Will this be the year you hop on thekombucha bandwagon? You have company. The vinegary drink, thought to have all kinds of curative properties, has had a surge of popularity in the last few years, thanks in part tobottle-toting A-list celebrities.
Kombucha is hardly new—it’s believed to date to 220 B.C. China—but with rising consumer interest in all things fermented, it has become "the 21st-centuryyogurt,” says Hannah Crum, the Los Angeles–based author ofThe Big Book of Kombuchaand founder of the nonprofit trade group Kombucha Brewers International.
And like yogurt, there's a wide range to choose from at your average grocery store, from the ubiquitous GT’s Kombucha, the first commercial kombucha to come on the market (and stillthe top-selling), to small-batch local brands. Here's what you need to know before you buy.
A slightly fizzy fermented tea made from tea, sugar, and a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, or SCOBY for short.
“It’s easy-drinkingvinegar, I like to say,” says Crum.
Indeed, kombucha involves the same principles of fermentation as vinegar, though it doesn't get to the same point of extreme sourness. The yeast eats the sugars, breaking them up and in the process creating trace amounts of alcohol and carbon dioxide (hence, the fizz and the warning on the bottle not to shake it). The bacteria then step in to convert the alcohol to acetic acid.
No (despite what Lindsay Lohan said). We’re talking an alcohol level of below .5 percent, which has a preservative effect and is not intoxicating, says Crum.
That said, depending on the production method, some kombucha will continue to ferment in the bottle and push above .5 percent. This can also happen with kombucha that isn't kept refrigerated, says Crum. It’s still not enough to give you a buzz, but under federal law, kombucha that exceeds that level is considered an alcoholic beverage and has to say so on the bottle. At my Whole Foods Market, there’s a separate shelf of kombucha labeled for ages 21-and-over.
Some kombucha makers start with a flavored tea. Others make a base kombucha, then flavor it with fruit juices or herbs and let it ferment more.
Sugar usually isn’t added after fermentation, though some brands might add a sweetener like Stevia. Read the label to see what’s in there.
The brownish, cloudy stuff at the bottom is the yeast, and what looks like “a snot glob” is the SCOBY, says Crum. And yes, you can drink it all.
“The thing to look for is that it’s a living product,” Crum says. Most commercial kombuchas are and will typically say “raw” on the label and list the active cultures.
They should be stored cold in the grocery refrigerated section, typically near the fresh-squeezed juices and similar products, and will have a best-by date that's pretty generous.
Beyond that, choose according to the flavors you like, which can range from tropical mango to coffee-infused.
Unopened, a bottle will keep refrigerated for anywhere from three to nine months, depending on the brand, says Crum.
Once you open it, keep it cold, though if you find it’s too sweet for your taste, you could leave it out at room temperature for a few days to develop more of a tang, Crum says. It’ll lose its fizz, like anything carbonated, but it won’t go bad.
“It’s like vinegar that way,” she says.
