Why Kombucha Has Stood the Test of Time (and Why You Should Be Drinking It)
“Eat this, don’t drink that!”
“Don’t eat this, drink this!”
“Only eat a little of this, drink lots of that!”
“Absolutely don’t go near this, make sure you drink masses of that!”
The health messaging right now is WILD, and understandably it can get a little confusing when some of what you’re being told to consume you’ve never heard of or is very new to the food and drink industry.
You know what hasn’t *just* popped up though?
Do you know what’s been brewing on kitchen bench tops for quite literally thousands of years and been a trusted drink to support health?
KOMBUCHA.
So what is kombucha?
Kombucha, is a fermented tea that originated many centuries ago and spans across several cultures around the world. It’s believed that Kombucha originated in China and was used for detoxifying properties and to promote longevity. The Chinese called it the ‘Tea of Immortality’. From China it spread to Japan, Russia, Eastern Europe and finally reached the United States and other Western countries in the late 20th century.
From its origins and throughout its movement around the world, kombucha became popular for its natural health properties, live cultures to support digestion and moved from kitchen bench tops into food stores where most of us buy it now!
The Kombucha we know today has huge popularity but not all kombucha is created equal.
Remedy Kombucha begins by steeping organic black and green tea in boiling water. Once the leaves have steeped, sugar is added and dissolved. This stage of the sweet tea is then cooled slightly before the SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) is added to the brew.
The SCOBY is almost jellyfish-like in texture and the Mother of all the bacteria and yeast that will spend the next 30 days or so processing the sugar in the brew, and infusing the kombucha with short chain fatty acids (organic acids).
After 30 days the kombucha is full of antioxidants, organic acids, live cultures but at Remedy Drinks, all the sugar is brewed out of the kombucha as a result of the long, aged fermentation process. The remaining live cultures are how you too can make kombucha at home using your can of Remedy Kombucha – if you like!
Once the kombucha has been brewed, the natural fruit and spice extracts are added, as well as natural sweeteners such as stevia. It then does a few laps of the Remedy Fermentary, being quality tested by Remedy’s microbiologist, bottled, labelled, boxed and then it’s off to find its next loving customer.
But, why should we be drinking fermented tea aka kombucha anyway?
Remedy Kombucha is a slow long aged brew made with organic green and black tea, organic sugar and the original SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) which the founders of Remedy Drinks, Sarah and Emmett, started with more than a decade ago. The long aged, small batch approach that they too began on their kitchen bench top brews out all the sugar, leaving a delicious, fizzy, refreshing fermented tea full of live cultures, tea polyphenols and organic acids.
A daily dose of Remedy Kombucha can support your health in a variety of ways:
- Rich in Live Cultures (the floaty bits!) for:
- The process of fermentation produces live cultures. These are beneficial bacteria that can help improve gut health by maintaining a healthy balance of gut flora.
- Live cultures can also aid in digestion and may help alleviate issues such as bloating and constipation.
- Immune Boosting:
- Brewed from organic black and green tea, Remedy Kombucha is chock full of tea polyphenols i.e. antioxidants, which can help fight free radicals and support the immune system.
- Antioxidants and polyphenols found in kombucha may have anti-inflammatory effects (if you love Remedy’s Ginger Lemon flavour then you’ll get a double anti-inflammatory whammy from the ginger too!).
- May help regulate appetite:
- Organic acids (short chain fatty acids) such as lactic acid and acetic acid are produced during the fermentation. These acids can promote the growth of beneficial gut bacteria, which in turn can influence appetite regulation.
- Mental Health Benefits:
- B vitamins and live cultures present in kombucha can positively affect mood. Healthy live cultures in the gut can have a positive impact on brain and mental health (via the gut-brain axis).
- Remedy Kombucha is also in all honesty an absolute delight to drink too, popping a smile on your dial the minute you hear that crackle and fizz upon opening your can or bottle of Remedy booch.
*This is a partnered post with REMEDY DRINKS. All thoughts and opinions expressed are the author’s own*
