<>,

I am a fan of fermented foods. Fermented foods are naturally living and high in many trace vitamins, including Vitamin B12. One of the foods that I wrote about was kombucha tea. Kombucha tea is a fancy name for fermented black tea. Now many heath-minded individuals like you <> and of course me, try to steer clear from substance such as white sugar and caffeine.

Kombucha tea has many positives and health benefits but let me address the two major concerns, the caffeine and the sugar.

The SCOBY (if you don't know what a SCOBY is, just follow the kombucha recipe link here) needs both the caffeine and the sugar to properly culture regular black sweet tea into healthful kombucha tea. Honestly the chemistry involved in too deep for me, but I trust that the SCOBY knows full well what it (or shall I say "she") is doing.

To eliminate most of the caffeine, and leave only enough for the SCOBY's needs, simply brew your tea bags for only about 30 seconds, pour off the liquid, then add fresh boiling water to the tea bags. This will leave only enough caffeine for the SCOBY to be happy. You of course are happy because you are not drinking caffeine, just probiotic and vitamin rich kombucha.

As for the sugar part of the kombucha recipe, the SCOBY needs the sugar to eat, so it kombucha product has only just a bit of sugar. Some commercial labels of kombucha declare that there is only 2 sugars per serving---not much at all.

The good taste comes from you adding natural fruit juice and/or fruits to the finished kombucha product.

So I believe that the nutritional benefits of this fermented tea far outweigh the very slight sugar and caffeine issues.

As to educating the SCOBY about eating better...well, you do that and let me know!

If you love kombucha tea, add your comments to the kombucha tea page. Drink well!

Mary Jane

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