Bursting our bubbles

The microbial cocktail in kombucha can go a little wild.

- Andrea Graves

At this time of the year, many of us resolve to drink less. Could kombucha aid our health while still letting us have a glass of fun?

Maybe. The recall of a kombucha brand from shop shelves last month because of excessive alcohol content is a reminder that it can contain more fun than intended – or spoil things if you unknowingly drink a boozy version while meaning to avoid alcohol for health or driving reasons.

The recall followed testing by New Zealand Food Safety (NZFS), which showed the brand’s kombucha contained about 3% alcohol. Drinks can be sold as non-alcoholic if they contain up to 1.15%.

The basics of kombucha-making are this: make sweet tea, let it cool and add a piece of symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (Scoby), a jelly-like disc produced during a previous kombucha fermentation. The microorganisms in the Scoby ferment the tea into kombucha over two weeks or longer. Yeasts gobble the sugar, producing ethanol (alcohol) and other byproducts. The bacteria, lagging behind the yeast, consume the alcohol and other byproducts to produce acids that give kombucha its tang. Its fizz comes from the carbon dioxide the microorganisms produce.