Tom Carey: Kombucha tea another fad?

First impressions of what frequently is good for us often run contrary to our best interests. When I first saw a Kombucha tea “mother,” I felt an obligation to protect humanity from this gruesome appearing alien life form. After becoming interested in value-added products from my garden tracking into the realm of fermentation, brewing Kombucha is the next logical step. Trying not to go overboard on the next big thing, I am approaching this home brewing project with my enthusiasm matured.

A Kombucha mother, also called a SCOBY (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast), is a layer of growing sludge kept in a gallon size glass jar similar to keeping a living sour dough culture. The SCOBY is fed fresh brewed tea sweetened with sugar and left to ferment. In two weeks, the liquid is poured off as Kombucha tea. I have assisted in the preparation several times and will attest to a necessary degree of organization, cleanliness and practiced motions.

Around for millennia, Kombucha tea came to Western cultures through Japan and China as a tonic for immortality. Health claims are as vivid as for snake oil, but in moderation, adverse effects are rare. For years now, I have added half a shot of live apple cider vinegar to my iced tea (sun brewed, not sweetened), and the Kombucha has a very similar taste. Commercialization is hot on the scent, with bottled and flavored brand name products now available.

Taking personal responsibility for procuring our food outside of merely paying cash opens numerous arenas of intellectual pursuit. Studying micro-organisms used in the numerous types of food processing and preservation techniques not only harks back to high school biology, but conveys a contemporary cultural understanding that seems to be wearing thin these day. Pac choi Asian cabbage is growing very well in my garden this year, and what better way to preserve it than studying and making Korean Kimchi? Pro-biotic preservation, such as brine pickling of garden vegetables similar to making German sauerkraut, leads to a sense of accomplishment and an economically full belly. (Don’t even get me started on home brewing beer and wine!)

Over the course of the day, I drink about 2 ounces of Kombucha as a flavoring for my iced tea because I like it, not expecting any specific health miracle. With pasteurization as the touted standard for our nation’s food supply, toying with live microbes could be considered anarchy. But really, it has been only our last three generations of the entire human species that eats such a sterile diet. And look where that is getting us!