is an ancient fermented tea that has been around for thousands of years. However, recently it has enjoyed a "comeback" in popularity due to the health benefits and delicious taste alternative to sodas. This article discusses one of the major ingredients of preparing kombucha tea at home; sugar.
Now usually that would sound like an oxymoron... healthy and sugar, right? Well, you would be correct if we were the ones ingesting the sugar. However the kombucha culture will be using this sugar as a source of food to grow and convert all this sugar into healthy acids and digestive enzymes. You see, by the time your kombucha tea is ready to drink most of this sugar has been converted. So for example, if you started brewing your tea with 50 grams of sugar per serving (a little more than a typical can of soda), after 7 to 10 days of fermenting, only 10 grams of sugar would remain (way less than a soda).
So now you may be wondering, "If I have to use sugar, then I probably should use the organic raw kind cause I heard it's healthier".
Again, this would be correct if we were the end user. But we need to think like a kombucha culture here:
The kombucha culture thrives on cheap plain ole' white refined sugar for the very same reason that it's not too good for people. White sugar indiscriminately pours right into your bloodstream, and that's not good, fpr us. However, for a simple one-cell organism like a culture, with its inability to process very much (a kombucha culture's digestive track is not as complex as human beings and therefore the more complex a food is to break down, the harder it is to gain the nutrients) makes max use of the refined white sugar.
Again, don't worry, the white refined sugar that you'd never put into your own system, is mostly processed and consumed by the culture, whilst producing a beautiful health drink for you!
However, if after reading this article, you still feel very strongly over another type of sugar (for example if eating strictly organic is highly important to you), feel free to use different types as the hazards of you brewing something that is not kombucha are slim.
BUT?
Though they are slim, there is always a chance your brew can either become contaminated, or changed into a different substance. So please exercise the following precautions:
1- Always brew a small batch using the plain ole white sugar, and if you are going to experiment make sure you have a back up SCOBY so that you can begin new if things go not according to plan.
2- Boil your tea for an additional 10 minutes. This will insure a better ?break down? of your sugars (for example sugar in the raw, takes longer to dissolve than refined white sugar). The more dissolved your sugar is, the easier it is for your kombucha culture to absorb and grow happily ever after.
Hope you learned a little more about the kombucha hazards and safety regarding what type of sugar to use.
This article is part of a continuing series of more advanced kombucha brewing techniques. Stay tuned for a basic simple step by step recipe in about a week!