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.
This story is from the January 3-13 2023 edition of New Zealand Listener.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January 3-13 2023 edition of New Zealand Listener.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Morning songs
On a recent early and glorious Saturday morning - it was 4°C outside I let the complaining chickens out. Chickens never stop complaining.
Upwardly mobile
Climate-friendly e-scooters are proliferating but there are stumbling blocks for users and non-users.
A potent brew
There's a correlation between moderate coffee drinking and reduced risk of colorectal cancer - but evidence of a causal link is still percolating.
Food saviours
A little bit of silliness lightens the mood on the serious topic of food waste.
Ode to old masters
The Polynesian sound and Auckland's ska-punk scene are remembered in new releases.
Weaving Welsh with waiata
Te reo meets Cymraeg in a musical project partly spearheaded by Kawiti Waetford, an opera singer with connections to Wales.
Culture warrior
Activist and scholar Ngahuia te Awek6otuku achieved several firsts in society but had to fight many battles to get there.
An age-old problem
Is our lifespan fixed, or might we be able to slow down or even abolish ageing? And what would we do if we could?
When Jim becomes James
'What would white people do to a slave who had learned to read?' This impressive reimagining of Huckleberry Finn seeks to find out.
Manhattan transfer
A Kiwi movie star led the charge for an Anzac garden atop New York's Rockefeller Centre that's still in use today.