Weird and Wacky Facts about Kombucha

Before you go thinking I’ve become some hippie freak drinking moon water, I’ll share with you the story on how I even got to know about this thing. Kombucha isn’t common in Singapore (in fact only recently have I seen 2-3 shops selling it around the island), although it has actually featured in André.

Does it make me feel super cool for brewing fermented tea that’s also made by Singapore’s best restaurant? Maybe, vainly so! 😛

IMG_9112.jpg

I got to know about kombucha after one of my contacts in the wellness industry (whom I was trying to get co-blogging partnership for my company) asked me to present a nutritional take on the health benefits of kombucha and probiotics at her workshop. I had no clue what it was but I went ahead to research about kombucha and did a nutritional talk on a drink I’d never tried before.

IMG_0085.jpg

Like all wacky things in life, people either hate or love it. It can become a bit of an acquired taste too though; so if you don’t love it now, you might in the future!

Weird and wonderful lessons I learned in brewing kombucha/jun tea:

  1. Honey + tea in water can actually mould (without jun tea starter/SCOBY)!
  2. If you spill kombucha on your feet and you’re wearing rough rubber slippers, wash it off straight away! The acid WILL eat into your skin with the friction of the rubber.
  3. Nata de coco is actually made of SCOBYs
  4. The ‘mushroom’ is not a mushroom at all, but a cellulose pellicle produced by one of the bacteria

IMG_0094.jpg

  1. To reproduce kombucha, you don’t need a SCOBY at all. You simply need starter tea (strong kombucha), and it will grow a SCOBY on the top layer.
  2. Kombucha has been around for thousands of years. In fact, it first appeared in China in 220 BC.
  3. Alcohol content ranges from 0.5-5%. Yep, almost as high as beer if you ferment it for very long in the fridge!
  4. Sapphire grape kombucha tastes like Spanish wine
  5. Ginger kombucha tastes like ginger ale
  6. Drinking kombucha might have the same effects of drinking vinegar: reduced appetite and possibly reduced absorption of carbohydrates.
  7. My customers can say the darndest cute things.

IMG_0031.jpg

 

 

8 thoughts on “Weird and Wacky Facts about Kombucha”

  1. Lol I like that you agreed to do a talk about something you didn’t know about and had never tried before XD (sounds like something I’d do too)
    And, yes, it does look like placenta or some weird off-cut of meat! (that stuff on the plate – the “mushroom” that’s not a mushroom?)

    Like

    • lol totally something I would do. I’m adventurous like that 😛
      the stuff on a plate are all SCOBYs.. the cleanest white one is the newest (as it’s less stained with tea). I bit off a bit, hence the bitemark 😛 and one of it is dehydrated (coz it kind of got expanded up to the top and got stuck to the cloth of the container and dried up on its own.
      SCOBYs are called mushrooms sometimes but they’re not, they’re just cellulose produced by bacteria 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Ahh you should! Or you could try water kefir. I should’ve brought kombucha for you and Sandra to try sorry, totally forgot about it haha. But hope you’re going to enjoy the bak kut teh spice packet!

      Like

  3. Woah, I didn’t even know that’s how Kombucha is made… I’m going to have to try find some to try here. I’m intrigued to see what it tastes like (though hopefully I won’t get drunk).

    Like

    • I’d be happy to teach you and pass you a SCOBY if you were in Sinagpore 😛
      Yeah you should try some! It tastes a bit like cider/dilute vinegar/ juice with hints of tea. A bit sweet and fizzy, but quite sour. You won’t get drunk unless you down litres of it; it’s only 0.5-1% alcohol usually!

      Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment