Kombucha Tea- It's a good thing.

I have given up coffee and only rarely drink ice tea.  I gave up sodas years ago.  I really enjoy drinking water, but it can get tiresome sometimes.

There is a new, (to me) drink in town.  My daughter introduced me to it.  It is called kombucha tea. 
Yes, my daughter should have been a hippie in the 60's.  When she was a teenager she listened to 60's music almost exclusively.  Maybe that is what caused her to be such a present day hippie.  Anyway, I love her personality and interests in life.

Kombucha tea has been around for decades, but has recently become very popular in the U.S.  There are quite a few manufacturers of this drink.  I have seen it in Costco, Whole Foods, a local regional grocery store in my town.  I even heard they carry it in Walmart, although I cannot confirm that.  It seems to run from around $2.50 to $4.00 for about 12-16 ounces. 

That is more than I want to pay for a drink that I try to have every day.  That is where my daughter comes in.  She set me up with a SCOBY, (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast), and gave me specific instructions on how to make my own kombucha tea.

I am not going to go through the steps of how to make kombucha tea.  There is loads of information on the internet.  There are kombucha tea groups which are quite interesting.  Some of the people have actually named their SCOBY's and some even pray for them.  I am not going to judge, though, because I do refer to mine as a "she". 

If you decide to take up this endeavor, please be aware that if improperly handled, it can become
contaminated with mold.  Also, if the tea is fermented for too long, it can become an alcoholic beverage.  I guess that might be a plus for some people, but I really don't want to drink beer in the morning or at any time as far as that goes. 

There are tons of health benefits purported for drinking this tea.  Supposedly there are a lot of probiotics in this.  I feel like it has helped me tremendously with digestive problems.  Honestly, if there were no health benefits, I would drink it anyway, because I really enjoy it. 

Husband's note: This stuff looks like a science project gone wrong. Please do your research as you are dealing with bacteria here.  My wife loves this stuff and it helps her stomach too.  It's much cheaper than store bought stuff and while I do not care for it, anything that makes her happy and healthier I am for.

For more on making your own kombucha tea check out: the Facebook group called, "Kombucha Nation."  Some interesting information and even more interesting folks on there.