What is Kombucha?
Kombucha is a fermented tea passed down by centuries of Eastern tradition. To craft Kombucha, a base of sweetened tea is cultured with a SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast). Over time, the SCOBY transforms the tea into a tangy, naturally effervescent drink with billions of living probiotics to support gut health and promote overall well being.
When kombucha is being produced, bacteria and yeast form a mushroom-like film on the surface of the liquid during fermentation. This is why kombucha is also known as “mushroom tea.” The fermentation process produces acetic acid (also found in vinegar) and several other acidic compounds, trace levels of alcohol and gases that make it carbonated.
A large amount of bacteria also grow in the mixture. Although there is still no evidence for the probiotic benefits of kombucha, it does contain several species of lactic-acid bacteria which may have probiotic function that provide your gut with healthy bacteria. These bacteria can improve many aspects of health, including digestion, inflammation and even weight loss. For this reason, it is said that adding beverages like kombucha to your diet may help to improve your health in many ways.
How it tastes.
Well, there are multiple flavor offerings from GT’s Synergy, I had the Gingerberry and while I did not find this product to be particularly good in flavor, it was not bad either once you get over the initial taste.
Upon my first sip, I immediately noticed and appreciated the carbonation of the drink, which I believe helped to make it more palatable. However, the first flavor profile of many that I found this drink to have was that of weak vinegar that comes from the acetic acid. This taste of vinegar was followed by the flavor of a watered down non-alcoholic beer that has been flavored with ginger and berry. The drink was also made more palatable by being chilled good before I drank any of it, I believe it might border on awful if it was served up warm, but concede others might be perfectly okay with a warm kombucha drink. I just can’t imagine myself liking it at room temperature any more than I like warm beer. It simply does not work for my palate.
According to Mayo Clinic, limited evidence suggests kombucha tea may offer benefits similar to probiotic supplements, including promoting a healthy immune system and preventing constipation. At present, however, valid medical studies of kombucha tea’s role in human health are very limited. You might enjoy this product enough to consume enough to possibly derive probiotic benefit, but for me, at a cost of $4.00 US for a 16 ounce bottle, I will continue to receive my probiotics from yogurt, sauerkraut and a few other sources that I actually do enjoy.