Kombucha is something that many people hear about and have a general idea of the health benefits, but really aren’t sure exactly what it is. Kombucha is a type of probiotic drink, more closely resembling a tea.
While you can add a lot of flavorings to make it taste different, it essentially consists of a starter with bacteria and yeast, tea, and sugar.
You can make it completely at home from scratch, or you can start with the kombucha tea starters, then flavor it on your own. You don’t have to be concerned about the sugar or caffeine, since most of it is going to be used up during the fermentation process.
How Kombucha is Made at Home
It is not uncommon for people to make kombucha at home. You can purchase it in bottles from health food stores and some supermarkets, but it does tend to be a little pricey when you go that direction.
To save some money, you can try making it at home in larger quantities so that you are able to drink this healthy drink without spending half your grocery budget.
While it may seem complicated, kombucha is actually not that difficult to make on your own. As mentioned previously, you need to start with the ‘starter’, sometimes called an active starter culture. This is what uses yeast and bacteria and is necessary for proper fermentation.
It is combined with black or green tea and sits for about 10 days. You then will remove the culture that forms on top, and can then save that for future kombucha blends. The rest of the liquid is flavored and used for consumption.
Ways to Flavor Your Kombucha
Keep in mind that kombucha without anything added to it can be a bit of a pungent flavor. Many people prefer adding something to it to flavor it. This can be anything you would add to your tea or a strong beverage, from fruit juice like from lemons or oranges, to actual pieces of fruit added to the batch and mixed in, honey, cinnamon sticks, herbs, seasonings, and other flavors of tea.
The Health Benefits of Kombucha
One of the top reasons people like to drink kombucha tea is because of how healthy it is for you. Probitoics are an excellent way to get the nutrients you need to help form a healthy gut, help with digestive problems and irritable bowel syndrome, fight the cold and flu, and even lower your blood pressure and cholesterol.
If you suffer from food allergies, having more natural probiotics can help with that as well. While there are supplement probiotics, others prefer drinking something as natural as possible, which is where kombucha comes in.
