Kombucha is My Kool-Aid
Among the Experience Life staff, we joke that you’ve got to drink the Kool-Aid. Which I admit sounds a little (lot) cultish, but we just mean that to truly thrive at our jobs, each of us must embrace the type of healthy lifestyle the magazine promotes. Which is not to say we don’t have plenty of unhealthy habits or off days. Really off days — one afternoon a few weeks back, Anjula, Laine and myself all realized that so far that day, we’d primarily eaten chocolate and cheese. But I digress.
A couple years back, I saw a flashy new drink called GT’s Kombucha (pronounced kom-BOO-cha) on the Whole Foods shelves. It looked delicious — bright purple liquid, pretty packaging, health claims involving probiotics and amino acids, with no added ingredients — 95 percent raw, organic kombucha (whatever that was) and 5 percent fruit juice.
Susceptible as I am to the marketing of actually healthy things (like chia seeds!), not to mention purple drinks, I was sold. (Does it sound like I’m continuing to digress? I’m not — I’m actually going somewhere with this.)
ONCE I GOT THE THING HOME, I further investigated — if by “investigated” you mean “read the bottle,” which said:
Kombucha is a handmade Chinese tea that is delicately cultured for 30 days. During this time, essential nutrients form like: Active Enzymes, Viable Probiotics, Amino Acids, Antioxidants, and Polyphenols. All of these combine to create an elixir that immediately works with the body to restore balance and vitality.
What else did I need to know? I shook the bottle hard to stir up the sediment that had formed in the bottom and started to crack the thing open … only to have it fizz out all over the place. OK, so … it’s carbonated (or fermented, rather). Missed that somehow.
And then I noticed that my hands smelled vinegary, as if I’d just dyed Easter eggs. (Sure enough, the process of making kombucha is essentially the old-world process of making vinegar.) This did not bode well, and indeed, when you want a grape-tasting treat, kombucha would not come to mind. So I poured most of the bottle out and thought that was that.
But kombucha kept cropping up. In Experience Life’s Inside Out (Health and Beauty Bits) department in July/August 2006, which means our editor in chief, Pilar, is a fan. In an August 2007 interview with comedian Tina Fey on the Late Show With David Letterman (minutes 4:10 to 6:02 are devoted entirely to Fey’s kombucha habit). And before a planning meeting last month, it seemed like all the EL staffers were comparing notes on the best ways to drink it. (Laine’s suggestion? Cut it with water and fill your glass with ice.)
I mean, the stuff is supposed to improve digestion, detox the liver and boost energy, so I see the appeal, and just recently, I decided to try it again.
Maybe it’s just the power of suggestion at work, but I’m on board now. Kombucha is my Kool-Aid.
March 25th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
I’m think I’m going to have to try it now, too. I’m a little nervous about the vinegar-y aspect of it, though, so I’ll start slow: 3/4 water: 1/4 kombucha. (FYI: Laine told me the green kind is NOT good - she actually spit it out and she’s an addict!)
March 25th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
That’s right, Jamie … drink the Koooooool-Aaaiiiiiiiiiiid. The vinegar smell hits your nose way more than it comes through in taste, so fear not! That is an excellent tip re: the multi-green flavor. I was tempted the other night but then thought, naaah, I’m not ready for all that, and snagged a passionberry instead.
March 25th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Sweet, sweet kombucha! The taste has grown on me quite a bit, but what keeps me returning is the way it makes me feel, which is energetic, healthy and sorta shiny and clean, if that makes any sense at all. Desi’s hooked, too. We tried to give it up last week to save money (it can run to $4.00/bottle), but all we could think about when we didn’t have Kombucha was how to get more Kombucha! So we’re back on this week, and much happier and shinier for it!! Passionberry is one of my favorite flavors, though I also love the Triology, Cranberry and Raspberry Rush. As Jamie mentioned, I cut mine with water and ice to soften the vinegar flavor, but I’m thinking of working up to drinking it straight. My hope is that if I drink it pure, it will make me as funny as Tina Fey.
March 26th, 2008 at 6:06 am
Maybe if they made Kombucha ice cream i’d be in. and took all the kombucha taste and replaced it with peanut butter swirl. yummyyyyyyy.
March 26th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
I had the same fizz problem when I bought my first bottle. Actually Jenn I think I was headed over to your old place and when I got there I told Pedro “I have juice all over my hands and pants.” (Note to self: don’t shake and then open while driving) She gave me a Pedro look.
March 26th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Laine,
I’ve been drinking it straight-up — but I may try your ice and H20 trick, just to make it last longer, b/c you’re right, it can get spendy. (Now that I don’t live in the Midwest am I allowed to say spendy?) But, in researching this entry, I discovered you can make kombucha yourself! Of course, if it goes wrong it gets all moldy, so yeah, think I’ll skip that, but try your luck if you dare.
Kim,
That’s disgusting.
Michaela,
Re: Pedro, that sounds about right. Always the mean face. [laughing out loud]
March 27th, 2008 at 6:19 am
If Kombucha is your koolaid then does it mean fairly soon we—the royal. the american public—shall be on the receiving end of various & sundry Kombucha scented items of apparel?
I cant wait (and am off to see if I can find this today!)
M.
March 28th, 2008 at 7:48 am
MizFit,
I certainly hope not!
But I do hope you find it!
April 4th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Jen,
Jane just told me during printer proof that she googled Kombucha after your post and said making it yourself is dangerous because if it goes all moldy and gets filled with the wrong kind of bacteria, you can get heinously sick and die! Just a heads up in case you had set up an elaborate Kombucha brewing station at your house.
Laine
April 6th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I have been wooed into drinking this stuff lately too. It’s on sale at Twin Cities Co-ops this month so stock up. Also I know several people who make their own and they have not had any major problems. They said it is very aparent when something has gone awry but that keeping everything you are working with meticulously clean takes care of most problems, sort of like if you brew your own beer.