Emma Roberts, Lindsay Lohan, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jake Gyllenhaal and Jennifer Love Hewitt? What do they have in common? No, it’s not them being Hollywood A-listers. It’s Kombucha.

What is Kombucha tea?

You may have heard about Kombucha before from these celebrities, especially Lindsay Lohan who blamed Kombucha after failing an alcohol test, which brought this health elixir to the spotlight. But do you really know what is it? 

Kombucha tea is a slightly tart, sweet, alcoholic and bubbly drink that is produced by fermenting tea using a Kombucha culture or SCOBY.

What is the History of Kombucha tea?

Kombucha comes from the Japanese word kombu which means seaweed and cha which means tea. According to studies, Japanese people were fermenting seaweed and tea back in the day and just like any other fermented food, it produced a slimy disk on top that we now call as Kombucha SCOBY.

What is a Kombucha SCOBY?

Kombucha SCOBY, also referred to as Kombucha culture, Kombucha mother or Kombucha mushroom, is the culture that you use in fermenting your tea. It is the disk-shaped and mushroom-like culture that forms on top of your tea.  It means Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast. Kombucha SCOBY is composed of Acetobacter, a genus of acetic acid bacteria and some yeasts.

I hope this answers your question about what is Kombucha tea. If you have more questions about Kombucha, please leave a comment below.

Content originally written by me and published first at KombuchaPhilippines