which they did never even try to hide. After I told them that beef tongue is a delicacy and they should try it one day I was bluntly asked "Oh, and where did you come from?" When I tried to make connection to the American history and asked them if they ever heard of American buffalo being driven into almost an extinction by the white hunters who would take only tongues and leave the rest of the buffalo to rot, they laughed and told me that I was an insane story. Then I asked them why would their establishment sell these things if they obviously think that its not edible? The answer was priceless - the checkout lady said that she is glad that nothing is get wasted and the boy said that some peoples even eat pig feet glancing at a Latino lady behind me. The Latino lady was less prepared to hear that rubbish and asked for a manager. At which point both worldly cuisine experts shut up and finished their work quickly.

I have to admit that in my 20 years here I never seen people being so proud of their ignorance as I see recently. Someone may not like something and think that it is disgusting or whatever. So, when asked about it directly , just say that kombucha is not your cup of tea. If asked on the public forum, just keep silent. Describing something that you know many people enjoy in these denigrating and outright disgusting terms is ugly and boorish.

Sasha.

Hi Anna,

there are so many recipes (different ingredients, relative amounts), so many different ways to prepare or store Kombucha that all those Ks I tasted myself over the years can be as different as day and night. I used to drink it on a daily basis during my hardcore bioorganic/-dynamic years and liked it a lot. I never heard of any negative health effects, just the opposite. PS: another healthy fermented drink that is easily prepared is "waterkefir". Not as strong in taste as Kombucha, but a lovely, slightly sparkling all-day beverage. If prepared with a reduced amount of culture, and fermented slightly longer it gets similar in taste to my beloved elderflower champagne.

See here:

... and now back to a cup of that unknown First Flush

Best, Karsten / Darjeeling

Anna: I tried kombucha awhile back. I purchased the tea mushroom at the same time I bought some kefir starter. Eventually, I threw the kombucha out. Basically, I found that it was rather interesting and appealing, with a light fizzy tartness that was interesting. Eventually, though, I decided I would rather drink my tea as tea, rather than feel obligated to drink the tea vinegar every day. I have no idea whether health benefits actually exist, but because it's such an ancient Korean traditional curative, I imagine there must be something to it. If you have the opportunity to try it, do so, because it's rather unusual and kind of fun to try something you've never tasted before.

Alex,

Lighten up. She was not denigrating Kombucha, but rather her first attempt at it. Her reaction bears no relation whatsoever to the ignorance you describe at your local market.

Alex Chaihorsky wrote:

ah,

Calm down. Comparing something that one knows many people enjoy with a pile of rotting wet laundry is bad manners. I think she, actually, agreed.

Sasha.

Alex ChaihorskyMLXYf.55679$F snipped-for-privacy@newssvr29.news.prodigy.net4/5/06

Putting manners aside for the moment, Kombu is a thick leafed seaweed I've often used as a thickener in soups.A kelp. I love seaweeds of all kinds. Yum. Know nothing about this as a ferment, but why the hell not. How about "trasi" -- I *know* I spelled that wrong -- a Thai condiment for cooking made of thoroughly rotted shrimp. Nothing is more delicious. Double yum. As for tongue, it was a staple in my house growinig up, and might explain me, at least to some extent.

Now about the pile of wet laundry blanketed in saurerkraut, that was kvas. You're thinking of the wrong thing. Kvas is Triple Yummy! OTW!! OTU!!!

Michael

Seaweeds are very good and tasty. The contemporary problem with them, same as with mollusks and crustaceans is, of course, pollution. My friends in Abkhazia are patiently waiting for your onions.

Sasha.

OPINIONS!