What is a kombucha culture/mushroom? Kombucha is a living immune health drink made by fermenting tea & sugar with the kombucha culture. The result of the taste being between apple cider & tart champagne, depending on what kind of tea you use, & length of time brewed.
"The kombucha scoby" The kombucha culture looks like a beige or white rubbery pancake. It's often called a "scoby" which stands for "symbiotic culture of bacteria & yeasts".The culture is placed in sweetened black or
green tea & turns a jar of sweet tea into a jar of vitamins, minerals, enzymes & health-giving organic acids.
"Kombucha & your health" Many health claims are made about kombucha. It has been shown to have many antibiotic, antiviral & anti fungal properties in lab tests. There is a lot of experiential evidence from people who have been using kombucha over many years. Kombucha lovers & drinkers have claimed a massive list of ailments & sicknesses which have been helped or "cured" by drinking Kombucha tea on a regular basis.Many of the benefits reported include improvements in energy levels, metabolic disorders, allergies, cancer, digestive problems, Candida's, hypertension, HIV, chronic fatigue & arthritis. It ‘s also used externally for skin problems, & as a hair rinse. (results vary)
"It isn’t really a fungus, or a seaweed or a mushroom" The kombucha is not really a mushroom as it is sometimes called, but rather a symbiosis of yeast and bacteria, That need each other, that benefit from each other & that protect each other.
***The kombucha is a tough, smooth slippery, glassy mass which forms lamellae. These lamellae are composed of translucent, very tough tissue with a series of brown slime spots at the bottom & in the tea, These turn out to be a concentration of yeast cells.
This tea has been known for over 2500 years.
It costs almost nothing, if you make this beverage yourself.
Each batch you make grows a new culture/scoby (mushroom), sometimes separate, sometimes as another layer on the original one (Just peel them apart if desired). the baby will grow across the top of the tea to the size & shape of the jar, you then have two cultures & can brew two batches next time.
