Advanced Search

Share Coverage



Category: Food and Beverage / Food Poisoning / Food Safety / Food and Cooking / Diet and Nutrition

The truth about kombucha (and how to make it)

Saturday, 8 Oct 2016 07:20:38

Kombucha is trendy now but it's not new — it may have been brewed in ancient China. (ABC RN: Alex McClintock)

According to its fans, kombucha can do everything from settling your stomach to settling your mood. Some even suggest it can prevent cancer.

But kombucha is not a wonder drug developed by good looking, white-coated scientists in a pharmaceutical company laboratory.

In fact, that couldn't be further from the truth. Kombucha is an oddly refreshing fermented tea drink that tastes a bit like rancid pineapple juice, and is usually developed in backyards by people wearing Thai fishermen's pants.

So do the supposed benefits of drinking kombucha stack up?

In a word: no.

Listen to the episode

Hear more about kombucha on Blueprint for Living.

"There isn't a great deal of evidence, and all the websites say the same thing: that it's great for digestive balance because it adds probiotic or friendly bacteria," says Catherine Saxelby, an accredited nutritionist at Foodwatch.

"Now maybe that's because nobody has actually done the scientific research yet, which is always true with very new things like kombucha."

While kombucha isn't strictly new — it may have originated in China as early as the third century BC and was certainly being drunk in Russia in the 19th century —it has gained popularity in the west in recent years via social media.

Though you can buy kombucha in a can or bottle at health food stores and some supermarkets, many devotees prefer to make it themselves at home.

The DIY ethos is all part of the appeal, and the process has a lot in common with home-brewing beer or making sourdough bread.

Several SCOBYs sitting in the bottom of a jar of kombucha Photo: You can buy a SCOBY off the internet (ABC RN: Alex McClintock)

All you need is filtered water, tea, sugar and a SCOBY — a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast.

SCOBYs are flat, milky-white discs of fungus. You can buy them online (where else?) or get them from a kombucha-brewing friend.

There are some risks associated with brewing kombucha at home, though, and aspiring booch barons should ensure that any containers used in the process are properly sterilised.

"You've got to be scrupulously keen, because otherwise you get contamination. You get the wrong bacteria growing," Ms Saxelby says.

"If your mixture starts to smell off or smell sour, or the SCOBY starts to look discoloured or grows odd looking things then it's probably going wrong and you should throw it out and start again.

"Overall, it's something to have in small amounts. If you have any sort of immune problem or your pregnant, breastfeeding or elderly, it's not for you."

How to make your own kombucha

Ingredients
  • 3 litres of filtered water
  • 10 green or black teabags
  • 1 SCOBY
  • ½ a cup of sugar
Instructions

Boil the filtered water. Pour over the teabags in a large container.

Add the sugar to the tea, and allow time to brew and cool (about two hours).

Pour the brewed tea into a large, sterilised jar and add the SCOBY.

Cover jar with cheesecloth, muslin or paper towel and secure with a rubber band.

Leave to brew for a week or more to taste. The kombucha will become less sweet the longer it is brewed.

Reserve the SCOBY and a little of the liquid for next time.

Pour the kombucha into bottles and refrigerate.

Flavour with fruit or serve plain over ice.

AustraliaPlus


 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend