Ah, I see you're local. Try House Kombucha. They haven't had their smoked pear out yet this season, but when it comes, try it. Seriously the best kombucha drink I've ever had.
I've had it a few times ... can only take so much at once but I like it. Where do you buy House, Joe? I'm mostly a matcha kind of guy. I know, not the same thing, but mmmmm ... matcha.
my hood: Mission / Castro Rainbow Grocery: 1745 Folsom Street Harvest Ranch: Market St. @ 16th St. Haus Coffee: 24th St. @ Folsom Viracocha: 998 Valencia @ 21st St. Bi Rite: 18th @Guerrero Arizmendi: Valencia @24th Philz Coffee: 18th @ Castro Mollie Stone’s Castro Beast and the Hair Venga Empanada Rossis Deli Om Shan Tea
haven't tried it myself either, but for my two cents, I would exercise caution with anything that contains unspecified/unregulated yeast and bacteria. This is especially true for anyone thinking of doing it themselves or swapping SCOBY/mushrooms with other people. You seriously don't want to mess around with that kind of stuff, you know, unless you are into renal and hepatic failure.
My dad grew it in our fridge sometime in the late 80's (he's a health nut) I distinctly remember the smell and taste being horrible. My mom finally convinced him to throw the stuff out...
Has become an acquired taste for certain. My wife brought a bunch of bottles home and I happily guzzled the stuff until I saw how much $$ it was. $3+ for 12oz vinegar flower carbonated tea!?! WTF. How the hell do they ferment this stuff. It doesn't come from a yak's ass or something like that monkey ass coffee does it?!
Not that I know of. It's thought of as a detoxifying pro-biotic with more energizing than relaxing properties. Some of the health claims are considered dubious by some, legit by others. (E.G. anti-carcinogenic, good for integumentary disorders, etc.) I drank it after having taken antibiotics for a couple of weeks to get rid of a sinus infection, and it did seem to help get my digestive system back in order quickly. Depending upon the brew it can be pretty intense. If I recall correctly one brand was recently recalled when the FDA said that the fermented alcoholic content was too high for it to be sold as a non-alcoholic beverage. That appears to be their primary concern with it. The brand that Mr. Bunny recommended has a reputation for being more mild and less caloric than most commercial brands. There are lots of "how to make it at home" recipes on the Web but I think I'm gonna stick to homemade sourdough starter for now. Nah, it ferments naturally by resting in a moderate temperature range in a dark place ... sort of like any number of foods like pickles, booze, yeast...
I would drink it constantly if I could afford it. I like fizzy drinks but don't want lots of sugars or artificial sweeteners.
very helpful thread. funnily it was marketed as "hip drink" in berlin for a while, huge marketing campaign: sold for one € in cafés, bars, etc. for long. dont mind cheap drinks, had it a lot. the red one is quite tasty when icecold. realized special taste, but never got what it is. now that i know will prefer ordinary lemonade instead. reminds me of this. dont know why, but germans have been totally into kefir back in the day. my mom had it in a kitchen cabinet, pretty disgusting, i was afraid of it. fermenting shroom or milk or both, growing faster than you could drink. yummy.
Kefir is also a good probiotic. It's pretty popular here in the SF Bay Area too. Speaking of which does anyone remember that wheatgrass juice barn that used to be in the Mission District? They offered a shot of kombucha with the wheatgrass. Man, talk about an acquired taste! Wheatgrass juice is like, well, drinking grass. But then so is matcha so I can't whine.
nothing beats a fresh squeezed wheat grass drink, love it. tastes so damn healthy, feels like drinking directly out of everglades. got to get me one on the weekend!
love kombucha. just discovered gt's new flavors w/ chia seeds - the cherry is delicious - tart, tangy and fun to chew the jello-like seeds.
Wow...no one has touched this thread in over a year :/ Well anywho, I am a huge fan of Kombucha and as of recently [the past few months] have been brewing my own which has been turning out fairly awesome [save for one batch that brewed for more than a month while I was in Japan...it was pure acid]. I was curious if: 1. Anyone else here brews or had brewed kombucha before. 2. Anyone might have any tips or stories about issues they had and how they resolved them. Right now I am working on a second batch of apple cider kombucha which will hopefully turn out just as great as the first one. If it does, confirming that it wasn't just a brewing fluke, then I will totally put up the recipe if anyone is interested. Get at me homebrewers.
I have a fridge full of kombucha right now. The guava is currently my favorite, but I picked up some bontanical ones that Im dying to try!
