How is kombucha made?
The ingredients are simple: water, tea (usually black or green), sugar, and starter liquid plus culture from a previous batch. Yeasts convert sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide; bacteria turn most of that alcohol into organic acids, mainly acetic acid.
The result is a sweet-and-sour, lightly fizzy drink with the character of tea. In a second fermentation it can be flavoured with fruit, roots and herbs.
Is the "kombucha mushroom" really a mushroom?
No. The jelly-like disc people call a "kombucha mushroom" is not a fungus but a biofilm of cellulose produced by bacteria, hosting yeasts and bacteria. It is known as a SCOBY — symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast.
What does kombucha taste like?
Well-made kombucha is gently tart rather than vinegary, refreshing and finely carbonated. The longer it ferments, the less sugar remains and the more sour it gets; a shorter ferment tastes sweeter.
Does kombucha contain alcohol and caffeine?
Fermentation leaves trace alcohol. The Turkish Food Codex caps ethanol from production in non-alcoholic drinks at 3.0 g per litre (about 0.38% ABV) — stricter than the 0.5% ABV used in the US and EU — and we work to that limit. It also contains some caffeine from the tea, usually less than a cup of tea. See our articles on alcohol and on sugar & caffeine for details.
How should kombucha be stored?
Unpasteurised, live kombucha belongs in the fridge. In the warmth fermentation continues: it turns more sour and gas and alcohol can rise. We keep ours at 2–4 °C from tank to shelf.