Page 69 - Fall2012

Food Feature

FLAVORED KOMBUCHA: A HOME BREWER'S GUIDE
By Dori Oliver

Years ago, I fell in love with the flavor of ment of many serious illnesses including AIDS,
GT’s organic kombucha variety dubbed "Botanic cancer, diabetes and multiple sclerosis.
No. 9," an immune-boosting blend of bilberry,
honeysuckle and red clover. I began to wonder THERE'S MORE THAN TWO FOR TEAS
how it was made and discussed the topic with The standard method of brewing kombucha
other kombucha brewers. To my delight, some calls for using organic black tea (orange pekoe) or
of them were already experimenting with adding organic green tea. Use a different style of organic
flavors to their kombucha! Soon an entire group tea (like oolong or pu-ehr) to dramatically change
of us was trying new combinations and sharing the flavor of the finished kombucha. Within each
our favorite results. Enthusiastic tasters—some broad style of tea there are many particular types
of them committed non-health foodies—were of tea.
swooning for flavors like grape, goji berry and In many ways kombucha mirrors the tea that
honey-ginger. it is made from. Light teas make light, thirst-
Flavored kombucha can be made in a few quenching kombucha; darker, more full-bodied
simple steps and many local, common, as well teas make heavier, full-bodied brews (similar to
as tropical and exotic fruits, herbs and extracts lagers and ales). My favorite type is a dark, earthy
are easy to incorporate into the brew. brew made from Shou Cha pu-ehr tea. Others to
If you’re new to brewing kombucha I suggest try are Sencha green, Gunpowder green, Ti Kuan
you become familiar with the process of mak- Yin oolong, Assam black and Darjeeling black.
ing regular, unflavored kombucha before trying White teas do not contain enough caffeine to
the flavoring options (see the sidebar “Five-Step support the kombucha organism and should not
Kombucha”). However, you don’t need to be be used alone to brew kombucha. White tea can
highly experienced to be successful in making be used as an herb, however.
flavored brews. There’s nothing particularly dif- Substitute different styles and types (or
ficult about these methods even though they may blends) of organic tea directly into the basic
seem complicated to some first-time brewers. kombucha recipe. Brew, ferment and bottle the
Please note that these flavored kombucha drink according to the basic directions.
methods have not been tested for potential
health-benefits. If you drink kombucha as part FRESH, FROZEN, DRIED OR JUICED? Light teas
of a treatment protocol for a health condition, Fruit flavors are familiar and easy additions make light,
you should brew it only according to the method to kombucha. When fruit is added to kombucha
presented in Nourishing Traditions or Kombucha its sugar feeds the yeast in the brew, which results thirst-
Phenomenon (see sidebar). Kombucha made ac- in a natural increase in the carbonation. Fresh quenching
cordingly has been tested and proven to contain fruits, frozen fruits, fruit juices, or dried fruits kombucha;
dozens of health-promoting compounds. For are nearly always on hand in my pantry and are
example glucuronic acid (which aids detoxifica- simple to include in kombucha. Some of my fa- darker, more
tion), chondroitin sulphate (a component of car- vorites are: fresh in-season (or frozen) blackber- full-bodied
tilage), and B-vitamins (used for a wide variety ries, blueberries, boysenberries, cherries, grapes, teas make
of everyday functions in the body) are all found peach slices, raspberries, and strawberries; juices
in kombucha. It contains compounds that boost of apple, blueberry, grape, grapefruit, mango, heavier, full-
immunity, improve digestion, and assist the treat- mixed berry and pineapple; and even dried fruits bodied brews.
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