Kombucha Starter Kit
Two Kombucha Starter cultures shipped together in separate sterile glass vials. Each starter kit comes with detailed instructions to immediately get you started brewing your very own Kombucha "mushroom" tea!
- Kombucha Health Benefits
- How to brew Kombucha
- Biology of Kombucha
- History and Names
- Misspellings
- Citations and References
Actual VeganMunch Kombucha Vial prepped for shipping
Kombucha Health Benefits* top
While many refer to Kombucha as a "mushroom", it is in fact NOT a real mushroom. Very simply put, Kombucha is in-and-of-itself, a bacteria or SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast).Kombucha's purported healing "power" has been mostly attributed to its presence as a Probiotic. Casually referred to as "friendly bacteria" or "good bacteria", probiotics are live microorganisms similar to the beneficial microorganisms found in the human body.
These "friendly" bacteria are vital to proper immune system development and protect against bad microorganisms that cause disease. More importantly, probiotics are VITAL to the digestion and absorption of food and nutrients - especially during the healing process.
Probiotics and Kombucha therapies suggest a range of potentially beneficial medicinal uses. While It is important to understand that no one thing should be regarded as a "cure all", incorporating Kombucha into a healthy diet and lifestyle may promote:
- Anti-aging and healthy skin
- Appetite control
- Body alkalinity
- Cell integrity
- Digestion
- Improving immune function and preventing infections
- Improving mineral absorption
- Liver function
- Lowering blood pressure
- Lowering cholesterol
- Managing lactose intolerance
- Metabolism
- Prevention of colon cancer
- Preventing harmful bacterial growth under stress
- Weight control
- and more...
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Individual results will vary.
How to brew Kombucha! top
Although you'll find the Kombucha brewing process, at times, quite varied between producers, the basic brewing outline remains consistent. Keep in mind, if you consider yourself a bonafide gourmet, the taste of your personal brew will be based exclusively on your preferences as a foodie connoisseur.While we absolutely encourage experimentation, to ensure a healthy batch, the following set of "rules" should always be adhered to.
- Never allow your Kombucha culture to come in contact with metal.
- Remember, your Kombucha culture is alive. Never put your culture in hot or cold water. Ideally, your Kombucha should be resting in 75-85 degrees.
- Never let undissolved sugar touch your Kombucha culture.
- Never allow your culture to rest in direct sunlight.
- Make sure to start with a pure Kombucha culture stored in STERILE GLASS.
- Boil one gallon of filtered drinking water in stainless steel pot.
- Remove pot from stove and submerge 8 bags of "green" tea.
- In 15 minutes, remove tea bags.
- Add 1 1/2 cups of sugar. Mix to dissolve with wooden spoon.
- Once tea approaches room temperature, add 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar.
- Poor tea in 1 gallon glass jar (leave at least 1" of space to top).
- Place seedling culture in jar.
- Cover glass jar with breathable dense mesh cloth (a paper towel may be also used) and secure with ribbon.
- Place jar out of direct sunlight in a controlled temperature of 75 to 85 degrees F.
- Let tea ferment for 10 - 14 days.
- After the tea has fermented, repeat steps 1-7 from the "BREW CYCLE" instructions above.
- Remove the newly formed Mother culture and use as step 8.
- Transfer fermented tea to glass jars (optionally strain tea in strainer bag).
- Cover jars with lids and refrigerate.
- DRINK!
Biology of Kombucha top
The culture contains a symbiosis of Acetobacter (acetic acid bacteria) and yeast, mostly Brettanomyces bruxellensis, Candida stellata, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Torulaspora delbrueckii and Zygosaccharomyces bailii. [more at Wikipedia...]History and names top
The recorded history of kombucha began in Russia during the late 19th century. In Russian, the kombucha culture is called čajnyj grib чайный гриб (lit. "tea mushroom"), and the drink itself is called grib гриб ("mushroom"), "tea kvass" квас, or simply kvass, which differs from regular kvass traditionally made from water and stale rye bread. [more at Wikipedia...]Misspellings top
Kombucha is most commonly misspelled as Komucha, Kombuca, Kambuca, Kambuka, Cambuka, and/or Combucha.Citations and References top
The "How to brew Kombucha" instructions withstanding, all of the information provided on this page can be found at Wikipedia, NCCAM, and The Kombucha Journal. Our intention is to provide you with as little hyperbole and as much real data as possible giving you an opportunity to make a truly informed decision.