Tea ceremonies, you say, aren’t your style and the kitchen isn’t your favorite place? Relax. Even if you aren’t interested in brewing your own kombucha tea, you can still benefit from drinking commercially brewed kombucha tea or using other products, such as extracts, tinctures, and tonics, that are also available. A growing number of companies are now producing and marketing kombucha products. You can find these teas and other products in pharmacies and natural food stores; they also can also be purchased on the Internet.
I made several interesting discoveries when I did some research on the current selections of commercial kombucha teas. These brews often feature unusual and exotic flavor combinations. In addition, they may contain less sugar than home-brewed teas. If sugar content is a concern for you, check the nutrition facts on the label for the amount of sugar per serving.
Following is a list of some of the teas I explored (I was even able to sample some of them), along with some background I found about each manufacturer. You may recognize some of these brand names next time you peruse refrigerated bottled drinks at your favorite natural food store. For each company’s contact information, see Resources (page 79).
Enlightened Organic Raw Kombucha. Made by Millennium Products of California, this kombucha drink is available at many natural food stores in the United States and Canada. Varieties include original, citrus, gingerade, and multi-green. The company’s principal, G. T. Dave, started bottling kombucha in 1995, which also happens to be the year the first edition of this book came out. The company includes a promise on the product label, stating it will remain committed to “expanding gradually and organically, never sacrificing quality for the sake of profits.” I tasted this brew and liked it. It looks, fizzes, and tastes like home-brewed kombucha tea.
Éternité Kombucha. This is a commercial kombucha drink that “sparkles.” From a company called Crudessence in Montreal, Quebec, this product is available in several flavors.
High Country Kombucha. Sold throughout the United States, this probiotic fermented tea is brewed in the Colorado Rocky Mountains using only pure spring water. Bottled in amber glass to protect it from ultraviolet light, the tea is available in a number of varieties, including aloe, chai, and wild root (similar to root beer).
Katalyst Kombucha. Based in Greenfield, Massachusetts, this company bottles several raw and organic kombucha drinks that are sold on the East Coast. Some unique flavorings include Cordyceps mushrooms, blue-green algae, and schizandra berry (the berry is used in traditional Chinese medicine).
Kombucha Brooklyn. Founded by “kombuchman” Eric Childs in Brooklyn, New York, the company bases its formula on a combination of black, green, and white teas. The bottled drink is available in multiple flavors; the tea is also sold on tap in more than a dozen Brookyln and New York City eateries and markets.
Kombucha Wonder Drink. This effervescent drink is available in bottles and cans and comes in a wide range of flavors. American-made in Oregon, this drink has a refreshing kombucha tea taste.
Pronatura Original Kombucha Drink. The first commercial kombucha product distributor in North America was Pronatura. The company sells a commercial kombucha tea that’s prepared in Germany according to Rudolf Sklenar’s original kombucha tea formula. A physician, Sklenar used his formula to treat cancer patients (see page 36). Pronatura has sold the product for more than forty years, during which time there have been no safety problems. The company’s staff assures customers that the tea is not only safe but also tastes great. Kombucha expert Betsy Pryor echoes this comment. She describes the tea as delicious and confirms that Pronatura’s kombucha tea is “alive,” meaning that traditional methods are used to assure the best fermentation.
ThéBÜ Kombucha Tea. This organic kombucha tea is manufactured by Makana Beverages, a company founded by three surfing entrepreneurs in Hawaii who have expanded their kombucha tea business into California. Makana is a Hawaiian word that means “gift,” and the drink is the company’s gift to kombucha lovers. Flavors include lavender, melon, tangerine, and tropical.
Tonica Kombucha. This Toronto-based company offers kombucha drinks made with filtered water, the kombucha culture, fermented organic cane sugar, and fermented organic green and white tea. Flavors include blueberry, ginger, mango, and peach. I tried the mango variety and found it refreshingly tasty and very lively.
Yogi Green Tea Kombucha Teabags. I have no knowledge of the efficacy of this product as compared with the live kombucha drink, but I can say that the tea is flavorful. I do, however, prefer and recommend active kombucha tea over any kind of tea that includes dried kombucha.
Tea is one of the most common retail kombucha products available. Other kombucha-based products, however, are also marketed. One example is pressed extract, a biological medicine made from the symbiosis itself. Pronatura describes its extract as a concentrated liquid that promotes general health, well-being, and detoxification, just like the tea. Another product is kombucha tincture. Helmut Golz reports that kombucha tinctures can have a positive effect on infections with or without fever, diverse metabolic disorders, allergic reactions, sleeplessness, fatigue, and general debility. The tinctures apparently keep for three months and can easily be self-administered.
One Internet source for kombucha products is the Happy Herbalist website (see Resources, page 79). The site advertises such products as kombucha extracts and a homeopathic kombucha liquid formula. The Happy Herbalist also is a source for a kombucha starter kit and offers kombucha lore, cautions, and tips for home brewers.
Now it’s time to share an encouraging tale of an entrepreneur who is interested in improving people’s health. Chantale Houle, a bright and industrious French Canadian, loves kombucha tea and has revolutionized the way kombucha is used medicinally. Following the sale of her family’s oak flooring business, Houle had the resources to pursue her dreams by forming Kefiplant, a company that produces and distributes kombucha formulations to the food, beverage, supplement, cosmetic, and agricultural industries. She told me her story over dinner in Anaheim, California.
Houle earned a bachelor’s degree from Quebec’s Laval University in 1993. She studied phytotherapy and microbiology, eventually concentrating on the fermentation of symbioses of bacteria and yeasts. Houle focused her research on the restorative nature of kombucha tea, and she developed worldwide contacts with experts who worked in the field of fermentation. One of her contacts, a French scientist named Sergi Rollan, became a valued source and, eventually, her partner at Kefiplant.
Houle incorporated Kefiplant near Montreal in her hometown of Drummondville, Quebec, in 2004 and has since won many accolades and awards. She told me that as a result of her research, she initially offered purified kombucha for free to nearby farmers for treating sick animals. The farmers were reportedly astounded by the recovery rates of animals they had given up for lost. Word of the lady from Drummondville and her kombucha quickly spread.
Over the years, Kefiplant has grown as a manufacturer of kombucha and other health products. The company built a large laboratory in which to purify their kombucha formulas and make them available for commercial distribution throughout the North American health food industry. Kefiplant’s mission is to be a world leader in the production of organic bioavailable phytocompounds and nutrients from fermented botanicals.
Sergi Rollan is Houle’s scientist partner and director of research at Kefiplant. He attended the French National Center for Scientific Research, where he earned several degrees during the late 1970s and 1980s. He obtained a doctor of medicine degree, a nutritional and dietary research degree, a research degree in acupuncture, a research degree in phytotherapy and homeopathy, and a pharmaceutical doctorate. In addition to his work with Kefiplant, Rollan is a scientific and medical consultant for a number of well-known French laboratories and companies.
Having researched and traveled in search of the purified kombucha for over twenty years, Rollan finally tracked down what he calls the “original” kefir grain, a microorganism of yeast and bacteria symbiosis. Why call it a kefir grain and not kombucha grain? Using Rollan’s own words: “Add milk and get kefir; add water and get kombucha.” (Kefir is a beverage made of fermented cow’s milk; you can read about it in my book Kefir Rediscovered!)
Rollan and the experts at Kefiplant claim that most commercial and domestic kombuchas have weakened or mutated over time, losing some significant yeasts and bacteria while developing other wild strains of yeasts and bacteria that weren’t present in the original symbiosis. That’s why Rollan says that kombucha tea made at home doesn’t have the properties of kombucha tea made hundreds of years ago. I can’t confirm his claims at this time, but I was told that Rollan is planning clinical trials and will publish his findings in a peer-reviewed journal. I can hardly wait.
According to Rollan and Kefiplant, their research involves the science of phylogeny (also called phylogenesis), which is the evolution and history of a genetically related group of organisms. Research has confirmed the genetic integrity of Kefiplant’s kefir grain, which the company claims is more potent than the common kombucha culture used by most commercial and home brewers today.
Kefiplant uses a proprietary fermentation process. Instead of using a “mother” culture whose “babies” are passed on for reproduction, the company’s process utilizes the original culture for every batch of kombucha medicinals, thus ensuring the purest fermentation. Kefiplant claims that its “kefir kombucha” is an organic, vegan, raw, nutrient-packed kombucha like the Asian kombucha of ancient times.
Because minerals and antioxidants are generally difficult for the body to digest and absorb, Kefiplant’s patented fermentation process renders minerals and antioxidants into a predigested form that the body can easily assimilate. For example, Kefiplant claims that when black tea is fermented to make kombucha, iron is the most significant mineral converted to a bioavailable form. Analysis shows that because of Kefiplant’s unique fermentation process, its kombucha has more bioavailable antioxidants than other brands.
Kefiplant has created several trademarked fermented botanicals based on the original kombucha formula made from its kefir grain. Following is a list of Kefiplant’s trademarked processes and products:
KefiTech. KefiTech is Kefiplant’s overall trademark for the patented fermentation process based on the kefir grain. The fermented formulas produce a variety of healthful botanicals that are beneficial to humans and animals alike.
KefiActive. A supplemental form of a fermented botanical that contains water-soluble bioactive compounds, each KefiActive formula contains bioavailable micronutrients and nanonutrients, such as organic acids, beneficial yeasts and bacteria, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals that are all released by fermentation. Kefiplant claims that its formulas are antimicrobial and don’t require preservatives, which I find is true of most other commercial kombucha products and even homemade kombucha tea.
KefiApéro. Used in aperitifs and digestives that are taken before or after meals to promote digestion, KefiApéro comes in such flavors as anise, ginger, holy basil, and peppermint. All varieties are mildly sweet and acidic and contain 2 to 4 percent alcohol. They can be mixed with vodka or gin.
KefiFood. Used in place of harmful chemicals to enhance foods, KefiFood can be used to reduce salt content and extend the shelf life of prepared foods. It also adds antioxidants and nutrients (such as polyphenols, organic acids, B vitamins, amino acids, minerals, and so forth) to food formulations.
KefiNutra. Used in supplements, KefiNutra contains bioavailable phytocompounds and beneficial micronutrients and nanonutrients. It’s designed to rejuvenate and restore health, increase vital energy, improve digestion, and support a healthy intestinal tract.
KefiSkin. Used in topical body care, KefiSkin provides powerful antimicrobial ingredients for alleviating skin problems, such as acne, eczema, fungal infections, and psoriasis. It’s well known that kombucha tea and kefir are good for the skin. Kefiplant claims that the nutrients in the KefiSkin formula also help to heal burns.
KefiViva. Used to enhance beverages, KefiViva is designed to support healthy digestion, cultivate good intestinal flora, and provide bioavailable antioxidants. KefiViva can be added to bottled (carbonated or noncarbonated, raw or pasteurized) juices or herbal drinks to create fermentation.
Kefiplant’s medicinal products are distributed in Canada solely by TallGrass of Vancouver, British Columbia. As I learned from Matthew Breech, TallGrass president and CEO, Kefiplant provides the basis for a variety of therapeutic liquid energizers. The revitalizing tonics contain bioavailable phytocompounds and enzymes, vitamins, friendly yeast and bacteria, and other micronutrients that contribute to a medicinal synergy, all with the added benefit of including zero calories.
Kefiplant’s trademarked tonics are sold through natural food stores in Canada. All of the tonics are based on Kefiplant’s kefir grain research, and the company claims the tonics are as live and active as any homemade kombucha tea, and possibly more so. That’s why I feel a mention of these products belongs in this book, although I won’t offer in-depth details about their medicinal values. Following is a list of available tonics:
Botanica KefiActive Kombucha Revitalizing Tonic. Made of kombucha-fermented black tea, this tonic contains active cultures and is designed to revitalize the body, improve digestion, detoxify, and maintain a healthy intestinal tract.
Botanica KefiActive Fermented Astragalus Immune Tonic. Made from fermented astragalus tea, this tonic is designed to help combat frequent colds.
Botanica KefiActive Fermented Echinacea Formula. Made from fermented echinacea tea, this tonic is designed to fight off infection, particularly upper respiratory tract infections.
Botanica KefiActive Fermented Holy Basil Formula. Featuring bioavailable ocimumoside and other significant phytocompounds found in holy basil, this tonic is designed to alleviate mood swings and mild depression.
Botanica KefiActive Oregano Antimocrobial. Made with oregano tea fermented from Origanum vulgare leaves, this tonic is designed to help maintain a healthy intestinal tract. The literature claims that fermentation transforms significant phytocompounds in oregano, offering effective oregano in whole-food form.
Botanica KefiActive Passionflower Sleep Aid. Made with fermented passionflower tea, this tonic is sold as a sleep aid to relieve restlessness and insomnia.